To combat climate change, New Zealand has suggested charging the greenhouse gases that farm animals emit when they urinate and burp.
By 2025, farmers will begin to pay for agricultural emissions under a groundbreaking system.
About half of the nation’s emissions come from the agricultural sector.
Farmers, however, have criticized the proposal as soon as it was announced, with one lobby group claiming that it would “tear the guts out of small-town New Zealand.”
The proposed levy’s proceeds, according to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, will be reinvested in the sector to fund innovative technologies, agricultural research, and incentive payments.
The government believes farmers should be able to cover the cost of the fee by charging more for climate-friendly produce, though the pricing has not yet been determined.
However, several farmers have criticized the ideas, claiming that they would lead to many of them selling out.
According to Andrew Hoggard, national president of Federated Farmers, the proposal will “tear the guts out of small-town New Zealand,” forcing farmers to make way for trees.
While considering alternate ideas, he continued, the body was “very unsatisfied” with the government’s relations with farmers.
In the future, the land will be sold by farmers “so quickly that you won’t even hear the dogs barking on the back of the ute (pickup truck) as they drive off,” he continued.
Some have also claimed that if food production were to shift to nations with less effective farming practices, the plans might actually increase emissions.
Methane levels in the atmosphere hit record highs in 2019, around 2.5 times higher than during the pre-industrial era.
