West Coast diary farmer Richard Reynolds contemplates livestock emissions proposals.
Well done Tim and Jim, we won, we truly beat Beef and Lamb. I had my doubts about your plans around He Waka Eke Noa. When the climate commissioner’s report was released on the ability of farmers to change their gas production, there were glaring mistakes and non-truths presented around mitigation measures, but you supported the report in its whole.
I thought this was a bit strange, but now I understand you were just waiting your time.
Now you will have so much “levy” recycled for research, mitigation and extension that there will be no need for you to collect any DairyNZ levy. So for dairy farmers on a levy basis I may not be paying any more than I am at the present, very clever.
I am looking forward to receiving payments from the rest of the agriculture industry paying me for my mitigation. If science is to save us, as all the reports say it will, feed additives and vaccines will work better for dairy than beef. Very interesting research is coming out around breeding in sheep for lower methane – this is positive.
If it works with cattle with our science-backed and directed breeding companies compared to beef breeders we will be able to prove and breed low methane cattle very quickly.
How did you keep the tweed-jacket wearers arguing over whether Angus or Hereford were better and not looking at how this was going to affect them? You could have suggested that they finish dairy cross stock but that is not real beef farming. Now they will be farming pine trees which are not even stock. You have let them keep on selling their land to foreigners with no restrictions to be planted in carbon sinks for a one-off gain to be of no value to New Zealand after 80 years. But dairy farmers can’t sell to foreign buyers. I know you will work on this.
I also thought it was clever not to educate the minister of agriculture and prime minister. I listened to the whole announcement. Minister Damien O’Connor said He Waka was not a big deal for farmers, all they had to do was put some solar panels on the roof and have some EV vehicles and change some pasture species.
The first two have nothing to do with He Waka and the pasture species through regrassing may increase your He Waka tax. The prime minister talked about the premiums Silver Fern Farms is receiving from its carbon-zero beef. The problem is this works with onfarm offsetting that is not going to be allowed.
Take care that the talk of transition payments or subsidies Jacinda talks about don’t affect our free trade agreements. Those two may have been easy to hoodwink but watch that smiling James Shaw.
He is playing the long game – the 10% reduction target by 2030 may be easy for the agricultural industry but he knows the real game is the 2050 reduction target of 24% to 47% is the real kicker. Also keep an eye on that bearded commissioner not wanting agriculture to have offsetting of biological gases with biological tree planting, I don’t know what he is up to but you two will.
I like how you are now complaining how nitrogen is under the ETS and the government sets the level of the tax. You knew you never were going to get these things your way, but it looks good to complain so farmers support you.
Well done, you played the game with a straight bat. And we won!
