Tuesday, 18 January 2022 11:30

Do the maths!

Written by The Hound

font size decrease font size increase font size
Print
Email

OPINION: The Hound sees Greenpeace is still demanding the demise of farming in this country.

It's now calling on the NZ Government to follow its Dutch counterpart and cull our country's livestock numbers by one third.

Greenpeace claims it would 'only' cost $12 billion to buy out what it describes as 'industrial' dairy farms.

This comes hot on the heels of a recent MPI report showing that the dairy and sheep & beef sectors alone will earn NZ well in excess of $30 billion next year.

So, going by this old mutt's back of the envelope calculation, Greenpeace's dream of killing 33% of NZ's livestock would cost a mere $22 billion in year 1 - in actual costs plus the lost export earnings - and at least $10 billion (and growing) every year after that!

How do these masterminds expect the country to pay its $100 billion of debt without every possible dollar of export revenue coming from our farming sector?

More like this

No backing down

OPINION: Fonterra isn't backing down in its fight with Greenpeace over the labelling of its iconic Anchor Butter.

Sacrificed?

OPINION: Henry Dimbleby, author of the UK's Food Strategy, recently told the BBC: "Meat production is about 85% of our current farming use so we can afford to pull that back a bit in order to restore nature... in order to get clean energy. That is not a major sacrifice."

Entitled much?

OPINION: For the last few weeks, we've witnessed a parade of complaints about New Zealand's school lunch program: 'It's arriving late.' 'The portions are wrong.' 'I wanted caviar.'

Dressing down

OPINION: You must feel a bit sorry for poor old Christopher Luxon.

'Bugger the polls!'

OPINION: As Jim Bolger once said, "Bugger the polls!"

Featured

Editorial: Keeping the Govt honest

OPINION: Federated Farmers' latest farmer confidence survey results won’t surprise too many people.

NZ remains lowest-cost milk producer - report

The cost of producing milk in New Zealand continues to compare favourably with other exporting regions despite a lift in production costs over the past five years.

Need to manage gene tech risks

DairyNZ says potential benefits from gene technology must be carefully weighed against the risks of such technology.

PGW happy, but cautious with half-year result

Pleased, but cautious. That’s how PGG Wrightson chief executive Stephen Guerin says he’s feeling about the rural retailer’s latest financial result.

Fair, practical rules still high on lobby's agenda

Commodity prices and interest rates play a huge role in shaping farmer confidence, but these factors are beyond their control, says Federated Farmers dairy chair Richard McIntyre.

DairyNZ supports vocational education reforms

DairyNZ is supporting a proposed new learning model for apprenticeships and traineeships that would see training, education, and pastoral care delivered together to provide the best chance of success.