NEWS
ANIMAL HEALTH
Sheep and beef hit the sweet spot. PAGE 9
Pressure on to cut N use.
PAGE 21
NEWS Chathams aim to wean off diesel reliance PAGE 12
TO ALL FARMERS, FOR ALL FARMERS MARCH 15, 2022: ISSUE 746
www.ruralnews.co.nz
Got a spare $200K? PETER BURKE peterb@ruralnews.co.nz
AS THE reality begins to kick in for farmers about the costs for mitigating agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, one farmer has told Rural News he could face a $200,000 bill in the future, unless he gets carbon credits for the trees planted on his farm. Former Meat and Wool NZ director Tom Mandeno, who has served in several high profile leadership roles in the primary sector over many years, runs a 670 hectare sheep and beef property,
near Port Waikato, on the west coast of the North Island. He says it would be very hard to find an extra $200,000 in his farming operation to pay such a bill. To that end, Mandeno has put forward a remit to the Beef+Lamb NZ (B+LNZ) annual meeting being held on March 24. The remit calls for B+LNZ to support the inclusion of established trees as vegetation sequestration offsets, to be included in the greenhouse gas emissions calculation required for farm environment plans. “If a pine tree can sequester carbon,
surely a poplar or oak tree or a native trees – such as kauri and rimu and other native trees that people have fenced off on their farms – should also be included,” he told Rural News. “These trees are sequestering carbon and the farmers are not getting any credit, which I think is unfair.” Mandeno says when he became aware of the GHG emissions issue and how it might impact on his farm he sought the professional help of B+LNZ’s Hamilton-based extension manager, Maria Shanks. She looked over his property, did the calculations,
and found that the farm was emitting 2,497 tonnes of carbon. However, what staggered Mandeno the most was that despite all the native trees and other plantings – such as poplar poles and willows – on his farm, he is only entitled to a credit of just 17 tonnes. “On that basis we face a potential bill of $200k for carbon,” he says. Mandeno says this figure is based on the cost of carbon being set at the rate of $100 per tonne.
He says it is presently valued at $85 a tonne, but he expects this to rise in the coming years. He realises that initially the cost of carbon will be discounted but says this won’t last forever and, from a budgeting point of view, the $100 a tonne figure is realistic. “That being the case, a lot of farmers will face very challenging times trying to meet that cost. I don’t know how we are going to be able to pay for this,” he says. “It seems we are the only country in the world that is charging farmers emissions in this way.”
FLUFFY DREAMS Hawkes Bay wool broker and enthusiastic wool promoter Philippa Wright has set up a new venture – making wool pillows. As well as running her wool broking business, Wright has a joint venture company in the USA called the Natural Wool Company. It uses NZ wool to create high-value, environmentally-sustainable wool products for the US market. This includes pillows filled with specially-processed wool called knops or pearls. The pillows were only sold in the USA and are not available in NZ, because it was too expensive to import them here. However, last year an amazing set of circumstances unfolded, which has seen the pillows now become available locally. She says the venture is all part of her ongoing promotion to gain greater recognition for wool. See full story page 7
WHO’D HAVE THOUGHT SHOVING PLASTIC INTO A HOLE IN THE GROUND WAS PROGRESS. Turning plastic waste into fence posts is an ingenious idea. One that Jerome Wenzlick has turned into reality through dogged perseverance. Not only do his plastic posts outperform their wooden counterparts, they’re helping to solve a big environmental problem—each reusing around 400 plastic bottles and 1,500 plastic bags. When you do things differently, it’s great to know someone like FMG has got your back. To hear the full FuturePost story, go to fmg.co.nz/futurepost
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