Archive for the ‘climate change’ Category
July 28, 2020
Several organisations with an interest in the future of our agricultural sector have come out with strategies or visions for what needs to be done to find New Zealand’s place in the sun. One such report produced by the Primary Sector Council has been sponsored, one could say hijacked, by the government, and converted by MPI into a set of financial and environmental targets. Another is the result of independent research and consultation. Ideally either the government will engage with the primary sector to agree the best policy settings the industry believes necessary to meet these ambitious targets, rather than insisting on following the plan it commissioned to meet its own priorities. (more…)
Tags:Carbon emissions reduction, Fit For a Better World, grass fed lamb and beef, He Waka Eke Noa, hill country farming, Koi Tu, Labour Greens coalition, methane reduction targets, MPI, NZ First, Primary Sector Council, regenerative agriculture, sheep and beef farming, Te Taiao, The Future is Now, The Future of Food
Posted in Agribusiness, Biosecurity, China exports, climate change, Consumer demand, Covid-19, Economy, Environment, Export trade, Food, Free trade, International trade, Livestock, Meat, Meat industry, Politics, Red Meat marketing, Research and development | 1 Comment »
July 14, 2020
The fast pace of regulatory change by the government poses a challenge for farmers trying to earn their social licence to operate.
The Emissions Trading Reform Bill and the proposed Essential Freshwater Policy are the two latest examples of regulation which are set to be introduced into law before the Election and will inevitably impose serious costs or penalties on farmers as currently drafted Some provisions run counter to good, common sense farming practices, and the ETR has the potential to side swipe the sheep and beef sector, as it incentivises the conversion of sheep and beef farms into forestry. (more…)
Tags:B&LNZ, carbon farming, Chris Allen, DairyNZ, Emissions Trading Reform Bill, Essential Freshwater, Federated Farmers, forestry conversion, Greens, Horizons Regional Council, IPCC, NZ First, Roger Dalrymple, Sally Dryland, sheep and beef farming, social licence, Southland Regional Council, Sustainable Land Use Initiative, Waitatapia
Posted in Agribusiness, Biosecurity, climate change, Consumer demand, Economy, Environment, Export trade, Food, Free trade, International trade, Investment, Livestock, Meat industry, Politics, Protein based meat, Red Meat marketing | 1 Comment »
September 6, 2019
Amid all the debate about agriculture’s responsibility to meet greenhouse gas reduction targets, and the appropriate levels for those targets, it may seem counterintuitive to claim an equally pressing problem is to earn a licence to operate. Just as great a threat to agriculture’s future is not whether it faces a potentially unachievable government imposed target, but a business environment in which consumers make their decisions based on their perception of the acceptability of the food they eat. (more…)
Tags:agricultural output, B&LNZ, Climate Change Committee, consumer attitudes, DairyNZ, emissions reduction, Federated Farmers, FOMA, government responsibility, greenhouse gas reduction, Greenpeace, Horticulture NZ, Primary Sector Climate Change Commitment
Posted in Agribusiness, climate change, Consumer demand, Dairy, Economy, Environment, Export trade, Food, Food safety, Free trade, International trade, Investment, Livestock, Meat, Meat industry, Politics, Red Meat marketing, Research and development | 1 Comment »
August 23, 2019
In contrast to its positive social agenda to improve the average person’s lot by lifting the minimum wage, increasing teachers’ pay rates and attempting to increase home ownership, this government seems to have gone missing in action with respect to the farming sector. Apart from Primary Industries Minister Damien O’Connor’s rather lonely efforts as a cheerleader for agriculture, other government ministers only pop their heads above the parapet when there’s some good environmental news or forestry initiative to crow about, or a new, and scientifically flawed, methane reduction target to ask farmers to meet. (more…)
Tags:Andrew Hoggard, B&LNZ, billion trees programme, Brexit, carbon farming, carbon offsets, Carbon Zero, coalition government, Damien O'Connor, Federated Farmers, forestry conversions, Greens, James Cameron, Jeremy Baker, Just Transitions Conference, Labour, methane reduction, NZ First, Primary Sec tor Climate Change Commitment, Trump, Us China trade war
Posted in Agribusiness, climate change, Economy, Environment, Export trade, International trade, Livestock, Meat, Meat industry, Politics, Research and development | 1 Comment »