Cool Beef: NZ's New Programme to Cut Cattle Methane
Beef+Lamb New Zealand and the Ag Emissions Centre have launched a new research project aimed at helping beef farmers reduce methane emissions without impacting productivity or profitability.
OPINION: The Hound reckons a big problem with focusing too much on the wrong goal - reducing livestock emissions at the expanse of food production, in this case - is that the Government starts throwing taxpayer coin at increasingly ridiculous ideas.
Case in point, the 'she-wee' for cows.
Developed by a Canterbury start-up, the small, lightweight device apparently attaches to the blunt end of the cow and spreads its urine so it can be used as a fertiliser - allowing nitrogen to be better absorbed by pasture.
A nice media opportunity for Ministers Willis and Reti, but this mutt doubts that fitting mobile shower heads to 6.8 million cows is going to be practical or shift the needle on emissions.
And yet $1.2 million has gone into this project via the government-industry partnership.
Dairy processors are ready to further boost New Zealand’s export earnings but want the incoming government to match their ambition with good policy.
Massey University is best placed to solve the “problems” facing the dairy industry, says vice chancellor, Pierre Venter.
Synlait's longest serving employee – a man who joined the Canterbury-based milk processor even before it began processing milk – is now its newest executive.
A dairy industry leader believes eradicating the common and costly disease, Bovine Viral Diarrhoea (BVD) is within reach.
A farmgate milk price of $10/kgMS this season is firming up as milk powder prices soar and the New Zealand dollar weakens.
Federated Farmers has welcomed new rural policies released by ACT, saying they align closely with its own election priorities.

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