New Zealand: Agriculture
ETS reviewers eye Australian farm plan
13 May 2011
The panel reviewing the Emissions Trading Scheme is looking at Australia’s plan to give tradable credits to farmers for storing carbon in soil.
Figures show we're not so bad, say farmers
13 May 2011
Latest statistics show that New Zealand agriculture is not the intensive, greenhouse-gas emitting industry that it is portrayed as, says Federated Farmers.
New centre gets up close to nitrous oxide
8 Apr 2011
New Zealand’s ability to measure emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide just got better.
Study suggests bio-farming does the job
8 Apr 2011
The preliminary results from a project to study the impact of biological farming systems suggest it reduces nitrogen leaching.
Greens question Fonterra over water action
8 Apr 2011
The Green Party is congratulating Fonterra for investing in clean-water technology in its Australian factory - but want to know why it won’t do the same at its Wairarapa factory.
Scientists show biochar slashes animal gas
25 Mar 2011
New Zealand scientists have proved that emissions of the greenhouse gas nitrous oxide from animal urine can be cut drastically by adding biochar to the soil.
New centre will test gas samples
25 Mar 2011
The National Centre for Nitrous Oxide Measurement will be opened at Lincoln University next week.
Jilted Fonterra to plead case at ETS review
18 Mar 2011
Access to free credits for trade-exposed businesses and the entry of agriculture into the Emissions Trading Scheme are two of the issues Fonterra will be raising with the ETS review panel.
Fertiliser firm wins battle over inhibitor
11 Mar 2011
A Christchurch company has won a court battle to patent its nitrogen emissions-reducing fertiliser.
NZ farmers happy with omission of agriculture
25 Feb 2011
Federated Farmers will use Australia's decision not to put a price on agricultural emissions to back its argument to keep farmers out of the New Zealand scheme.
Science key to the future, says Gluckman
25 Feb 2011
New Zealand must globalise its science to strengthen its economy and protect its social and environmental development, says the Prime Minister's Chief Science Adviser, Sir Peter Gluckman.
Fewer emissions aid rural sector, says Garnaut
18 Feb 2011
Cutting greenhouse gas emissions could improve the economic prospects of rural Australia, says that country’s government adviser on climate change.
Ag emissions calculator updated
11 Feb 2011
The group giving neutral climate change advice to agriculture has updated its online emissions calculator.
Animal emissions going under microscope
28 Jan 2011
The Southern Hemisphere’s largest research centre measuring methane emissions from animals will be opened in Palmerston North next month.
Some growers qualify for free carbon credits
21 Jan 2011
Horticulturalists have joined the list of those eligible for free carbon credits under the Emissions Trading Scheme.
CANCUN: Give money to research, says FedFarm
17 Dec 2010
The Cancun climate change summit proved that a solution to global carbon emissions is still as elusive as ever, says Federated Farmers.
Top dairy farmers to talk sustainability
26 Nov 2010
Driving greater resource use efficiency on dairy farms and food security will be key themes at a sustainability forum for award-winning dairy farmers in Hamilton at the end of this month.
Farmers must come first, says Dairy group
19 Nov 2010
Farmers must be the point of obligation if agriculture does come into the Emissions Trading Scheme on schedule, the dairy industry group DairyNZ says.
What Nick Smith said to farmers
19 Nov 2010
Comments by Climate Change Issues Minister Nick Smith to Federated Farmers this week on the prospect of delaying agriculture's entry into the Emissions Trading Scheme have caused a minor media flurry.
Farming call vital for forests, says scientist
19 Nov 2010
Keeping agriculture out of the Emissions Trading Scheme beyond 2015 will affect forestry planting levels, warns a forestry expert.
ETS leading to farm subsidies, warns Fed head
19 Nov 2010
Foresters should be growing trees for wood, not carbon storage subsidies, says Federated Farmers.
Dairying gets head around the environment
12 Nov 2010
A significant awareness of environmental issues is emerging in the international dairy industry, Fonterra says.
ETS not the way to go, says FedFarm
12 Nov 2010
Federated Farmers has launched another assault on the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Former MP heads agriculture advisory group
1 Oct 2010
Former National Party MP Katherine Rich is to head the group advising the Government on the rules governing agriculture’s entry to the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Inaugural National Winner Features In 2011 Ballance Farm Environment Awards
20 Aug 2010
The announcement of a national winner will be a feature of the 2011 Ballance Farm Environment Awards.
Now's the time to apply to farming fund
6 Aug 2010
The new funding round for the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry's Sustainable Farming Fund is open.
No country for farmers? ... what Federated Farmers said on carbon forestry
30 Jul 2010
Twenty per cent of New Zealand's sheep and beef farms could be replaced by oxymoronic 'carbon forestry', if the ambitions of foreign owned carbon foresters and the Government are realised.
Soil saviour Flannery to tell our farmers how
9 Jul 2010
Australian scientist and environmentalist Tim Flannery is heading to New Zealand to push the idea of sequestering carbon in our soil.
'Bogus' food miles theory still a concern, says food council
9 Jul 2010
New Zealand's food exports could be affected by concern over food miles, despite research that shoots it to pieces, says the Food and Grocery Council.
We won't dump you in it, minister tells farmers
25 Jun 2010
Agriculture Minister David Carter is promising farmers they will not come into the Emissions Trading Scheme if New Zealand’s trading partners have not moved to cut their carbon emissions.
Clover breakthrough could cut farm emissions
18 Jun 2010
A team of kiwi scientists think they can alter white clover so that animals grazing on it receive a more protein and produce less methane.
Organic farmer: We're not all the same
11 Jun 2010
An organic sheep and beef farmer who says she doesn’t mind paying for any environmental damage she causes is calling for the environmental benefits of organic farming to be recognised under the ETS.
You had enough time, MAF tells farmers
11 Jun 2010
The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry says it gave as much time as it could for submissions on the rules governing agriculture under the Emissions Trading Scheme.
NIWA scientists put better nitrogen management on the farm to the test
11 Jun 2010
New Zealand science is taking a global lead in assessing techniques for the mitigation of pastoral greenhouse gas emissions.
Help us make money from carbon, pleads dairyman
4 Jun 2010
A dairy farmer planning on making money from farming carbon says Federated Farmers is failing to provide leadership on the issue.
...and what Federated Farmers says about sheep farms and the ETS
4 Jun 2010
Federated Farmers says New Zealand will have to sell an extra 4.7 million lambs to offset the cost of the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Vital ETS rules for agriculture emissions being prepared
4 Jun 2010
All-important fine detail determining how emissions are measured for agriculture are now being developed.
Fonterra vows to fight on for free credits share
21 May 2010
Fonterra is continuing its battle for a share of the free carbon credits available to trade-exposed heavy emitters.
Government takes ETS hardline with farmers
7 May 2010
The Government is going on the offensive with farmers over the Emissions Trading Scheme, telling them that abandoning the scheme could lead to a trade backlash.
Countries expected to agree on animal-emissions action
9 Apr 2010
Senior government officials and scientists from 30 countries meeting in Wellington are expected to release a draft charter today for the Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
Kiwi dollars might fund overseas research
1 Apr 2010
Part of the $45 million the Government has pledged to the Global Research Alliance on agricultural greenhouse gas emissions could be spent on research in other countries.
Scientists aim to unlock ag-gas emissions secrets
26 Feb 2010
Understanding some of the trickiest aspects of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions is the first job of the new Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre, says its director.
Australian firms eye biochar production
19 Feb 2010
South Australia could become a leader in the generation of renewable energy from organic material following the signing of an agreement between two of the state’s leading environment-focused organisations.
Scientists hot on the trail of burp-maker
29 Jan 2010
New Zealand scientists have mapped a methanogen believed to be responsible for methane emissions from ruminants.
NZ might get its way, says business council head
18 Dec 2009
New Zealand might get what it wants on forestry and land-use – providing an agreement comes out of the Copenhagen international climate change talks.
NZ pours $45m into global research fund
18 Dec 2009
New Zealand will put $45 million towards the Global Research Alliance on agriculture greenhouse gases over the next four years.
Indoor dairying cuts emissions, says expert
11 Dec 2009
Switching to indoor dairy farming would cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, says an American researcher.
Organic farming key to cutting emissions
11 Dec 2009
Converting Britain to organic agriculture would cut that country’s carbon emissions by 3.2 million tonnes – the equivalent of taking nearly a million cars off the road, says the Soil Assocation.
No-go Nicolson: It's best I stay down on the farm
4 Dec 2009
Federated Farmers president Don Nicolson says he’s doing his bit for climate change by not going to international climate change talks in Copenhagen next week.
Soil sequestration seen as cash boost for farmers
27 Nov 2009
Soil sequestration of carbon will be a significant income source for farmers in the future, says the head of the Berl economic analysis group.
Opposition slams environment ministry merger
Today 11:30am
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Opposition MPs accused the Government of downgrading climate and environmental protections as legislation to abolish the Ministry for the Environment and merge it into a new mega-ministry passed its second reading in Parliament.
GIDI-style help cheaper than LNG: MBIE
Mon 11 May 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | Officials advised ministers last July that the lowest-cost way to free up gas for use during dry winters was to assist industrial gas users to switch to electricity.
Climate pollution static but NZ still on track for first emissions budget, says MfE
17 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | New Zealand is still on track to meet its first emissions budget, according to the Ministry for the Environment, despite the pace of emissions reductions slowing to a standstill.
NZ’s latest push to roll out more EV chargers is a good thing – but can it go the distance?
14 Apr 2026
A $50 million plan to expand New Zealand’s public electric vehicle (EV) charging network marks another step toward a lower-emissions transport system.
Drop in ETS forestry registrations
5 May 2026
By Liz Kivi | ETS forestry registrations have dropped off this year, with the new mandatory emissions return period, new land-use rules, and carbon price volatility all meaning participants aren’t rushing to register forestry in the emissions trading scheme.
Victorian Hydrogen announces Southland urea fertiliser project using coal
22 Apr 2026
By Liz Kivi | Australian-based Victorian Hydrogen has announced it is developing a new 1.5 million-tonne-a-year urea fertiliser operation in Southland, which it will apply for under fast-track legislation.
