North Canterbury News: November 11, 2021

RURAL LIFE
22 The North Canterbury News, November 11, 2021
Ashleigh heads to final
North Canterbury willhave one
representative in the FMG Young
Farmer of the YearTasmanregional
final in February.
Waimakariri Young Farmers’ Club
(YFC) member Ashleigh Foley qualified
for the final afterplacing second in the
Tasman Northdistrict contest heldatthe
Amuri Showgrounds on Saturday,
October30.
Aformer Tasmanregionchairperson,
Ms Foleyworks as aseed representative
for PGG Wrightson.
She will be liningupagainst seven
other finalistsinTasmanregional final
being held at LincolnonFebruary19.
Up for grabs will be aplace in the
grand final beingheld in Whangareiin
July.
In all, 37 competitors battled it out over
two district contests, withthe Tasman
South competition held at the Leeston
Showgrounds on October 16.
Regional final convenor StephKellyis
lookingforward to focusingonmaking
practical skillsand challenges abig part
of the regional final.
‘‘My overall goalfor the Tasman
regional finalistoput on agreat
practical day and evening show to bring
the community together and get people
off farm,’’ she says.
‘‘It is so importanttoget timeoff farm,
especially with the adverseweather
we’ve had downhere.’’
With an passionate committeebehind
her, Ms Kellysays shehopes to gain
confidence in leading ateam andgetting
to know more people acrossthe rural
sector.
New Zealand YoungFarmerschief
executive Lynda Coppersmith says the
competition keeps improving despitethe
challenges thrownatitbyCovid­19.
‘‘For season54wereally want to test
our competitors andsee ‘who's up for it'.
‘‘We'vealready exceeded last year's
entriesacross the country, despite the
fact that entries for anumber of district
contests are still open,’’ she says.
Finalist ... Waimakariri Young Farmers
Club member Ashleigh Foley will contest
the Young Farmer of the Year Tasman
regional final in February.
PHOTO: FILE
‘‘All of our volunteersand conveners
right across the country have created
some incredible challenges so far,with
regional final seasonexpected to take
that to another level.’’
Ms Coppersmith says the contests are
strictly follow the government’sCovid­19
guidelines, but is hopefulmore relaxed
restrictions in the New Year will allow
the regional finalsand grand final to be
showcased to the community.
Results:
TasmanSouth:
ArchieWoodhouse (Lincoln YFC) 1,
PhoebeSmailes(LincolnYFC) 2,
AndrewAllan (Lincoln YFC) 3, Jonny
Brown (Dunsandel YFC) 4.
TasmanNorth:
Sam Smithers (West Coast YFC) 1, Ash
Foley (WaimakaririYFC) 2, George
Dodson(Lincoln YFC)3,Blair Anglesey
(Renwick YFC)4.
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Methane pledge reaction
New Zealand’s dairy and red meat
sectors have given mixed reactions to a
pledge to reduce global methane levels
by 30 percent by 2030.
Beef +Lamb New Zealand (BLNZ) and
DairyNZ both acknowledge global
methane needs to reduce, but are
concerned their sectors will be unfairly
targeted.
The Global Methane Pledge commits
countries to working together to reduce
methane emissions by 30% to keep global
warming within the 1.5­degree target set
by the Paris Accord.
DairyNZ chief executive Dr Tim
Mackle says he wants farmers to know
the pledge doesn’t mean dairy farming
emissions need to reduce by 30%, and
wants the Government to acknowledge
this.
‘‘New Zealand dairy is already the
world’s most emissions­efficient dairy
milk producer, and dairy farmers are
continuing their work on­farm to reduce
emissions,’’ Dr Mackle says.
‘‘Methane is derived from the energy,
agriculture and waste sectors, and the
pledge focuses on reducing methane
from fossil fuels.
‘‘New Zealand already has arobust
2030 methane target for agriculture in
the Zero Carbon Act. The dairy sector
and agritech companies have alot of
work under way to achieve it.’’
Dr Mackle cited arecent report
commissioned by DairyNZ and
AgResearch which concluded that New
Zealand dairy farmers are the world’s
lowest emissions dairy milk producer.
But the report’s introduction suggests a
different conclusion, if the Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change’s
(IPCC) methodology is used.
‘‘When recalculating New Zealand’s
most recent carbon footprint using the
IPCC methodology with default factors,
the footprint for milk increased from 0.74
to 1.17 kg CO2e (carbon dioxide
equivalent),’’ the report says.
BLNZ chief executive Sam McIvor has
expressed his concerns at the
Government’s support for the Global
Methane Pledge, announced at COP26
Methane pledge ... Beef +Lamb New
Zealand chief executive Sam McIvor says
biogenic methane has been stable in New
Zealand since 2001.
PHOTO: FILE
conference in Glasgow last week.
He says it does not adequately
articulate its focus on methane
originating from waste and fossil fuel
sources.
‘‘Climate Change Minister James Shaw
has confirmed there will be no new
methane policies or targets as aresult of
New Zealand signing up to this pledge,
but we need to take the public along on
this journey, to ensure they understand
why.
‘‘Biogenic methane has been stable or
reducing in New Zealand since 2001.
‘‘The science in the recent IPCC report
makes it clear that the way we report on
emissions, using GWP100 (global
warming potential over the next 100
years), is inaccurate in terms of
methane’s contribution to climate
change.’’
Mr McIvor would like the Government
to report on warming as well as
emissions, to build understanding of the
different impact gases are having on
climate change.
Roger Hunter
Parts Manager
0275 071 022
1George Holmes Road, Rolleston
03 349 5975
Canterbury
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