The Country 13/10/25: Wayne Langford talks to Hamish McKay

Federated Farmers national president welcomes the government's new methane reduction target.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
But first of all, fear to raided farmers. President Wayne
Langford on the cuts to the methane emissions levels and
progress Hamer seven, Now I'm turned around. Good afternoon, Wyne.

(00:20):
This seems fourteen to twenty four percent methane by cuts
by twenty fifty. This seems a little bit more realistic
across the board.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Hash. Yeah, it's good to be here, and we've certainly
landed in a much better spot than when we were
something that's now not only scientific but also realistic for
farmers to get after. And we'll also draw a much
clearer line in the sand for our farmers going forward
so that they know where they're heating.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Yeah, who were those that were pushing for sort of
double of this, given that there were those in the
scientific fraternity who absolutely thought that the fourteen to all
that sort of fourteen to twenty four zone we've landed, Well,
it was practical and sensible.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Yeah, Well that's that's the question we're asking. I mean,
it came in and under jam Suare and justinder our
don around twenty four to forty seven percent target. We're
still actually asking that question, where did that number come from?
Because it did seem pretty unrealistic and idealistic at the
same time as the where to go. And so anyone
that's been following along on our journey will know that

(01:21):
we asked for a methane review during the twenty twenty
three election. It's taken some time to come through, but
the methane reviews finally landed. It's gone through the Hall
de Parliament and now ended up here to say, hey,
these are the targets and this is what we're what
we're sticking without.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Twenty fifty makes sense, though it doesn't Kevin, who is
the backbone of the country. Even when James share and
justinto a doom, we're in some sort of the roles
that they were in. Things have gone from strength to
strength for the egg sector. So just yeah, it's a
no brainer.

Speaker 2 (01:52):
Yeah this one might take it to me but to
explain armies, but I'll try my best for for the
everage time around there, because I know these numbers are confusing,
but twenty four to forty seven percent was going to
shut down over twenty percent of our shoe boof farms.
It's one on five, So you think about when you
went for a barbecue with your mates on one on
five of you weren't going to be farming there seven
percent of dairy farms, which doesn't sound like a lot,

(02:14):
but it's actually a heck of a lot of dairy
farms as well. On top of that, you know, obviously
smashing the royal communities and school teachers and local nurses
and doctors and all that sort of stuff as well,
they were just unrealistic and they also weren't going to
achieve the result that they were hoping to achieve. So
by bringing it back to fourteen to twenty four percent,
it's a range that well, again and first of all,

(02:37):
was scientifically based, but also if you look at the
pathward direction of travel that were on, we're you know,
well off under the eight or ten percent already in
the first decade, which means going forward over the next
twenty five years, we've got a range of kind of
that's six to six to what is it, six to say,
sixteen percent that we've got to move And that's much

(02:57):
more realistic than going all the way out to forty seven,
which were just which would just obviously decimate our farming communities.
So that's why we're kind of celebrating. It is such
a big win because really, if farmers carry on doing
what we're doing, keep getting more efficient, and keep producing
food the way we are and embracing some of the
new technologies that are coming along, then we're going to

(03:20):
achieve this. And this whole missions talk that's been hammering
the farming community for the last what six or seven
years should just go away. There's no need to talk
about it anymore. We're on track to hit it. We're
going to hit it, and there's really nothing to see here.

Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yeah, and it is an opportunity, you know, to take
the high ground, isn't it? Not back off keeping trying
to do our best but reasonable efforts to reduce methane.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
I am, and we're definitely not going to back off.
I mean, we know that there was some work that
farmers are doing, and then the amount of farmers they
now know their numbers such and know what they're working
with the changes that they're making in the farm. And
on top of that, the good thing is it's starting
to become marke driven. If the market wants it, then
the market can ask for it, and the market will
pay for it. And farmers have got no problem responding

(04:06):
to that. From from what I've heard, they're saying, hey,
cour if you want me to want me to produce
it that way, and you're willing to pay for it,
then I'm willing to have a crack at it. And
so we've seen that with a number of incentive structures
to the likes of Fonterra and civil firm farms and
a few others that you know, that's much better place
to be rather than a blunt, idealistic, you know target

(04:30):
that is that was literally going to destroy some rural communities.

Speaker 1 (04:34):
Forty to twenty four percent. Though, when do we think
did we actually go far enough with us? Could it
have gone lower?

Speaker 2 (04:39):
Oh that's a great question, and I'm not going to lie.
I sat at the first meeting and did say, what
about zero? You know, what are we doing here? Why
not zero? And when you look a look at it
practically from a New Zealand government and trade point of view,
and we do still well a lot of not a
lot from the majority of what we produce. You know,
Admitting as a government that we're moving away from a

(05:00):
one point five degree target, which is the need for
the twenty four percent, would be a massive announcement for
a government to make. So that's why they're kind of
sitting there at the twenty four percent. Now, if we're
not going to have twenty four percent, if it's more
like a two degree warming, that's fourteen percent. And that's
that's much more on line where we're thinking more potentially
lower than that. And so that's kind of where that

(05:22):
where or how the rangers landed. Could it be zero?

Speaker 1 (05:27):
You know?

Speaker 2 (05:27):
No, what have that been acceptable? I don't know, but
I'll tell you what. We've got to a far better
place than where we were. That's so sure, and we'll.

Speaker 1 (05:35):
Take that for now. There we go. That is federated
Farmer's a President, Wayne Langford. He'll be a busy man
with this announcement. The new target fourteen to twenty four
percent with the methane cup by twenty fifty