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Groundswell's Quit Paris campaign.
OPINION: Climate change is shaping up to be one of the major issues at next year's general election.
While National feels they have done enough for farmers by repealing unfair regulations piled on by the previous Labour government, methane reduction targets are becoming a thorn in the side of National, the main party in the coalition Government. More so, when the two junior coalition partners, ACT and NZ First, aren't warming up to the Paris climate agreement.
Adopted in 2015, the deal relies on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), where each country sets its own emission reduction targets and commits to actions to adapt to climate change impacts.
Farmers are making their views clear: scores of billboards are being ordered from Groundswell's website and going up on farms near state highways across the country. These farmers suspect that any target National sets will lead to, among other things, more productive sheep and beef land converted to forestry.
Groundswell leader Bryce McKenzie says National is getting irritated by their 'Quit Paris' campaign. But he says they are getting a sympathetic hearing from NZ First and ACT.
He expects both the smaller parties to make their positions clearer closer to the election.
NZ First has expressed reservations about the Paris Agreement, specifically questionung the clarity and achievability of its targets. ACT leader and deputy Prime Minister David Seymour has hinted they could make withdrawing NZ from the Paris Accord an ACT election promise next year.
For National, the dilemma is two-fold: Firstly, the rural-urban divide, where many urban voters want to see action on climate change and leaving the Paris deal could alienate voters. Secondly, within the farming community, there's a growing number of voters who want NZ out of the Paris Agreement, just like the US has done under Donald Trump's presidency.
The Government has secured the backing of industry-good organisations, who are calling for NZ to stick with the Paris deal, but it's the farmer votes that will count come election day next year.
A drop in methane targets announced by the Government this month has pleased farmers but there are concerns that without cross-party support, the targets would change once a Labour-led Government is voted into office.
New research could help farmers prepare for a future where summer rainfall is increasingly unpredictable and where drought risk is rising, no matter what.
OPINION: This old mutt is loath to sound like Groundswell has been topping up his bowl with brisket off-cuts, but the ginger group makes a good point about the arguments raised in favour of toeing the Paris Agreement line.
The ACT Party's call for a better deal on the Paris Agreement on climate change is being backed by farmer organisations.
A new nationwide survey shows New Zealanders expect farmers and food producers to play a leading role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but also gave them higher marks than most industries for their current efforts.
BNZ says it is backing aspiring dairy farmers through an innovative new initiative that helps make the first step to farm ownership or sharemilking a little easier.
LIC chief executive David Chin says meeting the revised methane reduction targets will rely on practical science, smart technology, and genuine collaboration across the sector.
Lincoln University Dairy Farm will be tweaking some management practices after an animal welfare complaint laid in mid-August, despite the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) investigation into the complaint finding no cause for action.
A large slice of the $3.2 billion proposed capital return for Fonterra farmer shareholders could end up with the banks.
Opening a new $3 million methane research barn in Waikato this month, Agriculture Minister Todd McClay called on the dairy sector to “go as fast as you can and prove the concepts”.
New Zealand’s trade with the European Union has jumped $2 billion since a free trade deal entered into force in May last year.
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