Cows and Co2

NZCPR Guest Forum  Opinion piece by Robin Grieve 4 April 2011 The folly of the ETS

The Emission Trading Scheme was put in place to help New Zealand meet its obligations to the Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate purpose of that Protocol and the ETS is to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that some say may be causing global warming.  While I find it extraordinary that our Government is prepared to impose costs on its people based on nothing more than a theory, the focus of my concern is the way in which the ETS treats livestock emissions of methane. While the debate over global warming may never be finished, the way livestock emissions of methane are treated clearly demonstrates the folly that is the ETS.

The problem lies in the way the ETS is focused on what they call carbon emissions. The carbon they talk about in the ETS, is not the atom Carbon, or the molecule Carbon dioxide, it is a unit called a ‘carbon dioxide equivalent’. It is a theoretical or virtual unit and not representative of anything real. This is because while the values assigned to something real are always set by nature and inarguable,  the values assigned to virtual units like these carbon dioxide equivalents are set by politicians, and can differ hugely depending on what is included in the calculation and what is not.

As an aside, I believe using the term ‘carbon’ when referring to these carbon dioxide equivalents is sloppy. It is a good marketing ploy though for the global warming industry because it conjures up images of something black and sooty and bad, which of course it is not.  For purpose of clarification when referring to these virtual units I will use the proper term of carbon dioxide equivalent. When I refer to carbon I will be referring to real atomic carbon.  

In the New Zealand Inventory of greenhouse gases agricultural emissions make up 48% of New Zealand’s total emissions of these carbon dioxide equivalents but this does not reflect the reality of what is happening in our atmosphere in terms of real greenhouse gas. 

The main greenhouse gas that livestock produce is methane.  Methane is produced in the rumen of a ruminant as a by product of the digestion process. It is called enteric methane and is released into the atmosphere when the animal belches (they do not fart).

Enteric methane makes up nearly one third of New Zealand’s emissions of carbon dioxide equivalents, but most if not all of this methane has no effect on the atmospheric concentration of methane or any other greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.  It does not cause an increase in the concentration of methane, therefore it does not cause an increase in the global greenhouse affect and therefore it can not physically be responsible for any global warming that may be happening.

The reason for this is that methane (CH4) oxidises to CO2 over a relatively short period of 8-12 years. Because it is continually breaking down to CO2 it needs a constant source to replenish it and maintain the atmospheric concentration. A steady state of production only maintains current levels in the atmosphere, it does not increase it. Most if not all enteric methane produced in New Zealand is from a steady state of production and is not an anthropogenic activity as defined by the UN.

Climate change as defined by the UN and The Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change is “A change of climate which is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere”.

According to the UN definition, for an activity to be causing global warming it has to alter the composition of the atmosphere. For an atmosphere to be considered altered it stands to reason it has to be different after the emission than it was before the emission. In the case of enteric methane the atmosphere is not different, it has no more CO2, CH4 or C in it than it had before and it is therefore not altered and methane emissions from a steady state source are not an anthropogenic activity.

For this reason almost one third of the emissions New Zealand reports in the Inventory of Greenhouse Gases should not be in there. Including them in the ETS was a mistake making the ETS, which is a major economic policy of this Government, fundamentally flawed.

To understand how this mistake came about we need to understand how carbon dioxide equivalents are calculated. Carbon dioxide equivalents were invented to try and quantify the greenhouse effect of a number of different greenhouse gases. The greenhouse effect of all greenhouse gases is equated to the greenhouse effect of CO2. Methane is better at trapping heat than CO2 with onemolecule of methane having the equivalent greenhouse effect of 21 molecules of CO2 when this effect is averaged over a period of 100 years. For this reason methane has what they call a global warming potential of 21 and so an emission of 1 tonne of methane is quantified as 21 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents. To quantify the different gases in this way does makes sense and on the face of it is a good idea but in reality it does not work. There are a number of reasons for this, not the least being it fails to take into account the cyclical nature of livestock emissions.

When an animal eats grass and produces product it is part of the carbon cycle. During this process carbon in the form of carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere to grow grass. After the animal eats the grass most of the carbon is returned to the atmosphere and reforms immediately as CO2. It returns to the atmosphere through animal respiration, waste, and product eaten by humans who return it through their own respiration and waste processes.

Exactly the same amount of carbon has been returned to the atmosphere as was removed, making the animal truly carbon neutral. What complicates this though is that this carbon was all in the form of CO2 when it was removed from the atmosphere and while most of it returns as CO2 a small portion returns as CH4 (methane). This is where these imaginary carbon dioxide equivalents are created. When an animal converts a molecule of carbon dioxide to a molecule of methane the global warming industry say that one carbon dioxide equivalent was removed from the atmosphere as the CO2 molecule and twenty one carbon dioxide equivalents were returned as the CH4 molecule. Twenty additional carbon dioxide equivalents have been produced and released into an imaginary atmosphere. In reality though there is no more carbon, carbon dioxide or methane in the real atmosphere. There can be no global warming from them.

In short these carbon dioxide equivalents are a joke, they do not work. The UN acknowledges there are problems with them and set up an expert group to devise an alternative way to calculate them. They have not as yet found a metric that satisfactorily quantifies the greenhouse effect of a mix of greenhouse gases without causing anomalies as the current system does with enteric methane.  Designing an ETS around a system and methodology that is so flawed was not a prudent move by the New Zealand Government. What would be prudent would be a scientific review into the true effect enteric methane emissions are having on the atmosphere. John Key and Nick Smith have refused to do this preferring to spend tens of millions of dollars in a forlorn search for ways to mitigate the emission of a gas that is only harmful in an imaginary atmosphere not a real one. Their ETS is equally forlorn as a policy because it is based on methodology which is not scientifically credible

MineralBoost – Now available from RD1 nutrition.

RD1 nutrition are now offering MineralBoost to be blended with PKE and other animal feeds. When customers of RD1 are ordering PKE they simply need now ask to have MineralBoost added. Turning good feed into great feed. Easy.

 

National Sales Manager - FERTCO - Ag-Recruit Limited

National Sales Manager - FERTCO

Waikato or Bay of Plenty based

Fertco is a privately owned fertiliser and animal nutrition provider established in 1999. They have been supplying North Island farmers with innovative fertiliser products for over ten years. Head office is in Mt Maunganui with outlying manufacturing based in Morrinsville.

Head office is in Mt Maunganui with outlying manufacturing based in Morrinsville. Additional dispatch facilities are in the King Country and Manawatu. Our 1500 customers farm a mix of Dairy, Sheep and Beef, Cropping, and Horticulture. Fertiliser customers are primarily based in the upper North Island.

Due to growth in market share, and the successful introduction of Mineral Boost to the market, Fertco now has an immediate need to recruit a National Sales Manager. This newly formed position can be based in either Waikato or the Bay of Plenty.

As National Sales Manager, you will report to the General Manager and be supported by Fertco’s in-house technical team. You will lead and mentor a team of six sales representatives. You will also implement systems to ensure that your agricultural customers are provided with the best service and technical advice possible.

You will spend 50% of your time developing new markets for Fertco and running your physical territory. You will drive and organise public relations and events. You will be ultimately responsible for the care of Fertco’s channel partners around New Zealand and will conduct regular sales and service reviews with them.

Competencies required for this role include:

• Proven leadership and sales management skills, with experience in a leadership role
• Experience developing and implementing reporting systems and budgets
• A strong personal background in business development
• An affinity with New Zealand pastoral farming practices
• Ability to learn and make use of new technology
• Appropriate tertiary qualification - preferred

To discuss this role in confidence, please phone either Deb Francis on 021 2245000 or Alwyn Coll on 027 2291444. Otherwise, send your CV with covering letter to apply@ag-recruit.co.nz by Monday 29 November. (Quote ref FRT18)

Nutrient leaders listen to farmers

Nutrient leaders listen to farmers

by Elaine Fisher | 2nd November 2010 BOP times

Warwick Voyce says limited resources necessitates efficient fertiliser use, a practice his company Fertco is well known for. Elaine Fisher BOP Times

A looming world shortage of raw materials and rising costs are driving changes in the New Zealand fertiliser industry that's good for the environment, says Warwick Voyce, general manager of Fertco.
"While nutrients were cheap, New Zealand's fertiliser industry operated on applying bulk nutrients to the land and while this worked well for farmers it was probably not so good for the environment," said Mr Voyce.
With costs increasing and shortage predicted, a re-think of fertiliser use was vital to ensure agriculture and horticulture in New Zealand continued to flourish while remaining environmentally sustainable, he said.
"So far, in reaction to rising cost and lack of alternatives, many farmers have simply applied fewer, cheaper nutrients which are understandable but not sustainable.
"There are still soil deficiencies and nutrients being removed from the soil and failure to address this will ultimately lead to falling production," he said.
Fertco was founded 10 years ago with a strong emphasis on eco-friendly products, and although that's still important, Warwick said the company's focus on matching fertilisers to specific soil and production needs often resulted in less product being applied, saving money.
"We remain eco-friendly but in this new era, we are also innovators in nutrient efficiency," he said.
The needs of the farmer are as important as the needs of the land and livestock, he said.

"It's as important for us to know what it is the farmer wants to achieve, be it costs savings, higher production, fewer visits from the vet or more time at the beach, as it is to assess the soil data to find out what the land needs," he said.
For that reason, Fertco consultants not only sample the soil and discuss nutrient budgets but also ask farmers a range of questions to gauge the outcomes they are aiming for. "The kinds of questions we ask are those which have been overlooked in the past. There is no point in recommending a fertiliser programme which will result in increased production if the farmer really wants a slower pace of life and more recreation time," said Mr Voyce.
Taking note of land owners' needs is one of the reasons Fertco came into being.
"A group of Waikato farmers wanted a company which approached fertiliser supply from a fresh angle. Their interest was primarily in dicalcic phosphate which, they believed from their own experiences, was a superior product to super phosphate as it gave them improved animal health and pasture growth and was environmentally friendly," he said.
Dicalcic phosphate, known as "reverted super", is manufactured by blending lime with super, before wetting the mix and leaving it to revert.
What follows is a chemical reaction in which the phosphate in the super is converted from monocalcium to dicalcium phosphate, resulting in a release rate in soil that more closely matches plant uptake.
Initially a co-operative, Fertco set up a sales consultancy force with a mandate to focus on customer service and to tailor fertiliser blends to clients' exact requirements.
A year after its formation, Fertco re-structured into a limited liability company.
"The company's head office and main manufacturing and dispatch facility has always been at Mt Maunganui because it is close to the port where virtually all our raw material enters the country," said Mr Voyce.
The company also has a granulation and drying plant in Morrinsville and additional storage and dispatch facilities in Te Kuiti and Dannevirke.
It employs 22 staff, many of whom are also shareholders.
Although fertiliser remains its core function, Fertco has recently successfully branched into the field of animal nutrition with the launch of it soon-to-be patented "Mineral Boost" dietary supplement for livestock.
"We are a relatively small company in a market dominated by fertiliser giants and while we can offer the same services they do in terms of deferred payments, and a full range of fertiliser blends, we can also offer value where other products cannot.
"For example, we have the highest dicalcic phosphate range on the market and most recently have focused heavily on offering our customers products which result in production gains and/or cost savings over more traditional fertiliser programmes."
While Fertco's core products for horticulture and agriculture are eco-friendly, it also has a range of BioGro certified organic products.
"Many of our organic products are used by conventional farmers and orchardists and that's partly because the products are affordable. We don't charge a premium because they are organic."
Fertco also supplies small block holders through arrangements with rural service stores such as RD1 and Farmlands.
"It's just as important for lifestyle farmers to fertilise their land to ensure livestock have good feed as it is for larger farmers and it doesn't have to be expensive."

P blend brings ‘rampant’ growth

P blend brings ‘rampant’ growth
Hauraki Plains dairy farmer Graham
Needham’s milk production has shot up
since he began using dicalcic phosphates 10
years ago. He milks 220 Shorthorn/Ayrshire
cows on 78ha of predominantly peat soil
in Ngatea, running an all-grass system with
a small amount of green feed maize grown
on farm to get his herd through the region’s
typical late summer dry.
Needham said he used to apply the
standard 30 percent potassic super to his
property, with “fair to middling” results.
For the past decade, he has been working
with Bay of Plenty-based Fertco, whose
products he said have really made his farm
produce.
“The ability to mix Fertco’s granulated
lime with dicalcic phosphate in customblended
mixes has seen our pH levels rise
to 6.3-6.5, which is unprecedented for peat
soils,” he said.
“This has seen the paddocks stand out
in our neighbourhood due to their
intense dark green colour and
rampant clover growth.
“Consequently, our milk
production has skyrocketed and
now sits at 87,000kg milksolids
(MS). Animal health issues are
virtually non-existent and we’ve got
an abundance of earthworms. My
sharemilker is happy and production
is still climbing.”
Sharemilker James Clothier said
local farmers reckoned this year’s
crop of maize was the best any had
seen on the Hauraki Plains. “And we
only used the Fertco standard farm fertiliser
– no special maize mixes and no extra
nitrogen [N].”
Fertco general manager Warwick
Voyce said the company has developed a
unique method of manufacturing dicalcic
phosphate that results in an eco-friendly
product with a high nutrient content.
“As well as saving money on both cartage
and spreading, our Dical range has benefits
for soil biology, animal health and the
environment,” he said.
“It also helps maintain soil phosphate
[P] levels and production, using a quarter
to a third less P, which again saves farmers
money.”
Fertco services the greater North Island
region. For more information visit www.
fertco.co.nz.

Fonterra Video

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayb9Cw7ZhcM

Solid Energy and New Zealand Humates unlock Southland Humate potential

 

Solid Energy and New Zealand Humates unlock Southland Humate potential

26 May 2010

Solid Energy’s high-quality humates from its New Vale Mine in Southland has achieved a major milestone - gaining organic certification with BioGro New Zealand, the country’s leading organic certification agency.

Scientific testing recently confirmed that select lignite seams at Solid Energy’s New Vale Mine in Southland are a source of high-quality humates, which could play a key role in greening New Zealand both literally and figuratively.

“Humates are rich in humic and fulvic acids and these acids help retain nutrients for plants,” says Solid Energy Environmental Business Manager, Dr Paul Weber.  Early results show that the humate product from New Vale could have more than 30% humic acid.  “Our last load, which we shipped recently, had a humic acid content of 43%, which was fantastic.”

“Exploratory laboratory trials have indicated humates can slow the leaching of nitrogen fertilisers,” he says.  “This may allow plants to use more of the nutrient before it leaches away. By helping soils retain nitrogen, humates could offer financial benefits to farmers and also reduce the negative effects of leaching on aquifers and rivers.”

Dr Weber says New Zealand farmers and gardeners apply about 2,000 tonnes of humates a year but the market is predicted to jump to 10,000 tonnes in the coming years due to its increasing reputation.  “Most of the humates used in New Zealand are currently imported from Australia, involving considerable transport costs, so we hope that our New Vale discovery can provide a comparable high-quality local source,” he says.

Solid Energy has an agreement with New Zealand Humates Limited (NZH) to supply humates for the New Zealand market.  Dave Whitteker, Managing Director of NZH and an eight-year advocate of humates, says the supply deal represents an opportunity to harness New Zealand’s own natural resources in a very green way and reduce the country’s reliance on international imports. 

“Now that we’ve gained organic certification of the New Vale Mine humates with BioGro New Zealand – the local product is even more palatable for  customers,” Mr Whitteker says.  A number of his clients now use 4% to 10% humate mixed with fertiliser and agricultural limestone applications to maximise pasture and crop response.

“Further research is required on this product, under New Zealand conditions, to maximise the benefits, and trials are currently under way with Lincoln University,” Mr Whitteker says.

Dr Weber, who also manages environmental research and development for Solid Energy, concludes that the humate market is young but has strong potential.  “We are already investigating options for liquid humates that could be used for blended fertilisers, water treatment and clean-up of contaminated sites.  Watch this space,” he says.