Daniel Collins • Nov 20, 2009 •
Nick Smith has suggested to farmers that they start offsetting their greenhouse gas emissions by planting trees. A risk with this is that planting trees may compromise water supply. Compared with pasture, trees tend to reduce the amount of rainfall that reaches rivers and aquifers. A larger canopy traps more rain as it falls, so it evaporates directly from … Read More
Daniel Collins • Nov 04, 2009 •
New Zealand doesn’t export milk and beef, or even grass. It exports water. This is how Tim Groser sees NZ’s agricultural relationship with the world. A country well-off in terms of water is well-prepared to feed a swelling global population. Tim Grosner wears many hats, but they are all connected: Minster of Trade, Minister of Conservation, Associate Minister of Foreign … Read More
Alison Campbell • Oct 26, 2009 •
From time to time my Significant Other's thoughts turn to life in the country. This can manifest itself in the purchase of lifestyle-block magazines. I was flipping through one this morning & came across an item on self-grooming in cows, &... Read More
Alison Campbell • Oct 25, 2009 •
I originally wrote the material in this post for the Science on the Farm website. It's re-posted here because I thought it might be an interesting extension for those of you currently studying animal behaviour.Automatic milking is an exciting technological innovation... Read More
Daniel Collins • Oct 22, 2009 •
The Ministry for the Environment released a report yesterday on New Zealand’s groundwater quality, prepared by Geological and Nuclear Sciences Ltd. Today, I read in the Christchurch Press that the report concludes that “groundwater quality has no significant relationship with land use”. What’s more, Green Party co-leader Russel Norman called it “propaganda”. Bold claims indeed. Fortunately we can … Read More
Grant Jacobs • Oct 20, 2009 •
Scientists are surveying the genomes found in environments, a modern way to find what micro-organisms live there. There has been an explosions of "-omics" over the last decade. Metagenomics is the moniker given to genomic, or DNA sequence, surveys of environmental samples. Basically metagenomics involves researchers collecting DNA samples from, say, the ocean, beach … Read More
Daniel Collins • Oct 19, 2009 •
The Royal Society of New Zealand released a report on virtual water some weeks back. The report aimed to plug a knowledge gap in NZ, primarily in the policy sector, about what ’virtual water’ means and how it can help or hinder resource management and agricultural exports. It got a smattering of indigenous press coverage (here, … Read More
Andy Reisinger • Oct 14, 2009 •
A Dutch research team has analysed the effect of agricultural trade liberalisation on global greenhouse gas emissions. Their study finds that a full liberalisation of agricultural trade (ie, removal of all trade barriers, quota and subsidies globally) would result in a 6% increase in global greenhouse gas emissions in 2015. Most … Read More
Daniel Collins • Oct 09, 2009 •
We have an addiction problem. The craving for P goes right down to our bones and DNA. I’m not talking about methamphetamines, but phosphorus. We are about 1% phosphorus, by weight. Written as ‘P’ in chemical shorthand, it is an essential building block for proteins and bones, and central to our internal energy production. While … Read More
Gareth Renowden • Sep 26, 2009 •
New Zealand’s farming leadership have not distinguished themselves in the debate about climate policy. Federated Farmers president Don Nicholson has called for NZ to set no target for emissions reductions and for agriculture to be excluded from the emissions trading scheme, and former vice-president Frank Brenmuhl is still ruminating on the need for more debate [...] … Read More