Offered Papers Theme B: Grassland and the Environment
Description
Agriculture contributes more than 50% of New Zealand's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mainly through release of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from pastoral farms. Decisions on implementation of mitigation strategies will be made by individual farmers, who seek also to maintain financial performance in the face of declining terms of trade for commodities, hence leading to pressure to further intensify production. New Zealand (NZ) sheep & beef farms are typically hill country properties with a mixture of steep and easier topography, and year-round grazing of mainly permanent pastures. Specific GHG mitigation technologies will be difficult to incorporate into these systems and most of them are a considerable distance from commercial application. Farming system change is currently the only effective mitigation approach likely to be readily available to those farmers in the short term.
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
A Systems Approach to Managing Greenhouse Gases on New Zealand Sheep and Beef Farms
Agriculture contributes more than 50% of New Zealand's greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, mainly through release of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from pastoral farms. Decisions on implementation of mitigation strategies will be made by individual farmers, who seek also to maintain financial performance in the face of declining terms of trade for commodities, hence leading to pressure to further intensify production. New Zealand (NZ) sheep & beef farms are typically hill country properties with a mixture of steep and easier topography, and year-round grazing of mainly permanent pastures. Specific GHG mitigation technologies will be difficult to incorporate into these systems and most of them are a considerable distance from commercial application. Farming system change is currently the only effective mitigation approach likely to be readily available to those farmers in the short term.
