New Zealand: Agriculture

More in New Zealand: Agriculture

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Why farmers should give up the plough

15 Aug 2016

Farmers need to give up the plough to protect UK food security in the face of climate change, warn government advisers.

Dairy groups blast methane reductions

11 Aug 2016

California’s attempt to curb emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas, is facing vocal opposition from a dairy industry that fears government meddling in the flatulence of its cows.

Fonterra turns dairy waste into fertiliser

9 Aug 2016

New wastewater treatment technology at Fonterra’s Edendale site is turning dairy waste into fertiliser that is helping local pastures to flourish.

Landcorp to can palm kernel animal feed

8 Aug 2016

Palm kernel won’t be fed to animals on Landcorp-owned farms after this financial year.

Trees clear winner as carbon farmer cashes in

5 Aug 2016

Carbon credits have netted a dairy farmer more than he could have ever made from running livestock on his Taranaki hill country.

BEE WARNED: Agriculture stands to lose millions

3 Aug 2016

New Zealand agriculture stands to lose $295-728 million annually if the local honeybee population continues to decline, according to a new study into the economic consequences of a decline in pollination rates.

Farming fund looks for new customers

2 Aug 2016

The 2017 round of the Sustainable Farming Fund is open for applications.

How right price, right credits would suit farmers

29 Jul 2016

A carbon price of $25 and a 50 per cent allocation of free credits would make the Emissions Trading Scheme viable for some farmers, a new report shows.

Irish agriculture faces emissions dilemma

26 Jul 2016

Ireland is facing a classic conflict, pitching economic growth targets against the need for action on climate change.

Solar farms offer bonus for tropical crops

19 Jul 2016

Research in England shows that solar farms reduce local temperature and provide shade, enabling crops in hot and desert climates to flourish.

DROUGHT-DODGER: Let's hear it for the humble bean

18 Jul 2016

Scientists have found that some varieties of beans − a vital food crop grown on every continent except Antarctica − have developed ways of coping with the climate-related droughts that threaten them.

FULL OF BEANS: Pulses should fill the food basket

7 Jul 2016

Three years ago, the United Nations passed a resolution declaring 2016 the International Year of the Pulse.

Do cows get seasick? Here comes the floating dairy farm

6 Jul 2016

Do cows get seasick? It’s not a question farmers often ask, except in the Dutch city of Rotterdam where a team of developers plans to build a floating dairy.

What do you do with 162 million tonnes of manure?

4 Jul 2016

Americans' access to cheap meat comes at a cost: Millions of tonnes of manure and toxic pollutants which threaten some of the nation's most important waterways.

How science can strengthen endangered plants

27 Jun 2016

As the human population swells – and in the face of a changing and unpredictable climate – the demand for natural resources increases. This leads to distressing rates of deforestation to prepare land for agriculture, medicinal and forestry products. Related to this is an alarming reduction in species worldwide.

The race is on to feed a warming world

24 Jun 2016

Scientists warn that plant breeders will need to accelerate development schedules if they are to ensure the ever-growing population can be fed as global temperatures rise

Can robots cut farming’s carbon footprint?

23 Jun 2016

Drones, satellites and weed-killing lasers could slash the energy used to grow crops, say experts.

Farming's climate impacts getting worse

16 Jun 2016

New United Nations figures show pollution from farming is continuing to get worse.

Extreme weather turning some crops toxic

9 Jun 2016

The United Nations has warned that extreme weather conditions are prompting crops to release toxins, and eating these crops is detrimental to human health.

Soil researcher has a wee problem

8 Jun 2016

Scientists are puzzled by unexpected and conflicting results from research into the affect of irrigation on greenhouse gas emissions from soil.

Farm trust chief ends 10 years at helm

1 Jun 2016

New Zealand Farm Environment Trust general manager David Natzke is stepping down after a decade at the helm.

Nanotechnology can help us to grow more food

30 May 2016

With the world’s population expected to exceed nine billion by 2050, scientists are working to develop new ways to meet rising global demand for food, energy and water without increasing the strain on natural resources.

Farming’s dirty needs have a deadly effect

27 May 2016

Farming is a dirty business – so dirty now that, according to new research, air pollution from agriculture in the form of fine particles of lung-choking dust outweighs all other human sources of that kind of pollution.

PORK TALK: UN expert calls for tax on meat production

27 May 2016

Governments should tax meat production in order to stem the global rise in consumption and the environmental damage that goes with it, according to a UN expert.

Cattle drugs could fuel climate change, study suggests

26 May 2016

Dosing farm animals with antibiotics increases greenhouse gas emissions from cow dung, research suggests.

Climate food shocks not good news for us, says report

23 May 2016

Climate change-induced food shocks will have a negative effect on New Zealand’s economy, researchers say.

Farming needs to play a lead role to meet Paris targets

23 May 2016

Researchers say new technical and policy solutions, plus major investment, are needed for agriculture to help to make the emissions reductions required to meet Paris targets.

BLOWIN' IN THE WIND: China's desertification dust is even reaching our shores

19 May 2016

Dust and sand storms in China have intensified and now pose provocative geopolitical challenges. Traces of China’s deserts have been found as far away as New Zealand and the French Alps.

Why we need soil microbes to fight climate change

19 May 2016

Around the globe, 2016 has been a dusty year. And the loss of soil presents a less obvious challenge: it robs us of a key ally in fighting climate change. That ally is soil microbes.

There's no need to fell forests to feed the world

28 Apr 2016

People don’t have to go hungry to conserve the planet’s forests. And farmers don’t have to bulldoze, burn or clear woodlands to make way for agriculture, according to new research.

Feeding cows brassicas might solve the nitrogen problem

20 Apr 2016

Could feeding cows brassicas help to reduce nitrogen loss from the soil?

Agriculture key to UN sustainable goals

19 Apr 2016

Agriculture will play a crucial role in addressing the planet’s future needs – whether on food production, health or the preservation of the environment. But transforming the dominant agricultural model could be the greatest challenge of all.

Farming fund backs 25 sustainable projects

18 Apr 2016

Twenty-five projects have been given a total of $6.9 million in the latest round of grants from the Sustainable Farming Fund.

Wasted food places heavy burden on climate

15 Apr 2016

As obesity levels soar, cutting the vast amount of food we waste could have a major impact on reducing the effects of climate change, as well as alleviating world hunger.

China buys up farmland in central France

14 Apr 2016

A Chinese company has acquired hundreds of hectares of cereal-producing farmland in central France, provoking astonishment and anger in the farming community.

Hotel chain grows own veges to cut food waste

14 Apr 2016

One of the world’s biggest hotel chains has announced it will plant vegetable gardens at many of its hotels as part of a plan to cut food waste by a third.

There's a sea of our soil ending up in the ocean

12 Apr 2016

Soil is a farmer’s most precious resource, but, in New Zealand, we lose it to the ocean about 10 times faster than the rest of the world, with between 200 million and 300 million tonnes sliding into the sea every year.

GM crops can thrive as climate warms

5 Apr 2016

Plants genetically modified to take advantage of hotter temperatures and increased carbon dioxide could cut fertiliser use and raise yields to alleviate global food shortages.

Rising heat brings earlier (and better) vintage

30 Mar 2016

Winegrowers can expect good grape harvests much earlier now, thanks to climate change, but scientists say the effect may not last.

Cuba’s sustainable agriculture at risk in US thaw

29 Mar 2016

President Obama’s trip to Cuba this week accelerated the warming of US-Cuban relations. Many people in both countries believe that normalizing relations will spur investment that can help Cuba to develop its economy and improve life for its citizens. But in agriculture, US investment could cause harm instead.

No worries, says Key, science will save the world

23 Mar 2016

Prime Minister John Key says that science will save the world from climate change.

Are vegetables really the most low-carbon diet?

23 Mar 2016

It is often claimed that a vegetarian diet is better for the environment, because grazing animals such as cattle and sheep produce a lot of methane, a far more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide.

Goodies v baddies ... why labelling is holding farming back

22 Mar 2016

It’s hard to keep wild animals out of farms. Birds, mammals and insects all affect crop yields, in positive ways (such as flies pollinating flowers) and negative ones (such as when birds damage fruit).

Give ETS strength, pleads forest industry chief

17 Mar 2016

The Emissions Trading Scheme is a eunuch that needs to have its vasectomy reversed, the head of the forestry industry says.

Climate needs Africa’s farmers to change fast

15 Mar 2016

Climate change could soon begin to make dramatic impacts on Africa’s agriculture. Up to 60 per cent of land now used to grow beans could become unviable by the end of the century – and in some places, farmers will need to change their ways within the next 10 years.