Environment advocates are calling for a dramatic reduction in Aotearoa’s cow numbers, saying it's one of the best ways to reduce emissions, but a 1News poll shows the majority of New Zealanders don't agree.
Greenpeace spokesperson Steve Abel has an idea to chew on.
Cutting the number of cows in New Zealand by half.
“It might seem to some people like an extreme action but it's not taken lightly.”
Over the last 30 years, dairy cow numbers have more than doubled in Aotearoa, from around 3.5 million in 1990 to 6.2 million last year.
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This growth, says Abel, and the environmental knock-on effects should be cause for alarm.
“The dairy industry is the most polluting industry by far in Aotearoa. Dairy cows they produce urine that contaminates water and drinking water with carcinogenic nitrate, they produce methane which is a major global heating gas,” he says.
But Federated Farmers’ Andrew Hoggard says the simple growth in bovine numbers doesn’t reflect their environmental impact.
“The emissions from [dairy] haven't increased from 2006, they've remained static since then, we're not adding any more to it, so to me, that's the key thing people need to focus on.”
Most Kiwis seem to agree, in our latest 1News poll we asked, “should we reduce the number of dairy cows in New Zealand to help meet climate change targets?”
Just 34% voted yes, 54% voted no, with the rest preferring to sit on the farm fence.
The results were good news for Hoggard.
“A lot of farmers probably feel like the world's against them at times and so seeing numbers like this will help remind them that there is sort of silent majority of people out there that do value what they do.”
Lawmakers too, aren’t keen on the proposed cow culling.
Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said such a move would be economically devastating.
“It would have a severe impact in the immediate short term on the wealth creation for this country and you might be the poorer for it yourself.”
He said there were plenty of realistic options available to reduce carbon emissions.
“That simple solution is not necessarily the best one.”
The proposal was also put to Climate Minister James Shaw, who told 1News he’s grown “very frustrated at the simplistic nature of the debate".
Read the full results here.
Between May 21-25, 2022, 1002 eligible voters were polled by mobile phone (501) and online (501). The maximum sampling error is approximately ±3.1%-points at the 95% confidence level. The data has been weighted to align with Stats NZ population counts for age, gender, region, education level and ethnic identification. The sample for mobile phones is selected by random dialling using probability sampling, and the online sample is collected using an online panel.
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