Farming to create fresh air – Luke Chivers:
When people think of farming, few think of carbon farming. But Canterbury farmers Warrick and CeCe James are using agriculture to feed people and fight climate change. Luke Chivers spoke to them on-farm.
Imagine carbon emissions and what springs to mind?
Most people tend to think of power stations belching out clouds of carbon dioxide or queues of vehicles burning up fossil fuels as they crawl, bumper-to-bumper along congested urban roads.
But in Canterbury’s picturesque Selwyn Gorge the owners of a forest of 18-year-old pine and Douglas fir trees are confident that at harvest age the trees will still be worth more alive than dead and will continue to be indefinitely. . .
Lower carbon food chain challenges – Richard Rennie:
A dive into the little-known field of energy return on investment for his Nuffield Scholarship was the extension of a long-held interest for Solis Norton of Otago. It measures energy flows through New Zealand’s primary food chains to see how we might move to zero emissions by 2050 while remaining a viable economy. He spoke to Richard Rennie.
Nuffield scholar Solis Norton acknowledges the area of energy return on investment (EROI) is not top of mind for many but his year’s study found the field holds important tools for one of this country’s most pressing demands – getting to net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
“Mapping out the transition to carbon zero using economics is a good starting point but mapping our true energy use during the transition is critical too. This is what EROI does. Our path to carbon-zero economic prosperity will collapse if we run short of energy along the way.” . .
Mānuka honey regulatory definition throws industry into turmoil :
The Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) regulatory definition of mānuka honey has thrown the honey industry into turmoil and European authorities are beginning to notice there’s something wrong, a Northland honey expert says.
Dr John Craig, a veteran beekeeper and former professor of environmental studies, said the ministry’s challenged the industry to prove that its definition needs to change.
But he said the ministry’s own research has already done that. . .
‘High octane’ deer feeds examined at workshop – Yvonne O’Hara:
”High octane” feed was the subject at the Otago Advance Party regional workshop in Poolburn last week.
Deer farmers and industry representatives met at the Poolburn/Moa Creek Hall last Wednesday in a meeting organised by Abacusbio consultant Simon Glennie.
The Advance Party workshop was part of the deer industry’s Passion2Profit programme.
The group visited Poolburn deer farmer Cam Nicolson’s property to look at his deer, then returned to the hall to discuss how he could improve growth rates and profits by using ”high octane” forages. . .
Capturing the spirit of New Zealand by turning sheep’s milk into booze – Esther Taunton:
Like many off-the-wall ideas, Sam Brown’s came to him on a night out with friends.
The Kiwi entrepreneur and founder of The White Sheep Co was living in China when he realised New Zealand had no national drink.
“I was out with friends and we decided to have a drink for everybody’s country.
“We had a bit of tequila for a guy from Mexico, some vodka for a guy from Russia and even some brandy for a person from France,” he said. . .
Northland still has green grass everywhere, but there’s not much of it .. normally farms would be knee deep in kikuyu and it would be a challenge to manage it, but that’s not the case. It’s not a disaster but lots of dairy herds have been partially dried off.
Outstanding autumn weather has been the main feature this week for Franklin vege growers .. in fact for much of the North Island. . .
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