Agricultural emissions scheme: NZPork pleased pig farming excluded

NZPork says GHG emissions from pig farming account for just 0.2 per cent of agricultural emissions in NZ every year. Photo / Supplied by NZPork

The proposal by the Government to exclude pig farming from agricultural emissions pricing is "pragmatic and sensible," NZPork says.

In response to the He Waka Eke Noa Primary Sector Climate Action Partnership proposal on the pricing of agricultural emissions, the Government has opted not to price pig farming emissions from 2025.

NZPork had been advocating on the issue "for some time," and was pleased with the decision, chief executive Brent Kleiss said.

"The Government has acknowledged that there would be too much uncertainty about the price pig farmers would face and there are limited emissions reduction practices for some pig farming systems."

Kleiss said that adapting a system designed for the dairy, sheep and beef sectors to be fit-for-purpose for pig farming would also have been complex.

"NZPork has repeatedly raised these issues and we are pleased that the Government has listened."

Greenhouse gas emissions from pig farming accounted for just 0.2 per cent of agricultural emissions in New Zealand every year, Kleiss said.

"Emissions from pig farming differ significantly to emissions from pastoral farming because pigs are monogastric so they naturally produce much lower methane emissions than ruminant animals."

He said that the sector's emissions were primarily driven by the methods used to store and treat effluent on-farm.

"For this reason, the volume and type of emissions can vary greatly between farms of a similar size."

Many pig farmers, where feasible, had already adopted emissions-reducing technologies and practices, including significantly reducing methane emissions by covering effluent ponds, Kleiss said.

"Ongoing improvements in production efficiencies continue to reduce our environmental impact over time.

"Nevertheless, we remain focused on our goal to achieve carbon neutrality for commercial pig farms by 2050 and to support long-term emissions reductions across the pork supply chain."

Kleiss said NZPork's climate change strategy focused on being able to measure current emissions, identify and provide support for emissions reductions, support farmers to use carbon credits to offset residual emissions and respond to the impacts of climate change.

"We want to develop a sound understanding of emission sources and sequestration opportunities on-farm and across the wider pork supply chain.

"It's also vital we have confidence in the accuracy of emissions reporting measurements at both the farm and national scale."

NZPork would also work with farmers to support their understanding and benchmark emissions sources on their own farms, Kleiss said.

"We will be helping farmers develop and implement individual emissions reduction plans and explore and encourage the uptake of mitigation practices on-farm."

NZPork has commissioned a pork carbon footprint assessment to quantify emissions across the pork supply chain.