New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern
(Picture: AFP via Getty Images)New Zealand is planning to tax the greenhouse gases that farm animals make from burping and urinating in a bid to combat climate change.
The proposal will make the nation the first in the world to charge farmers for the methane emissions from their animals.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said all the money collected from the proposed farm levy would be put back into the industry to fund new technology, research and incentive payments for farmers.
“New Zealand’s farmers are set to be the first in the world to reduce agricultural emissions, positioning our biggest export market for the competitive advantage that brings in a world increasingly discerning about the provenance of their food,” Ms Ardern said.
However, farmers have condemned the plan by saying it will “rip the guts out of small-town New Zealand” and see farms replaced with trees.
Andrew Hoggard, president of lobby group Federated Farmers, said farmers had been trying to work with the government for more than two years on an emissions reduction plan that wouldn’t decrease food production.
“Our plan was to keep farmers farming,” Mr Hoggard said. Instead, he claimed farmers would be selling their farms “so fast you won’t even hear the dogs barking on the back of the ute [pickup truck] as they drive off.”
Opposition lawmakers from the conservative ACT Party said the plan would actually increase worldwide emissions by moving farming to other countries that were less efficient at making food.
New Zealand’s farming industry is vital to its economy. Dairy products, including those used to make infant formula in China, are the nation’s largest export earner.
There are just five million people in New Zealand but some 10 million beef and dairy cattle and 26 million sheep.
The outsized industry has made New Zealand unusual in that about half of its greenhouse gas emissions come from farms.
Farm animals produce gases that warm the planet, particularly methane from cattle burps and nitrous oxide from their urine.
Under the government’s proposed plan, farmers would start to pay for emissions in 2025, with the pricing yet to be finalised.
Agriculture minister Damien O’Connor said it was an exciting opportunity for New Zealand and its farmers.
“Farmers are already experiencing the impact of climate change with more regular droughts and flooding,” he said. “Taking the lead on agricultural emissions is both good for the environment and our economy.”
