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: