Go woke!
OPINION: The Hound reckons the powers at Landcorp (or as they/them like to call themselves, Pāmu) are coming under the microscope with the new government in place.
Landcorp is moving to farm more sustainably and reduce its carbon footprint, says chief executive Steven Carden.
It is replanting and reforesting: steep, hilly land is being put back into trees.
“There’s too much erosion; we can’t make enough money by putting a couple of sheep or a couple of beef cows there, and we face potentially a huge environmental bill coming in for methane gas,” he told the recent Environmental Defence Society ‘Tipping Points’ conference in Auckland.
“We need to get our carbon footprint looking much more responsible than it has been, which means putting back a lot more trees on more of our land.
“We are taking palm kernel out of our system because people don’t like that in farming; we actually don’t think it is a great way to farm. The numbers of farmers I’ve had approach me saying ‘thank goodness you’ve decided to do that’ has staggered me.
“We have just stopped dairy conversion, pulled back on a whole lot of plans to convert to more dairy.”
Carden says Landcorp is trying to think of alternatives to give a good economic return with a much lower environmental cost.
“We have started to walk the talk about farming more sustainably. But I think we have recognised as well that we will have to do more than that.
“Technologies are coming that will allow us to farm much more precisely than we have in the past. Big data and the technologies that come with big data are our friends,” he added.
“We can be much more specific now about the amount of nutrients and water we apply to the plants we plant to produce just the right growth we need to optimise productivity onfarm.”
Using home grown technologies like Farm IQ software allows Landcorp to farm by animal rather than by mob or herd.
“We can be much more productive with those animals by applying just the right amount of feed that they need at the right times to optimise their growth,” Carden says.
“It means a whole lot less wastage in the system, which reduces our environmental footprint.”
Another 16 commercial beef farmers have been selected to take part in the Informing New Zealand Beef (INZB) programme designed to help drive the uptake of genetics in the industry.
Trade Minister Todd McClay says Kiwi exporters will be $100 million better off today as the NZ-EU Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into force.
Making things simpler, not harder, for deer farmers in farm planning and coping with regulations is Deer Industry New Zealand (DINZ) industry capability manager John Ladley’s current focus.
Rural Women New Zealand (RWNZ) is launching an online business directory called The Country Women’s Collective to promote and support entrepreneurial rural women.
New Zealand actor Sam Neill has joined the Campaign for Wool NZ as an ambassador, lending his name and profile to educate and advocate for New Zealand strong wool.
Living labs that bring together expertise at locations around New Zealand are among potential solutions identified by researchers to help the country move towards a more climate resilient future.