Climate change slashes agricultural productivity

6 Apr 21 - Research shows rising temperatures since 1960s have acted as a handbrake on agricultural yield of crops and livestock

How our eating is causing global deforestation

30 Mar 21 - The average western consumer of coffee, chocolate, beef, palm oil and other commodities is responsible for the felling of four trees every year, many in wildlife-rich tropical forests, research has calculated.

Big Food eyeing China's growing flexitarian market

4 Mar 21 - The alternative protein market in China is positioned to continue its rapid growth in the coming years, driven by the rise of flexitarianism in the country.

Report: Drystock farms nowhere near net-zero

1 Mar 21 - Sheep and beef farms are sequestering much less carbon than the drystock sector claims, officials say.

Three technologies that will change food production

25 Feb 21 - Agriculture’s impact on the planet is massive and relentless. Roughly 40 per cent of the Earth’s suitable land surface is used for cropland and grazing.

Plant-based diets crucial to saving wildlife, says UN report

4 Feb 21 - The global food system is the biggest driver of destruction of the natural world, and a shift to predominantly plant-based diets is crucial in halting the damage, according to a report.

Confusion over ETS rules is holding us back, says farmer

3 Feb 21 - Wairarapa farmer Mike Ashby feels the Government’s 2025 deadline for bringing agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme hanging over his head like a Sword of Damocles.

SYNLAIT: Food giants ready to pay for sustainable products

9 Dec 20 - New Zealand dairy producers and food processors have a great opportunity to benefit from recent emission-reduction pledges by global brands, Synlait Milk said.

Biogas plans from livestock called greenwashing by environmentalists

8 Dec 20 - Corporate pork and dairy producers are producing biogas to reduce methane emissions. But the actual climate benefits are unclear, and often overstated.

Dairy company says it's well on the way to measuring farm emissions

25 Nov 20 - Fonterra is optimistic it will find a way to accurately measure the amount of greenhouse gas emissions being produced by each dairy farm in time to meet a Government deadline of 2022.

Mixed farming beats intensive agriculture methods

24 Nov 20 - Once again, researchers have shown that it should be possible to feed the human race and leave enough space for the rest of creation, simply by going back to centuries-old mixed farming practices.

Let's recycle our urine for agriculture

20 Nov 20 - Every year on November 19, the United Nations celebrates one of public health’s greatest inventions – the toilet. Those who are fortunate enough to have access to one spend more than a year of their...

Dry run: the wet farming experiment that could sow seeds for the future

13 Nov 20 - A project trialling plants that thrive in more extreme whether, including sphagnum moss and bulrushes, could offer farmers a future.

Plant peas, Rabobank tells farmers

11 Nov 20 - New Zealand farmers wanting to take advantage of the growing demand for plant protein should be thinking peas.

Scientists, doctors sound warning for farmers

6 Nov 20 - Emissions from food production alone could sink the world’s chances of meeting the Paris Agreement, scientists are warning in research with major implications for New Zealand.

Emissions cuts from crossing milk and beef breeds

5 Nov 20 - Farmers could cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by two million tonnes a year by crossing beef and dairy cattle, scientists say.

Rewilded farmland can save money − and the Earth

3 Nov 20 - An international consortium of scientists has worked out − once again − how to conserve life on the planet and absorb dramatic quantities of the atmospheric carbon that is driving...

Ending hunger: science must stop neglecting smallholder farmers

13 Oct 20 - Policymakers urgently need ideas on ways to end hunger. But a global review of the literature finds that most researchers have had the wrong priorities.

Rising fertiliser use could cost Paris target

8 Oct 20 - Global growth in nitrous oxide emissions from intensive farming is jeopardising climate goals, scientists say in a major new paper.

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