Are we taking IPCC advice on methane emissions or not? – Owen Jennings :
It would not be difficult to imagine the huge outcry if, when elected, the Green Party decided to value your assets four times higher than their true value for the purposes of their Asset Tax concept.
Outrage would follow.
It is hard to think it could happen, even among those desperate to hike taxes.
Yet, in its latest report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) revised its assessment of the impact on the temperature of ruminant methane downward by a factor of three to four times. . .
Changing stereotypes via social media – Sally Rae :
Meet Southland sheep and beef farmer Ben Dooley.
He’s a passionate Southland farmer who is also passionate about educating others on modern farming practices.
Ben Dooley, who farms at Wyndham with his wife Sarah, is active on various social media platforms, discussing everything from winter cropping and new maize and clover planting, to general farming and mental health.
He was keen to change the perception of farmers so his two young sons, Ted, 7, and Elliot, 4, could continue the family’s farming tradition — should they choose to — and not face the negativity that his generation has. . .
Renewed calls to undam hydro plans – Lois Williams :
A power company with mana whenua backing is hoping to revive a West Coast hydro scheme already turned down by the Government
It’s clean and blue-green and it could power half the homes on the West Coast.
But a revamped proposal for a modest hydro scheme on the Waitaha River is still in limbo 14 months after it was filed – possibly blown there by the draught from a revolving door of successive conservation ministers.
Greymouth-based electricity company Westpower and local iwi asked then-minister Kiri Allan in May last year to reconsider the Waitaha project three years after it was controversially declined by Environment Minister David Parker. . .
Bremworth’s last ditch bid to salvage NZ”s dying wool industry – Jonathan Milne :
Kiwi carpet-maker Bremworth will today announce new 10-year supply contracts to provide its farmers with certainty – and the agriculture minister is calling on government agencies to look favourably on NZ wool carpets.
It was Toby Williams’ great-great-grandfather who first ran sheep on their rugged East Coast hills – and if it’s what they want, Williams would love his two sons to follow in the family footsteps.
But it costs more to shear sheep than farmers can make from selling the wool. Many sheep farmers are already turning over their farms to plantation forestry, for the carbon credits. Others are using short-wool Wiltshire rams to breed the wool off their Romney flocks, to farm only for meat – though even that price has plummeted from last year’s peak of nearly $10/kg to just $6.75/kg.
The flock number has fallen from more than 70 million in the 1980s to just 25 million today. Farmers are asking whether they’re seeing the death of the industry that once made New Zealand famous. “That’s codswallop,” the agriculture minister retorted angrily to one robust inquisitor, yesterday. . .
Agri-solar farm could provide new cash crop in Waipara :
A proposed solar farm near Waipara that aims to combine agriculture, horticulture and energy production on the same site is a pioneering example of modern sustainable land use in the age of renewable energy generation, developers say.
The 135MWp, 200ha solar farm, which would generate enough clean electricity to power around 28,000 average kiwi homes, is being developed by Far North Solar Farm. The agri-voltaics design would allow for the continuation of sheep farming as well as potentially developing a portion of the site in grapevines, in keeping with other horticulture in the area.
“Agri-voltaics is common overseas and is a great way to provide sustainable dual land use development in agricultural areas, especially those prone to drought as North Canterbury can be,” Far North Solar Farm chief executive John Telfer says.
Stakeholder and community consultation is underway and technical studies to assess the viability of the agri-voltaic solar farm model would also be completed. . .
New Zealand’s national butchery team remains unchanged as they plot their path to victory :
Six of the country’s finest butchers have been named as part of New Zealand’s national butchery team – the Hellers Sharp Blacks – and will compete at the World Butchers’ Challenge which takes place in Paris in March 2025.
The team, who secured the bronze medal at the last World Butchers’ Challenge in 2022, has a similar feel with Riki Kerekere once again named as team captain, along with returning members Reuben Sharples from Aussie Butcher New Lynn, Dan Klink from Mangawhai Meat Shop, Corey White from Skills4Work, Luka Young from PAK’nSAVE Kaitaia, and Cherise Redden from PAK’nSAVE Glen Innes.
There will be new blood in the team with Samantha Weller from New World Ravenswood joining the team as a reserve. Samantha comes with winning form, having taken out the title of World Champion Butcher Apprentice at the competition in 2018.
Kerekere says, “It was a difficult selection process as we were spoilt for choice with a long list of incredible applicants. Ultimately, the selection committee has stuck with the same team with the exciting addition of Samantha as our reserve. We’re battle-hardened from the last competition and we know what we need to do as a team to get from third to first. Make no mistake, we’re there to win and we’ll be preparing accordingly.” . .
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