YOUR INDUSTRY
GROWING PRESSURE ON COVERED CROP OPERATIONS Leanne Roberts : owner – Thymebank; Director of Vegetables New Zealand Inc – Covered Crops
Decarbonisation takes time and it is not on our side Life in the times of decarbonisation is fraught with pressure, short timeframes and big decisions for covered crop growers. The government’s aspiration for decarbonisation is causing significant increases to the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) and uncertainty of supply of fuels such as gas. This creates a perfect storm of high costs, risk and uncertainty for covered crop operations. Support to transition the covered crop industry through decarbonisation plans has been happening through a staggered approach with assistance from groups such as the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA). The focus has initially been to assist large-scale operations, in some cases funding newer or alternative fuels that were previously considered experimental in New Zealand.
While some larger operators have been able to make a start on decarbonisation planning and implementation, the industry as a whole is at the beginning of this journey.
This creates a perfect storm of high costs, risk and uncertainty for covered crop operations Many covered crop operations, irrespective of size, are still reliant on using coal and gas until their decarbonisation plans, infrastructure and technologies are in place. Unfortunately, there is a lag between the alternative technologies and decarbonisation of operations being in place and the affordability and availability of maintaining current fuels and technologies.
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