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AgResearch senior scientist Suzanne Rowe
OPINION: I was interested to read the recent commentary from the Hound that stud breeders are unhappy about the “recent push to include methane traits in sheep”; and the off-the-record feedback from an ag scientist that research money was “falling into their laps and laboratories”.
As an agricultural scientist who has worked for many years on developing low methane genetics as a tool for farmers to reduce emissions, I can confidently state that I have never been so lucky as to have money just fall into my lap. In my experience, my colleagues and I have had to work hard to attract every research dollar from industry or government, to prove that the science is worth investing in and that it could have benefit for farmers and New Zealand. This is also why we are out speaking so often to the industry and other interested groups around New Zealand, to demonstrate the value and answer the tough questions people have.
My experience with breeders is also quite different than has been portrayed.
In my experience, there are many breeders who have enthusiastically embraced low methane genetics into their operations because they can see the writing on the wall with looming emissions pricing and growing demands from consumers and export markets about reducing environmental footprints.
We appreciate there is an ongoing debate about the degree to which methane contributes to climate change and what the appropriate targets for New Zealand should be. However, the fact that methane does contribute to climate change is settled science and as such we have an obligation to research and develop tools for farmers to help them reduce their emissions without cutting stock numbers. The many peer-reviewed scientific papers published on the low methane genetics research to date speaks to its legitimacy.
Suzanne Rowe
AgResearch senior scientist
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