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Taranaki farmers are pleased the government’s proposed law changes to exclude agriculture from the emissions trading system have passed first reading. File photo.
photo: David Hancock
The government’s decision to delay putting a price on agricultural emissions and abandon the industry-led “He Waka Eke Noa” (Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership) initiative has been welcomed by Taranaki farmers.
They say being forced into an emissions trading system in 2025 could put farmers out of business, while they will now have more time to prepare for pricing agricultural emissions before 2030.
ETS was also top of the agenda during discussions on the goals of the new Taranaki Land and Freshwater Plan at a regional council drop-in event in Inglewood.
Cattle farmer John McKay.
photo: RNZ/Robin Martin
John Mackay, who raises beef east of Inglewood, doesn’t think now is the right time to start putting a price on agricultural emissions.
“It’s a tight squeeze on farmers right now. This is going to put some farmers out of business. I think it would have happened anyway, although I’d probably be OK.”
“I’ve seen what the plan is and it takes three or four different people to review it to make sure you have it right.
“At one point, it cost $5,000 to get some expert — I don’t know where they got this expert from — to tell you if you were on the right path.”
MacKay said the answer to the emissions mystery is not yet clear.
“It’s science, it’s something you can do yourself. So we have solar panels on the roof and we feed the power back into the grid. We don’t have batteries, we feed the power back into the grid.
“Not only would it help New Zealand, it would also reduce emissions, but I’ve heard that solar panels cost more to produce than the emissions they save, so if I find out, I’m out of luck.”
The government said it would invest $400 million over the next four years to accelerate the commercialization of tools and technologies to reduce farm emissions.
This will involve developing a methane vaccine; raising low-emission cattle; and accelerating research and development of methane and nitrous oxide inhibitors.
Dairy farmers Rex and Janice Carroll.
photo: RNZ/Robin Martin
Janice Carroll and her husband Rex dairy her 400 cows on Taranaki’s Ringed Plains.
She doesn’t think farmers should pay for emissions.
“My view is that a lot of the information is theoretical and I don’t think it has enough scientific basis to support my views.”
Janice Carroll is also not a fan of solutions based on genetic manipulation.
“I’ve always been a little skeptical about genetic manipulation myself. I just don’t think that’s the way nature works, and I’d rather follow what nature has planned.”
She believes reducing livestock numbers can play a role in reducing emissions and farmers must be honest about how many animals their land can support.
Mark Hooper, a dairy farmer in Lepperton.
photo: RNZ/Robin Martin
Mark Hooper, a Repton dairy farmer and Federated Farmers board member, also attended the Inglewood event.
He said agriculture was not withdrawn from the ETS but the safeguard that included it in 2025 was removed because it did not apply to short-lived gases.
“The same issue occurred with the He Waka Eke Noa project and that project failed because if pricing was used to achieve the total methane reduction targets under current legislation, it would have had a huge negative economic impact on our economy and industry and that is the main reason for the project’s failure.
“So the government has recognised this and said we actually need to rethink our approach to pricing.
“So both of those functions are not really functioning, and what they’ve done is kind of put them on hold and said we need to restart the conversation and look at this from a different perspective.”
He Waka Eke Noa will be replaced by the new Pastoral Sector Group.
Meanwhile, the Greens accused the government of delaying action on climate change by excluding agricultural emissions from the emissions trading system.
Co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said climate delay is the new climate denial.
“The government’s announcement that it will undo progress on pricing agricultural emissions is just the latest display of disregard for our climate and environment.
“At the same time, farmers are among the first and hardest hit by climate change.”
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