New Zealand: Agriculture
Targeted forests could slash farm emissions
9 May 2017
Planting forests to clean up waterways could cut New Zealand’s net greenhouse gas emissions from land use by 80 per cent.
Water shortage could hurt European farmers
3 May 2017
Water scarcity half a world away caused by climate change could push up prices for meat and diary products in Europe.
Dutch building Europe’s first vertical farm
26 Apr 2017
A farm in the Netherlands will serve one of Europe’s biggest supermarket chains with lettuce grown using LED horticultural lighting.
Weird weather is being felt down on the farm
21 Apr 2017
Changes to New Zealand’s weather caused by global warming are starting to affect the country’s agricultural earnings.
We must make our soils great again
19 Apr 2017
Restoring soil fertility is one of humanity’s best options for making progress on three daunting challenges: Feeding everyone, weathering climate change and conserving biodiversity.
America’s farmers face uncertain future
7 Apr 2017
Spare a thought for the farmers of America: climate change is going to make their lives more difficult.
Healthy soil is the real key to feeding the world
6 Apr 2017
One of the biggest modern myths about agriculture is that organic farming is inherently sustainable. It can be, but it isn’t necessarily.
March of Myrtle rust could mean trouble for trees
5 Apr 2017
Myrtle rust – a fungus disease that could kill native and commercial trees – is in New Zealand.
Farms can grow production … and cut emissions
3 Apr 2017
Substantial reductions in the intensity of greenhouse gas emissions at a South Canterbury farm show environmental gains can be made hand in hand with a farm’s growth, government scientists say.
COW QUESTION: California gets to grips with farm emissions
27 Mar 2017
California has adopted strict rules for the control of methane, including how to reduce emissions from the state's 1.4 million dairy cows.
Europe poised for total ban on bee-harming pesticides
24 Mar 2017
The world’s most widely used insecticides would be banned from all fields across Europe under draft regulations from the European commission.
FAMILY FEUD: Princess Anne backs GM crops and livestock
23 Mar 2017
Princess Anne has strongly backed genetically modified crops, saying she would grow them on her own land and that GM livestock would be a “bonus”.
Phosphorous is vital ... and we're running out
17 Mar 2017
All life needs phosphorus and agricultural yields are improved when phosphorus is added to growing plants and the diet of livestock. But there is a problem.
Organic farming matters - just not in the way you think
13 Mar 2017
Organically produced food looks good and tastes good ... but can it feed the world?
Heat shows need to adapt livestock management
2 Mar 2017
During the recent heatwave in New South Wales, which saw record-breaking temperatures for two days in a row, 40 dairy cows died in Shoalhaven, a city just south of Sydney.
Creative technology can turn a profit on food waste
1 Mar 2017
Creative businesses aim to get food that would otherwise be wasted into the hands of those who can use it.
Farmers want action on land use and tree planting
23 Feb 2017
Farmers want research into alternative land uses to help them to cope with climate change, and greater incentives to plant carbon-storing trees on their farms.
Solar energy powers sustainable solutions
23 Feb 2017
Every mouthful of food eaten by virtually every creature on Earth depends ultimately on the sun.
Government eyes land-use changes to cut emissions
22 Feb 2017
The Government is looking at changing some current land uses – including forestry and farming – to cut New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.
RAISING THE STEAKS: Startup crowdfunds sustainable beef
22 Feb 2017
Seattle start-up Cow Crowd works directly with ranchers across the US, cutting out the middleman and giving farmers an alternative to selling calves to factory farms.
ROBO BEES: Mini-drones could help out with pollination duties
13 Feb 2017
Mini-drones sporting horsehair coated in a sticky gel could one day take the pressure off beleaguered bee populations by transporting pollen from plant to plant.
How mini-farms can achieve maxi-production
10 Feb 2017
Tiny, biointensive operations show smallholder farmers from around the world how they can grow far more food than conventional approaches.
Seawater puts a dent in delta rice production
8 Feb 2017
Urgent action is being called for to prevent salt intrusion causing severe damage to rice production and loss of drinking water in Bangladesh and Vietnam.
US faces ‘abrupt and substantial’ crop losses
26 Jan 2017
Harvests in the United States are liable to shrink by between a fifth and a half of their present size because of rising temperatures, an international scientific team has found.
Farming faces pressure from global methane rise
16 Dec 2016
A rapid increase in global methane emissions could put New Zealand under renewed international pressure to cut greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture.
Healthy soils could start at the dairy shed
8 Dec 2016
Bio-waste from places like dairy sheds can be used to transform degraded soils into top-producing land, research is showing.
Nitrogen pollution forgotten element of climate change
8 Dec 2016
While carbon pollution gets all the headlines for its role in climate change, nitrogen pollution is arguably a more challenging problem.
Pay farmers to fix environment, say scientists
7 Dec 2016
Up-front payments of $400 a kilogram to cut nitrogen run-off from farms would see dairy farms turned into forests, Government-funded research shows.
CLIMATE CALL: Waterway plantings worth billions
6 Dec 2016
New Zealand will be billions of dollars a year better off if it plants trees along waterways.
World warming almost certain to affect wheat yields
30 Nov 2016
Farmers and consumers have just been issued another warning: global warming will almost certainly reduce wheat yields.
Rural bank warns farmers of green backlash
29 Nov 2016
A rural bank is warning New Zealand farmers that poor environmental performance could create trade barriers against their produce.
EDS tries to stop Mackenzie land conversions
21 Nov 2016
The Environmental Defence Society is going to court to stop land-use conversions in the Mackenzie Country.
Tax meat and dairy to cut emissions, study urges
9 Nov 2016
Climate taxes on meat and milk would lead to huge and vital cuts in carbon emissions as well as saving half a million lives a year via healthier diets.
New carbon farming technology could drive up farm profits
1 Nov 2016
A new technology that measures the precise level of carbon in soil could drive an Australian boom in carbon farming.
Changing rainfall patterns threaten food production
1 Nov 2016
Rainfall patterns will have changed so drastically by the end of this century that agriculture, forestry and fishing will all be seriously affected, warns the UN’s latest State of Food and Agriculture report.
Students make critical nitrogen-pasture link
27 Oct 2016
TIMING COULD BE everything when it comes to getting the best results out of fertilisers in the dairy industry.
Scientist wins honour for dairying work
27 Oct 2016
A scientist who has led pioneering research on nitrate leaching and nitrous oxide emissions from intensive dairying has been made a fellow of New Zealand’s Royal Society.
Secret ingredient lures bees into making more food
20 Oct 2016
A plant virus has developed the trick of attracting bees to the plants it has attacked to make sure they produce plenty of seed.
Monoculture the enemy of our rainforests
17 Oct 2016
SMALL-SCALE monocultural farming threatens rainforests, new research has found.
Seaweed could cut methane emissions from cows
14 Oct 2016
When Canadian farmer Joe Dorgan noticed about 11 years ago that cattle in a paddock by the sea were more productive than his other cows, he didn't just rediscover an Ancient Greek and Icelandic practice.
Agroforestry can help the planet (and profits)
11 Oct 2016
Feeding the world’s growing population in a rapidly warming world will not be possible with modern intensive agriculture that relies on cutting down more forests to plant crops, according to new research.
Trendy foods should come with a recipe for sustainability
6 Oct 2016
The soft creamy flesh of a ripe avocado makes an attractive and healthy addition to many of our shopping baskets.
Farewell to green movement's prince of permaculture
30 Sep 2016
Permaculture pioneer Bill Mollison, who died last weekend, was one of the true heroes of the modern environmental movement.
Food supply fears spark China's global land grab
28 Sep 2016
China is protecting itself against future food supply problems caused by climate change by buying or leasing large tracts of land in Africa and South America, a leading UK climate scientist says.
Farming mega-mergers threaten food security
28 Sep 2016
Proposed new deals would put the majority of seeds, chemicals and GM traits in the hands of three companies, deepening poverty for small-scale farmers.
What we can do about threats to our food security and feed nine billion people
23 Sep 2016
Can we really feed nine billion people? That’s the estimated global population in the year 2050.
Agriculture emissions continue to grow
16 Sep 2016
New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture continue to climb.
Lower crop yields test market forces
15 Sep 2016
Food will cost the consumer more as a result of climate change, but it is not at all clear that farmers will profit accordingly, says a new study.
Now it's milk ... minus the dairy industry
14 Sep 2016
A San-Francisco startup believes it has found a solution for the guilty conscience of consumers who love eating dairy ice-cream, cheese and yoghurt, but oppose factory-style farming and its environmental footprint.
Warmer world not healthy for wheat crops
13 Sep 2016
Global wheat production will fall as temperatures rise, a new study shows.
Govt’s relief package risks entrenching fossil fuel dependence, critics warn
Wed 25 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | The Government’s $373 million fuel relief package is facing criticism for propping up petrol use rather than reducing demand, as prices surge and some experts predict fuel shortages due to conflict in the Middle East.
NZ prepares to join ‘gold rush’ for white hydrogen
Wed 25 Mar 2026
By Pattrick Smellie | New Zealand may be close to commercialising the capture and use of naturally occurring ‘white’ hydrogen, with investment plans for developments in the Wairarapa region picking up pace in response to spiralling oil prices.
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.
Govt's $50m EV charging boost to double network
Mon 23 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | More than 2,500 new EV chargers are set to be rolled out across New Zealand, more than doubling the public network – but still leaving the total at less than half the Government's 10,000 target.
Tairāwhiti needs proper Govt support to heal the land – not empty announcements for political optics
24 Feb 2026
OPINION: The Government’s answer to Tairāwhiti’s severe erosion crisis – that the region apply for modest, contestable funding rounds – while rejecting the region's own land transition business case, leaves our long-term resilience hanging in the balance, writes Manu Caddie.
Rule changes could reshape corporate emissions strategies
6 Mar 2026
By Shannon Morris-Williams | New Zealand organisations may need to rethink how they manage and report electricity-related emissions as proposed global accounting changes take shape, according to a new report.
