The Government has announced a raft of policies aimed at supporting farmers, to the amount of more than $60 million. 

A total of $37 million has been allocated towards national integrated farm planning system for farmers and growers, while an additional $24 million will go towards agricultural greenhouse gas mitigation research and development.

Over $900,000 will also be allocated to collect vital statistics on agricultural production, such as greenhouse gas emissions.

The Government is backing the initiatives to help reduce costs for farmers and growers, boost returns, and help achieve lower on-farm emissions.

“To meet our climate change and sustainability goals we need a single national farm planning framework that is easy for farmers and growers to use and that integrates with their business requirements,” Damien O’Connor says.

“A national training programme will deliver more skilled farm advisers and an accelerator fund will invest in targeted initiatives to significantly broaden the uptake of integrated farm planning.

“It will ensure up to 40,000 farmers and growers have the tools they need to improve on-farm performance and meet freshwater and greenhouse gas requirements by 2025.”

New funding will also boost research and development in technologies to reduce agricultural emissions. 

This could include promising areas like vaccine development, methane and nitrous oxide inhibitors, and low emissions animal breeding. (Continue reading below)

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“We’ve set a clear objective for agriculture in He Waka Eke Noa for 100 percent of farms to have written plans to measure and manage emissions by December 2024. 

“As the saying goes, what gets measured, gets done.

“This Budget commitment and subsequent ones by Labour will deliver lasting reductions in both agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and the associated costs. 

“We’re enabling faster development and broad uptake of new technologies on Aotearoa New Zealand farms.

“New funding will also enable Aotearoa New Zealand to continue collecting vital information as part of the Agricultural Production Statistics. 

“This includes measuring progress towards meeting our domestic and international greenhouse gas reporting and forecasting.

“As an agricultural nation, there is a lot riding on our ability to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.

“A key goal of our Fit for a Better World – Accelerating our Economic Recovery roadmap launched last year is cutting biogenic methane emissions to between 24 and 47 percent below 2017 levels by 2050 – this includes reducing them to 10 percent below 2017 levels by 2030.

“This new Budget investment will supercharge and streamline efforts. Getting the right result will actually add value to our exports. 

“High-value consumers abroad want to know they’re buying food and fibre that are quality, ethical and sustainable.

“Aotearoa New Zealand has to move from volume to values – that is, aligning our story with the values of our consumers,” Damien O’Connor says.