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Climate explained: regenerative farming can help grow food with less impact

Troy Baisden Professor and Chair in Lake and Freshwater Sciences, University of Waikato Climate Explained is a collaboration between The Conversation, Stuff and the New Zealand Science Media Centre to answer your questions about climate change. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, please send it to climate.change@stuff.co.nz I would like to know to what extent regenerative agriculture practices could play a role in reducing carbon emissions and producing food, including meat, in the future. From what I have read it seems to offer much, but I am curious about how much difference it would make if all our farmers moved to this kind of land management practice. Or even most of them. – a question from Virginia To identify and quantify the potential of regenerative agriculture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we first must define what it means. If regenerative practices maintain or improve production, and reduce wasteful losses on the farm, then the answer tends to be yes. But to what degree is it better, and can we verify this yet? Let’s first define how regenerative farming differs from other ways of farming. For example, North Americans listening to environmentally conscious media would be likely to define most of New Zealand pastoral agriculture systems as regenerative, when compared to the tilled fields of crops they see across most of their continent. If milk and meat-producing animals are not farmed on pasture, farmers must grow grains to feed them and transport the fodder to the animals, often over long distances. It’s hard to miss that the transport is inefficient, but easier to miss that nutrients excreted by the animals as manure or urine can’t go back to the land that fed them. Healthy soils Returning nutrients to the land really matters because these build up soil and grow […]

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Urgent need for primary sector career pathway

The Tractor and Farm Machinery Association (TAMA) welcomes the challenge posed by the Minister of Agriculture to focus on training New Zealanders rather than continuing to rely on seasonal migrant workers. Minister Damien O’Connor spoke at the recent inaugural TAMA conference and in response to questions following his speech said the continued reliance on migrant workers during seasonal spikes was “problematic”. “Focus instead should be on the long term and therefore on training our own to be part of the most noble industry – feeding the world.” This need to train young people was echoed by TAMA president John Tulloch who said the tractor and farm machinery sector had to work together to develop a strong career pathway. “There are many exciting and challenging career opportunities within our sector, especially within the technology area, but school leavers need to be made more aware of them,” Mr Tulloch said. Mr O’Connor said such investment in labour in the primary sector was long overdue. “This industry has invested a lot in land, a lot in technology and a lot machinery but we’ve invested as little as we can in labour.” “The system has failed because we just don’t have enough skilled people. We need to deliver what the economy needs. At the moment we have fewer people going into vocational training and far less coming out. We don’t want to disrupt unnecessarily but we do need to change things.” The need for skilled workers was the major theme of the conference with many other speakers pointing to this as being a more pressing issue for the industry than rising costs and extreme weather events. The first-ever TAMA conference was attended by about 70 people from across New Zealand, including farm machinery importers, manufacturers and retailers.

IPCC Special Report adds much needed detail to climate debate

“New Zealand co-sponsored a proposal for a Special Report on Climate Change, Food and Agriculture in 2015. The report has arrived at an opportune time as New Zealand works out how to play its part in tackling climate change and what it might mean for our agricultural sector and our economy” Dr Mackle says. “In October 2018, the IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming by 1.5 °C really turned the way policymakers viewed climate change on its head. “This report has the potential to do the same as it highlights some of the challenges and opportunities of providing sustainable food for a growing global population”, says Dr Mackle. The world’s population is forecast by the United Nations to grow from 7.7 billion today to 9.7 billion by 2050. “As world leaders in the efficient production of high quality, nutritious, pasture-based, low emissions milk, New Zealand has a huge role to play in showcasing what a sustainable system can deliver. “The report highlights how much the science is still developing, especially when it comes to agricultural emissions, which again demonstrates that a prudent approach for New Zealand is needed. “DairyNZ is fully behind playing our part on climate change and supporting our farmers to take action. We need to take some time, however, to fully digest this report and how it might be applied in a New Zealand context,” Dr Mackle concluded.

Future-focused leaders sought for DairyNZ board

Nominations have opened for two farmers to join DairyNZ’s Board of Directors. Dairy farmers have until Thursday, September 5, to get nominations in for DairyNZ’s Board of Directors. This year, elections are taking place for two farmer-elected directors and a Directors Remuneration Committee member. DairyNZ chairman Jim van der Poel encourages dairy farmers who are strategic thinkers, future-focused and have experience in governance and leadership to consider applying. “Farmer-elected directors play a really key role on DairyNZ’s board and we are keen to have skilled, forward-thinking dairy leaders join our team,” said Mr van der Poel. “So, we are looking for people who understand farm systems, research and development, policy and advocacy. Candidates should also have an understanding and interest in driving Dairy Tomorrow and therefore a vision of what the future of dairy looks like.” Mr van der Poel said candidates must have the best interests of all New Zealand dairy farmers at heart. Broad dairy sector knowledge, strong business skills and some exposure to research and development principles are also preferred. Nominations are also being taken for a farmer to join the DairyNZ Directors Remuneration Committee, which considers and recommends remuneration for directors each year. All farmers paying a levy on milksolids to DairyNZ are eligible to stand for the Board of Directors and the Directors Remuneration Committee. The DairyNZ board consists of five farmer-elected directors and three board-appointed directors. This year, director Ben Allomes is not re-standing for election. Candidate nominations are open until September 5. Voting opens for dairy farmer levy payers on September 23 and election results will be announced at the DairyNZ Annual General Meeting on October 22. For more information on the nomination process, visit dairynz.co.nz/agm.

Government- work with farmers to reduce emissions: ETS is not the answer

DairyNZ Chief Executive Dr Tim Mackle is urging the Government to work with agricultural groups to drive real behaviour change on farm, instead of imposing a broad-based tax. Sector organisations have put forward an alternative Primary Sector Climate Change Commitment- He Waka Eke Noa – to build an enduring farm-level emission reduction framework to help the rural sector reduce its footprint. “We want to play our part and take action. That’s why we have put forward a credible five-year work plan with clear and measurable actions, outcomes and timeframes” Dr Mackle says. “Our proposed plan is a collective initiative across multiple agricultural sectors, and includes rolling out Farm Environment Plans for all farms by 2025 to ensure every farmer knows their emissions footprint, where on farm those emissions are coming from, and what they can do to manage them”. Having reliable data is important so that a farmer can make decisions and trade-offs factoring in resilience, profitability, and all the business decisions that need to be weighed up. “We are asking the Government to partner with the agricultural sector to develop and deliver targeted programmes of action and coordinate efforts to reduce emissions. We strongly believe that working in partnership is the best approach to deliver real change” Dr Mackle added. “DairyNZ does not support a levy on farmers in the ETS at processor level because it won’t drive the behaviour change to reduce emissions. “It will take money out of farmers pockets at a time when it would be better invested on-farm to prepare for and start the process of managing emissions. “Safeguarding the environment and maintaining a sustainable and competitive dairy sector is very important to our farmers, customers, and consumers. “Farmers care about the environment and are continuously refining their farm systems to improve environmental outcomes. “The […]

Farmers being hit hard by policy and regulation changes

A capital crunch is starting to impact farmers with banks increasingly cagey about lending to dairy and the sheep and beef sectors, which is putting huge pressure on the industry, according to Findex’s Head of Agribusiness, Hayden Dillon. Dillon noted things are looking okay externally. The macro story for our safe, efficiently produced protein is still very strong, evidenced by good commodity prices. But there are three domestically-sourced drivers which have converged to create significant difficulties for farmers, particularly those with high levels of debt or who are seeking capital to grow. The first reason is changes from the Overseas Investment Office. Dillon explains “The changes have had an impact on the value and demand of land meaning we do not have the foreign capital coming in for the largest part of our farming business, being sheep, beef and dairy and our productive assets there. This has had a flow on effect, being a lack of capital into the market, halting the domino effect of down-stream, farm sales taking place, and the obvious decrease in confidence meaning the largest farms just cannot sell, as they have no market, externally, or domestically as the banks have closed to these borrowers.” The second reason is the collection of various government polices and statements surrounding legislative changes. Dillon expands, “there are the unknowns around the Emissions Trading Scheme and the impacts and costs that could be associated with that, in conjunction with increased regulation and compliance as farmers are already working through their environmental plans, while also struggling to retain and attract staff, as visas are becoming harder to secure, and a longer process. These all have impact on the value of the farms as they directly affect productivity and cash flows.” Lastly, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) approach is […]

New Zealand King Salmon applies for open ocean farming

New Zealand King Salmon is taking a step towards the future in applying for resource consent to farm in the open ocean, north of Marlborough in the Cook Strait. Once the application is approved, the company intends to commission an initial farm with the potential to grow 4000 tonnes of King salmon – about twice the output of its largest existing farms – as the next step in furthering its 10 year goal of commercialising open ocean salmon farming in New Zealand. With over four hundred million hectares of ocean space on New Zealand’s doorstep – the fourth largest marine Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the world – farming a tiny proportion of the ocean could provide a significant future source of healthy, sustainable protein. In addition to positive environmental and social benefits, the open ocean farms proposed within this application will support a significant increase in production by New Zealand King Salmon (NZKS), as well as eventually delivering many green jobs to the Top of the South region. “This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for our company, our region, and the aquaculture industry,” says NZKS CEO Grant Rosewarne. “We’ve named our first open ocean farming project Blue Endeavour to signify the future-focused strategy we’re putting in place to harness the ocean’s potential in a sustainable way. The pens on these farms will be so spacious that we’re calling them sea ranges.” “Our changing climate and the need for low-carbon, high-nutrition food are truly global issues,” says Mr Rosewarne. “We see aquaculture as a force for good in addressing these challenges. We are investing in what we think will be the future of sustainable food production.” Research into temperature, wave heights, currents and other key environmental factors has been carried out by the company and independent scientists over the last […]

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Alliance Group distributes over $4.5 million in loyalty payments to shareholders

Alliance Group has underlined its commitment to rewarding loyal shareholders with a $4.5 million distribution to farmers. The quarterly loyalty payments have been made to the co-operative’s Platinum and Gold shareholders who supply 100 per cent of their livestock to Alliance. The latest payment brings the total amount distributed so far this season to $13.5 million. “We are New Zealand’s only 100 per cent farmer-owned major red meat cooperative and our farmers tell us they value their ownership,” says Alliance Group chief executive David Surveyor. “We reward their investment by ensuring that they are at the heart of every decision we make and recognise their consistent and committed supply with our loyalty payments. “Every cent the co-operative makes in profits is delivered back to farmers or re-invested into the business to continue to improve our operational efficiency and ultimately lift returns to our farmer shareholders.” Under the loyalty payments programme, farmers are paid an additional 10 cents per kilogram for each lamb, six cents/kg for a sheep, 8.5 cents/kg for cattle and 10 cents/kg for deer. Last season, Alliance paid out $14.6 million in loyalty payments to shareholders. Farmer shareholders also receive a range of other benefits above the price on the day including yield contracts, priority processing and free store stock facilitation.

Beyond meat? The market for meat substitutes is way overdone

Paul Wood AO Adjunct Professor in Biotechnology, Monash University Meatless burger maker Beyond Meat has just reported quarterly earnings of US$67.3 million – much better than market expectations of US$52.7 million. It is now forecasting sales of US$240 million for the 2019 year, nearly three times that of 2018. But the company is yet to make a profit, let alone one big enough to justify its current market valuation of about US$13 billion. Since it listed on NASDAQ in May, its shares have surged more 700%. Investors’ enthusiasm reflects high hopes in the future fortunes of a company promising to put the sizzle into a meat substitute. Interest is booming in plant-based meat substitutes and lab-grown meat alternatives. The appeal is summed up by Beyond Meat’s mission statement: “By shifting from animal to plant-based meat, we are creating one savoury solution that solves four growing issues attributed to livestock production: human health, climate change, constraints on natural resources and animal welfare.” How realistic is this? The data suggests not very – that meat alternatives might play a positive role but in no way are going to save the planet. Investment appetite Predictions about the market potential for plant-based or lab-made meat vary. A lot of it appears to be only slightly better than sheer guesswork. One prediction, by the well-known Barclays, is that the market could be worth US$140 billion, or 10% of the US$1.4 trillion meat market, in the next 10 years. It’s such projections that have fuelled investors’ appetite for companies working on ways to make plant-based protein look and taste like meat. There’s Impossible Foods, for example, whose burger “bleeds” beetroot juice and is the meat (substitute) in Burger King’s Impossible Whopper. The privately held company has reportedly raised more than US$500 million, and is valued at US$2 billion. Other players in […]

Farmers support additional efforts for wintering practices

New Zealand’s farming sector supports additional efforts to improve winter grazing practices on farms, with a particular focus on animal welfare. DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand do not condone poor winter grazing and support building on the significant efforts already underway to eliminate practices which impact on the environment and animal welfare. “No-one accepts poor winter grazing practices. Our organisations are firm on this,” said DairyNZ strategy and investment leader, Dr Jenny Jago. “Dairy and beef sectors have a role to play in protecting our waterways and, therefore, ensuring good practice winter grazing on farms is crucial to support the environment and keep our animals healthy.” Dr Jago said much work has been taking place to address poor winter grazing practices and she was encouraged by the progress that was being made, but there was still work to be done. “The vast majority of farmers take great pride in caring for their animals and the environment. There’s been significant investment into on-farm initiatives which protect the environment and animal welfare, and we will continue to expand on that. “We have been working together, and with central and regional government, to review and improve the resources available for farmers, while also supporting improved crop grazing practices on farms and reinforcing compliance.” A pan-sector collaborative programme has included farmer-facing extension, which sets clear practice standards to protect the environment and support animal health and wellbeing. “In the last year, DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand have had a particular focus on good management practices for winter cropping, through workshops and events with farmers,” said Beef + Lamb New Zealand GM for North Island, Matt Ward. The sector is looking to underpin this work through commitments by DairyNZ and Beef + Lamb New Zealand for all farms to report under farm […]

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