New Zealand: Agriculture
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.
Our best shot at cooling the planet might be right under our feet
12 Sep 2016
Studies suggest that regenerating the soil by turning our backs on industrial farming holds the key to tackling climate change.
Making wine brings a lot of energy headaches
12 Sep 2016
Wine production consumes large amounts of energy and generates a sizeable quantity of greenhouse gases.
Planting flooded paddies raises rice methane threat
12 Sep 2016
Directly seeding rice into fields rather than transplanting it into flooded paddies would dramatically reduce methane emissions and slow down climate change, according to scientists studying the staple crop.
FLY BUYS: Insects could be the animal food of the future
5 Sep 2016
While science is racing to develop more drought tolerant crop strains through genetic engineering, there may be a simpler alternative ‑- flies.
Planet paying high price for palm oil profits
5 Sep 2016
Palm oil makes a big contribution to modern life as one of the most widely used substances in food, cooking, cosmetics, medicines and a range of chemicals. But the industry that produces it is seriously harming the planet.
Countdown to push free-range eggs
18 Aug 2016
The Countdown supermarket chain says it will make supply agreements with individual producers of free-range and barn eggs, giving suppliers greater economic security.
Simple pollination steps help cotton farmers
16 Aug 2016
Cotton is the world’s most widely grown and economically important non-food crop. In the United States alone, farmers grow cotton on 12 million to 14.5 million acres, and produce a yearly harvest worth nearly $25 billion.
Trans-Tasman ministers push climate cooperation amid NZ retreat from climate commitments
Mon 8 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Last week's 2+2 Climate and Finance Ministers’ Dialogue in Auckland urged deeper trans-Tasman climate cooperation, despite New Zealand’s recent moves to weaken climate policies.
Market rewards firming over renewables in gentailer split
3 Dec 2025
A clearer valuation divide is emerging across the gentailer sector, with the market increasingly rewarding companies positioned for flexibility and firming rather than renewable build-out.
Mounting emissions due to Government decisions
20 Nov 2025
By Liz Kivi | The Coalition Government’s climate policies have added a whopping 26 million tonnes of emissions out to 2030, according to new analysis of Government projections.
Christchurch Airport boasts world-first liquid-hydrogen refuelling for test aircraft
30 Oct 2025
By Liz Kivi | Local companies working on hydrogen-electric flight have made ‘a significant step forward’ in successfully filling aviation tanks with liquid hydrogen produced and stored on-site at an international airport for the first time.
Uncertainty eroding confidence in forestry sector
Fri 5 Dec 2025
By Shannon Morris-Williams | Warnings are mounting that tree planting is set to plunge to “very close to zero”, as new Ministry for Primary Industries data shows ETS registration applications falling sharply as confidence in forestry declines.
Investors must support positive climate-tech
28 Nov 2025
OPINION: We need better leadership than the current ‘climate opportunism’ that is rife in the Beehive, and we need to back a marketplace that will make it happen, writes Rob Campbell.
