Emissions 'now a trade issue'

Speaking at the B+LNZ Genetics Sheep Breeder Forum in Christchurch, Archer outlined some findings from a recent fact-finding world tour, saying there was now a global effort to reduce methane, with emissions targets now being baked into countries' legislations.

While he said he did not want to talk about methane, it could not be ignored.

"Yes, it's not everyone's favourite topic. No, Beef+Lamb does not support paying a tax on this. But out there it is fast becoming a market trait and I really do think it will be used as both a market trait but also a trade barrier trait potentially."

Archer said that every talk at conferences were either directly about methane, or linked back to emissions.

"So you talk about cow efficiency or cow size and they turn it around and say this is the impact on emissions intensity.

"I'm not trying to preach to you in terms of where we need to go but that is the reality of the conversation that's out there internationally."

One example was a pair of New Zealand wool marketers he met in Chicago, where they were trying to present New Zealand wool products at a big trade fair for the commercial furnishings industry.

While wool furnishings had "a great story" in terms of being fireproof and biodegradable at end of life and so on, the Kiwis were having trouble trying to tell the story around methane.

He said it was nonsensical that our natural product was having to compete against "recycled oil" but the reality was that carbon footprints are now being baked into building regulations.

"Everyone is asking them about the carbon footprint of their product, because of the building regulations.

"It's an unavoidable conversation that they we're having and they're desperately trying to work out what the story is that they can tell around that."

Another example was Ireland, where farmers export about 200,000 calves annually to Spain and the Netherlands. Archer said they are now worried that trade will be shut down, either over perceived animal welfare reasons or because the ferry transporters "just don't want the look".

The Irish farmers' concern was not the feeding and management of those calves if they had to stay in Ireland, but what that would do to their national emissions profile.

"It seems pretty artificial, right? Because those calves are going to go and get fed somewhere else. But that's the world we live in right now. That is the reality."

Archer said that in some areas, New Zealand research was well behind some of what he saw overseas but "right up there" in others, thanks to the efforts of AgResearch, and also B+LNZ's investment long ago in the Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium.

"I would really like to tie the conversation with methane into being able to get feed intake and feed efficiency information.

"If we're going to deal with methane, what we've actually got to deal with is the emissions per kilo of feed intake. Not the intensity or anything like that, but we've actually got to make our animals more efficient.

"And the second reason is, let's get something useful out of this while we're doing it. Let's get that feed intake data and to drive the efficiency, and there are going to be some spin-off benefits."