The Country - Carbon farming edition

Today on The Country, Jamie Mackay heard both sides of the carbon farming story, from Minister of Agriculture Damien O'Connor and Wairoa Mayor Craig Little.

On with the show:

Damien O'Connor:

The Minister of Agriculture and Trade makes his first appearance for 2022. He defends the government's policies around carbon farming and astonishingly claims a doubling of ICU bed capacity.

Craig Little:

The Wairoa mayor doesn't buy into the Minister of Agriculture's rhetoric around "right tree, right place" saying carbon farming (and to a lesser degree, production forestry) is destroying communities on the east coast of the North Island.

Jane Smith:

The North Otago farmer and award-winning environmentalist reckons "every politician should have an expiry date". Plus, we ask if things are getting dry down on the farm.

Hunter McGregor:

Our Shanghai-based correspondent is looking forward to Chinese New Year beginning on January 31 and he explains why China is still pursuing a zero Covid model.

Genevieve Steven:

Rabobank's animal proteins (sheep and beef) analyst comments on good red meat prices and how the industry is planning to cope with Covid.

Listen below: