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12 Rugby star goes all in for agri Vol 20 No 32, August 22, 2022

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‘Keep farm trees in mix’ Richard Rennie

richard.rennie@globalhq.co.nz

ARMING on North Island hill country and being a Beef + Lamb NZ farmer councillor, Paul Crick is more conscious than most of the impact He Waka Eke Noa (HWEN) will have on his farming operation. Crick acknowledges that the HWEN model to measure and charge farmers for GHG emissions is not a perfect one, and will cost all farmers to some extent. But he says it is at least a system that gives farmers some certainty about how they need to respond to their farm’s emissions, including how to reduce them. In contrast, he and his peers on the council are concerned about the Climate Change Commission’s recommendation that HWEN ditch the sequestration/offset aspect of the model and replace it with one that recognises farm biodiversity, ecology, and water quality aspects. The commission made this recommendation on the grounds that bringing on-farm vegetation into a farm-level emissions pricing/offset scheme adds complexity and creates inequity between farmers and other sectors not able to get similar sequestration recognised. “With my farmer hat firmly on, we need that sequestration ability. We are doing our bit with methane genetics but that is more of a longer burn, it takes time. “As drystock farmers we do not have the option of in-shed feeding [of a mitigation product] that dairy farmers may have. Our

NO CHOICE: Paul Crick says the removal of sequestration as a tool under HWEN would leave drystock farmers in particular facing a real threat to their financial existence.

tools are limited at this point, and that is why sequestration is so important for us.” Crick farms 850 effective hectares at Gladstone near Masterton. As things stand under HWEN, his North Island drystock property with its range of hill country right up to class 6-7 will already feel some financial impact. Beef + Lamb NZ analysis on HWEN notes that, at methane pricing of 11c/kg, 15% of the country’s drystock farmers can expect to take a hit of at least 10% on their net farm profit.

Plant your forest today & reap income from the carbon emissions trading scheme.

But on country of the type that Crick farms, more than 20% of farmers are likely to experience the 10% hit. BLNZ acknowledged in its analysis earlier this year the lack of options open to farmers, other than sequestration when HWEN comes into play. “We lease the property, but we have 50ha of native bush on it so we have to have a conversation when HWEN goes in. Hopefully as emitters we can use it to offset,” Crick said. But despite HWEN’s effects, it provides some certainty for

pastoral farming systems already feeling the heat on district land values from the impact of ETSdriven carbon prices. Crick said he is loath to see even greater uncertainty put on drystock farmers by ditching HWEN for some other plan. “Sequestration through HWEN will enable us to be sustainable from a financial perspective, but we also want to go beyond that, we want to thrive.” Having been heavily involved in Taratahi’s farm and in educating tomorrow’s drystock farmers, he wants to preserve a sector that is a

We have the trees

We manage the forest

You have the land

We carry all the costs

We prepare the land

You share 50% of the carbon income!

We plant the trees

thriving, attractive and profitable place for them to be. He said farmers are well aware of the significant portion of GHGs they contribute, and HWEN’s cooperative, multi-agency approach is a response that enables them to acknowledge the size of their emissions, and to offset them where possible. “And the fact that so many farmers supported a farm gate system, it shows they want to get recognition for their hard work to mitigate and sequester losses where they can.” He is confident that, in years to come, the HWEN model will be capable of including some of the biodiversity and water quality parameters the commission wants captured. “It is possible to have reviews at year 5 and year 10 to let the science and technology catch up. That benefits all New Zealanders to do that. “But the time frame to develop a whole new scheme as suggested, that is a challenge. We all know how difficult it is to develop these systems. HWEN itself has involved a lot of time and energy. Time is short and we need to move forward on it now.” He was quietly confident that the government is unlikely to ditch HWEN’s sequestration model on the grounds of the commission’s recommendations. “Right from the start government has invested in the process and industry groups involved have delivered. “So, to go and turn around and change at the eleventh hour, that would be a big call. But as a caveat, for us, we really need to get it over the line. It would make us unviable if we don’t have sequestration as a tool.”