New Zealand: Agriculture
Livestock under pressure for nitrogen pollution
7 Jul 2020
The livestock sector is being singled out in new research for hugely increasing global nitrogen pollution.
Let's feed the people first, say ag leaders
2 Jul 2020
Agricultural industry leaders say they need to feed New Zealanders before the rest of the world.
NZ must rein in Fonterra, says US watchdog
16 Jun 2020
Fonterra is among 13 global dairy companies criticised for continuing to increase greenhouse gas emissions despite their climate damage.
Saucy sugar joins drive to find us better food
19 May 2020
Australia’s sugar industry is joining forces with health experts to call for a complete change to the world’s food systems.
New genetics regime will cut dairy herd emissions
12 May 2020
A new national regime for recording dairy genetics will help to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the nation’s herd, officials say.
Our hill-country is easy going for nitrous oxide
16 Apr 2020
New Zealand’s hill-country farms are releasing much less nitrous oxide than previously thought.
Scientists back soil sequestration
18 Mar 2020
Soil sequestration could remove billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide a year from the atmosphere, scientists say.
Experts to probe farm emissions tool
12 Mar 2020
A panel has been appointed to review the functioning of Overseer, the farm environmental modelling tool that could help farmers to measure their greenhouse gas emissions.
Maori land owners back biological farming
6 Mar 2020
The owners of a million hectares of Maori land are turning their backs on “conventional” agriculture and adopting regenerative practices.
Startup predicts soil-carbon credits for farmers
5 Mar 2020
A company connecting investors directly with farmers taking action on climate change says it expects they will, eventually, get credits for the carbon stored in their paddocks.
Government eyes new rules for inhibitors
14 Feb 2020
The Government is considering introducing new rules to govern the use of inhibitors in agriculture to avoid a repeat of the 2013 DCD trade disaster.
Urban farming focus of $100,000 research award
5 Feb 2020
An urban farming initiative is at the centre of the first $100,000 Pivot Award, a premier research award aimed at enabling innovation in Taranaki's agriculture sector.
EU urged to adopt meat tax to tackle climate emergency
5 Feb 2020
A sustainability charge on meat to cover its environmental damage could raise billions to help farmers and consumers produce and eat better food, according to a report.
Farms must go back to the future, says minister
30 Jan 2020
Farmers will have to move away from intensive, specialised farming as climate change bites, the agriculture minister says.
Minister questions forest conversion claims
12 Nov 2019
The Government denies large areas of productive farmland are being converted to forestry as the country tries to offset its greenhouse gas emissions.
Farmers and foresters are taking to the streets
14 Oct 2019
Tensions between farmers and foresters over land acquisitions are about to be played out on the streets of Wellington.
NZ bankrolls Scottish search for clean green sheep
4 Oct 2019
New Zealand is putting money and science behind Scottish research into farming climate-friendly sheep.
ROBO-CROP: Five roles robots will play in future of farming
2 Oct 2019
With the complex data collecting devices of today’s world, agriculture is in the midst of a high-tech revolution- particularly in the area of precision farming.
Why environment has place in red-meat debate
1 Oct 2019
Recommendations that people should keep eating red meat fail to take environmental damage into account – posing a long-term threat to human health, says one of New Zealand’s leading medical researchers.
Farmers fret over green demands, says bank
26 Sep 2019
Fonterra’s economic woes are not the only thing worrying farmers – they’re also becoming increasingly anxious about the Government’s plans to make them clean up their environmental performance and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Food supplies under threat as phosphate supply runs short
9 Sep 2019
The world faces an “imminent crisis” in the supply of phosphate, a critical fertiliser that underpins the world’s food supply, scientists have warned.
FARMING FUTURE: When a fence is not a fence
5 Sep 2019
Virtual fencing is a new technology that could help cattle farmers to deal with the changing climate by allowing a system of land sharing that delivers sustainability and productivity.
HEMP HURRAH: Bigger than oil, says backer
23 Aug 2019
The low-carbon future is hemp, says a company dedicated to making the once-banned product the backbone of the New Zealand economy.
Pioneer pushes farming for soil-carbon credits
21 Aug 2019
Farming for soil-carbon credits offers landowners in New Zealand and other OECD agricultural countries a vast potential to make money, says a global carbon markets pioneer.
SOIL STUDY: What's going on beneath our feet?
20 Aug 2019
Scientists have completed one of the first studies of the impact of drought and warmer temperatures on living organisms below the ground.
Changing climate now farmers' biggest worry
12 Aug 2019
Climate change is now the single greatest issue on farmers’ minds, according to the latest Farm Confidence Survey.
Food growers fear loss of land to dairying
26 Jul 2019
The Government’s drive to cut greenhouse gas emissions could see horticultural land taken over by a dairy industry being squeezed by expanding forestry, MPs have been told.
Farmers back 2030 methane cuts - but not 2050
25 Jul 2019
Dairy farmers are backing the Government’s plan to cut methane emissions by 10 per cent by 2030, telling MPs it is achievable.
Pigs in the shade: This radical farming system banks on trees
16 Jul 2019
A farm in Portugal is showing how the ancient art of silvopasture – combining livestock with productive trees – might offer some real answers to the climate crisis.
Think bioenergy for woodlots, farmers told
15 Jul 2019
Farmers facing falling log exports and prices for timber from woodlots are being urged to consider a new market – bioenergy.
Farmers table offer for cutting methane
4 Jul 2019
Farmers say they are prepared to cut methane emissions by 10 per cent by 2050 – well short of the target the Government intends imposing.
Nervous farmers eye methane cut obligations
1 Jul 2019
The prospect of having to cut methane emissions by 10 per cent over the next decade is depressing otherwise optimistic farmers.
Nats vow to fight farm emissions moves
17 Jun 2019
The National Party says it will continue to oppose bringing agricultural emissions into the Emissions Trading Scheme.
Farmers not alone in methane mix, say Nats
10 Jun 2019
The farming sector isn’t the only industry that should be targeted for methane reductions, the National Party says.
IT'S OFFICIAL:We should cut down on meat meals
5 Jun 2019
It’s World Environment Day – and officials are telling New Zealanders to mark it by eating less meat.
Why many farmers aren't cutting emissions
4 Jun 2019
Almost half New Zealand’s farmers don’t think they should have to cut greenhouse gas emissions from their operations – yet most are willing to do it if they can be convinced it won’t cost them money, new research shows.
Disbeliever Brash turns financial backer
6 May 2019
Former National Party leader and one-time Reserve Bank Governor Dr Don Brash might have had doubts in the past about whether humans are changing the climate, but now he’s throwing his money and weight behind technology that could help to solve New Zealand’s methane headache.
Carbon farming could be the way, says Rabobank
3 May 2019
Agricultural finance specialist Rabobank is telling farming customers to think about carbon farming, saying it could be more profitable than farming animals.
Farm emissions can be slashed, says scientist
1 May 2019
A New Zealand scientist says his technology could slash New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, earning carbon credits for farmers and boosting farm production.
Farmers fight build-up of salt in soils
16 Apr 2019
Irrigation, drought, sea-level rise and more are causing salt to build up in soils around the world.
Don't rule out GE as a solution, say farmers
8 Apr 2019
Genetic modification should not be ruled out by the Government as a solution for climate change and other environmental issues, Federated Farmers says.
FLY FEAR: Fruit pest will enjoy warming climate
27 Feb 2019
The risk of Queensland fruit flies establishing in New Zealand is expecting to increase as the climate warms, threatening the country’s horticultural industry.
Farmers put climate worries on back burner
15 Feb 2019
Climate change and the Emissions Trading Scheme have fallen down the list of things worrying farmers.
Why we must have climate-smart farming
31 Jan 2019
Food shocks are becoming more frequent as the climate changes, prompting calls for “climate-smart” farming systems and the building up of global food reserves.
We must farm fewer animals, say scientists
29 Nov 2018
A new science paper spelling out why animal agriculture will have to be severely curtailed if the Paris Agreement targets are to be met could have huge implications for New Zealand.
Use of nitrogen must be curbed, says OECD
23 Nov 2018
Nitrogen use – responsible for a large chunk of New Zealand’s pollution and greenhouse gas emissions – needs curbing, the OECD is warning.
Nitrogen inhibitors could return to the farm
5 Nov 2018
Nitrogen inhibitors could be in use on New Zealand farms again by 2020, farmers say.
Emissions failure will hurt farmers, says Fonterra
31 Oct 2018
A global failure to cut greenhouse gas emissions will see New Zealand farmers face demands for major production cuts, the world’s largest milk-producer is warning.
TINY TRACTORS: Welcome to the rise of the robot farmer
23 Oct 2018
Tiny automated machines could soon take care of the entire growing process down on the farm. Fewer chemicals, more efficient – where’s the downside?
How the world dairy herd could be brought to its knees
16 Oct 2018
The drive for genetic selection means cattle are increasingly vulnerable to deadly new epidemics that could emerge as the climate warms.
Greens slam move to disband Environment Ministry
Fri 20 Feb 2026
The Green Party has joined climate and health advocates in condemning the Government's decision to disestablish the Ministry for the Environment as part of a multi-ministry merger.
Govt’s own modelling shows LNG leads to higher electricity prices than other solutions
Thu 19 Feb 2026
By Christina Hood | COMMENT: According to modelling conducted by Concept Consulting for MBIE, either developing the Tariki gas storage facility or managing electricity demand would deliver lower wholesale electricity prices than the Government’s preferred solution of an LNG import terminal.
Annual emissions fell to lowest in 15 years in Sept 2025
5 Feb 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions fell to their lowest annual total in the year to September 2025 since records began 2010, according to Statistics New Zealand data published this morning.
NZ could become ‘dumping ground’ for dirty vehicles: Commissioner
16 Dec 2025
By Liz Kivi | Simon Upton, Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment, has warned the Government that its changes to the clean car standard could turn the country into a dumping ground for high emitting cars, making future emissions budgets harder to achieve.
Slash for cash turns storm debris into jobs and climate resilience
Thu 19 Feb 2026
A community-led initiative in Tairāwhiti is transforming storm-damaged forestry slash into jobs, soil regeneration and long-term climate resilience.
Kiwi startup takes on global plastic pollution
12 Feb 2026
A New Zealand startup is launching what it says is the world’s first plastic-free effervescent drink tablet, with the ambitious aim of eliminating bottled beverages to reduce global plastic pollution.
