$38 million funding for greenhouse gas research

Allan BarberThe Pastoral Greenhouse Gas Research Consortium (PGgRc) has just announced that it has secured funding for a further seven years’ research into greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation. $2.3 million per annum will be contributed by industry partners to be matched by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment with the balance to come from AgResearch in its capacity as leader of the research project. Meat industry commentator Allan Barber has taken a look in his latest blog post.

The consortium has been in existence since 2002 and to date has spent about $45 million of 50/50 joint venture funding from industry and government. Its members are Fonterra, Beef & Lamb New Zealand, DairyNZ, AgResearch, Landcorp Farming, DEEResearch, PGG Wrightson Ltd and Fertiliser Association Joint Venture.

As its name indicates, the consortium’s sole focus since it started 11 years ago has been on finding ways to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and during that period it has made some significant advances. It has developed knowledge specifically in sequencing the first rumen methanogen genome, developing a low emission sheep flock and finding feeds that can reduce methane emissions.

Mark Aspin, consortium manager, told me that a continuation of the funding will enable the programme to focus on five key areas of research:

  •  Refining  animal breeding tools for low emission livestock
  • Identifying more low greenhouse gas feeds
  • Identifying inhibitors that reduce ruminant emissions
  • Developing a vaccine to reduce ruminant emissions
  • Understanding the productivity effects and enhancing the adoption of mitigations.

The refreshed research programme, while recognising the long term commitment required, will be strongly focused on delivery of mitigation solutions, developed through an increased partnership between the consortium and the New Zealand Agricultural Research Centre (NZAGRC). Both of these organisations will coordinate their operations to ensure rapid delivery of effective options for farmers.

While New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions would constitute a significant proportion of our obligations under any future commitment to reduce emissions, political points scoring tends to obscure why it is so critical to get it right. Our economy and our agricultural sector in particular both depend on deciding on the correct entry point which is, I suspect, why the present Government has been so reluctant to commit itself.

Agriculture contributes 46 percent of New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions, a proportion no other country comes even remotely close to producing. Ireland with 27 percent is the closest and all other first world economies are in single figures.

The PGgRc has set itself an ambitious goal, stating in its press release “The new work aims to develop a suite of ready-made tools that will reduce greenhouse gases by 30 per cent by 2030 while supporting the agricultural industry’s growth targets of two per cent each year.” The benchmark year is 2008 when I understand emissions were at 1990 levels. As Aspin said “it’s a big challenge, but we think we can get there.”

I suspect the Green party won’t be satisfied with this progress, because anything short of total commitment to eliminating greenhouse gases is unacceptable, whatever it costs the country. But it is a very solid programme of work backed by science and industry and public money which has some challenging, but achievable goals.

The best thing about it is that it won’t send agriculture and the country into a state of bankruptcy, but it should produce some real improvements in our GHG emissions.

Allan Barber is a meat industry commentator and has his own blog Barber’s Meaty Issues. This item has also appeared at www.interest.co.nz.

 

Andrew Ferrier new NZTE chair

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Former Fonterra chief executive, Andrew Ferrier has been appointed as chair of the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Board (NZTE).

His chairmanship will be for a three-year term commencing November 2012, announced economic development minister Steven Joyce and trade minister Tim Groser today.

Ferrier has held a number of director and executive positions for large multi-nationals and has “a wealth of experience in international business, and brings strong governance and strategic capability to the NZTE Board. He is well placed to take up the role of chair for the Board,” says Joyce.

Businesswoman Julie Christie, consultant Charles Finny and Canterbury Employers’ Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Peter Townsend were reappointed for a second, three-year term.

The Ministers thanked outgoing chair Jon Mayson for his valuable contribution to the operation of NZTE and for steering it through a period of significant change.

Andrew Ferrier has almost 30 years’ experience in international business, with a background in building global, performance-driven businesses.

In September 2011, he stepped down as chief executive of Fonterra after eight years. Prior to joining Fonterra, he was president and chief executive officer of GSW Inc. and spent 16 years in the sugar industry working in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom and Mexico. He served as the president and chief executive of Tate & Lyle North America Sugars Inc.

Andrew Ferrier is a director of Orion Health Ltd and CANZ Capital Ltd. He was appointed to the University of Auckland Council in March 2012. Born in Canada, he has been a New Zealand citizen since 2008.

Trading Among Farmers reality at last

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Trading Among Farmers is reality at last, writes agribusiness commentator Allan Barber in his latest blog post. Although a dairy topic, it’s an interesting read.

The day when outside investors can apply for units in the Fonterra Shareholders Fund to be listed on the NZX and ASX has arrived at last. Getting to this point has been a long and tortuous process during which Fonterra has consulted its members, finally gaining the required majority vote in favour of establishing Trading Among Farmers (TAF).

TAF will enable those Fonterra’s shareholders that wish to free up some capital to deposit shares in the fund, provided they retain enough shares to match their milk supply. These shares can either be bought by other shareholders who would like to increase their shareholding or exchanged for the units with rights to dividends and share price value changes.

Read more …

Asia-Pacific business organisations urge TPP completion

As the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) Economic Leaders Meeting opens in Vladivostok, Russia, today business organisations from around the APEC region have once again joined together to urge participants in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to complete negotiations as soon as possible in 2013 and to hold to the ambitious aims set for the final agreement.

According to a joint statement, the Asia-Pacific business organisations from New Zealand, Chile, Canada, Peru, Singapore and the US, urge the negotiators to maintain the momentum in the negotiations to achieve the vision of TPP. “While substance will need to drive the negotiating agenda, we urge that all steps be taken to bring the negotiations to a conclusion in early 2013.”

Asia-Pacific business organisations have reaffirmed their view that a successful TPP will be comprehensive, high quality, ambitious “with the elimination of tariffs and non-tariff barriers on trade in goods and services and investment no later than 2020″, innovative, enforceable and a living agreement.

Amongst business leaders at APEC Vladivostok are Erica Crawford of Kim Crawford Wines, Malcolm Bailey of Fonterra and Ian McCrae, Orion Health. Members of the APEC Business Advisory Council also attending the talks are Tony Nowell of Valadenz, Wayne Boyd (Vulcan Steel Ltd), Maxine Simmons (NZBio) and Stephen Jacobi of the NZ-US Business Council who is an alternate member.

“TPP provides a potential pathway for making progress towards the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific,” says Jacobi. “TPP is a complex undertaking but the potential gains to growth and jobs are simply too big to be left on the table.”

 

In the news this week (3)

People are key to the success of Riddet Institute’s Agri-Food Strategy wrote Jon Morgan in a Dominion Post opinion piece early on last week. “The prize is too great to abandon,” he said.

So, focus is now shifting to the week-long chief executives’ Primary Sector Boot Camp at Stanford University in California later this month, which will be attended by over 20 chief executives including meat industry leaders Keith Cooper of Silver Fern Farms and Mark Clarkson of ANZCO Foods, alongside Minister of Primary Industries David Carter. On the table for discussion will be the Agri-Food Strategy.

Agmardt is principal sponsor of the private sector-led chief executive forum designed to unlock the global potential of New Zealand’s primary sector. At the time of the sponsorship announcement at the end of April, Jeff Grant chairman of the Agmardt board of trustees said he regarded the boot camp as an ideal fit under the grant body’s new strategic priorities.

“A key outcome of the boot camp is to explore and drive in-market collaboration within New Zealand’s primary sector, which is strongly aligned with Agmardt’s new strategy to fund activities that enable New Zealand agribusiness to identify and explore potential opportunities within the global marketplace.”

Grant said the willingness by senior industry leaders to be involved in the camp to discuss and explore strategies for greater collaboration and alignment across a wide range of primary industries, “is extremely encouraging.”

Other supporters of the Primary Sector Boot Camp, which will comprise leaders from the dairy, beef, sheep, seafood, viticulture and horticulture sectors, include the Ministry of Science and Innovation, the Ministry for Primary Industries and NZ Trade and Enterprise.

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Other news appearing over the week included:

Protein sources of the future –A new New Zealand/Dutch study has outlined the coming challenges to meeting future demand for protein. In a review published this week in the journal Trends in Food Science and Technology, Dr Mike Boland from the Riddet Institute and his colleagues at the Wageningen University in the Netherlands have drawn on a range of research sources to peer into the future of the world’s food supply. They say, as demand is outstripping supply of meat, mankind will “need to get creative” with its protein sources, considering competition between humans and pet food industries, noting that rabbits and other novel animal species, “should not be discounted as having an important part to play in future animal protein production systems,” and speculate that there may be ways to derive dietary protein from food waste from biofuel crop leftovers. Whatever happens, consumer acceptance will be key, say the authors.

New NZTE chairman – Interesting to note that former Fonterra chief executive, Andrew Ferrier, has been named as the new chairman of the New Zealand Trade & Enterprise (NZTE) board. Replacing Jon Mayson, he will commence his three year term on 1 November. Announcing the appointment, Economic Development Minister Steven Joyce says that Ferrier will bring “strong governance and strategic capability to the NZTE board”. Ferrier is a director of Orion Health Ltd and CANZ Capital Ltd. He was appointed to the University of Auckland Council in March 2012. Prior to his work with Fonterra, he was involved with the global sugar industry. Born in Canada, he has been a New Zealand citizen since 2008.

A new Code of Welfare for Meat Chickens came into effect on 26 July, setting out the minimum standards and best practice guidelines for the poultry industry. The new Code replaces the Code of Welfare for Broiler Chickens that was released in 2003. The new Code has a broader scope and includes chickens that have access to the outdoors, says the National Animal Welfare Advisory Council (NAWAC). “Another key change is that farmers will have to take the environment of the chicken into account when deciding how many chickens to keep in a designated area,” NAWAC chair John Hellström says. “Farmers will also be required to stay within the minimum standards for stocking density, but they will now have to also consider things like litter quality, lighting, air quality and temperature when deciding how to house their chickens.” Find out more here.

NZUS Council sponsors MPs visit to Washington – Two MPs Peseta Sam Lotu-Liga and Hon Shane Jones, co-chairs of the New Zealand US Parliamentary Friendship Group, recently returned from a successful NZUS Council sponsored visit to Washington DC. The visit – particularly timely given the stage of the Trans Pacific Partnership negotiations – raised NZ’s profile and also gave the MPS the chance to gain valuable insights about US negotiating interests. In a full programme over a four-day visit, the MPs met with members of the Friends of NZ Congressional Caucus and a range of Congressional representatives and had meetings with senior officials in the State Department, Treasury and US Trade Representative’s office. They were also guests of honour at a well-attended lunch hosted by the US NZ Council. Other guests included Congressional staff, senior US company executives and Council members and supporters. The NZ US Council met the costs of the MPs domestic travel in the US and related on-the-ground costs. Arrangements in Washington were made by the New Zealand Embassy.

World price slump put lamb back on Kiwi menus – the NZ Herald reported over the weekend on the news that prices for Kiwi consumers are down too and they are responding enthusiastically. Read more… 

Finally, with the London Olympics in full swing this week, it seems only right to congratulate all of the Kiwi athletes, but particularly B+LNZ Inc’s bronze medal award-winning Iron Maidens Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh for their  success in the women’s pairs (rowing) and Alison Shanks (cyclist) for her tremendous efforts in the team event. All the best now to Sarah Walker (BMX) for her event yet to come on the world sports stage. Go Team NZ!!