The Country 18/11/25: Jane Smith talks to Jamie Mackay

Is a North Otago sheep and beef farmer, and poster girl for the Methane Science Accord,  who responds to correspondence from a young Northland dairy farmer regarding his concerns about mandating feed additives as a part of a climate policy.

 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Jane Smith is a north Otago farmer, regular hair on
the country. You never die wondering what she's thinking. What's
she thinking today? Because as we speak, Jane, you've taken
a break from your lunch break to chat to us.
You're stuck behind a rock or somewhere high on the
hills on your farm there, sheltering from a gale northwesterly.
Are you guys really starting to get quite dry in
north Otago?

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Well, good afternoon, Jamie. Yeah, we certainly are. I mean
there's been seven weeks of Norweister's We had a bit
of a reprieve last week from the northwest, so that
was good for people that were tailing, et cetera. And
I guess the other concerning thing is that if it's
northwest to here it is, it'll be pouring with rain
on the West coast and those sort of western parts

(00:41):
of Central Target that have just had enough Jamie, and
in Southend as well, So it's really tricky. Not as
dry as Hawke's Bay and probably and definitely as dry
as North Canterbury, but we're certainly getting there, Jamie. And
it's just not the best working conditions working with Blair
anyway left alone in the.

Speaker 1 (00:57):
Northwester I'm on blair side on this one. I think
I think he'd be the peacemaker in the relationship. I
got an email yesterday from a young Northland dairy farmer.
I hope he doesn't mind me reading this out. I've
forwarded it on to you. His name is Nathan Chestnut.
He said, I'm a young dairy farmer in Northland. Still
have about forty or fifty years to go if the

(01:18):
country plays its cards right. So that's a good, ambitious
and positive approach to take to start with. He's really
worried because he says Norway has legislated a mandate that
all dairy cattle must be fed with a feed additive
as a part of its climate policy. Now farmers are
reporting health issues amongst their animals. I abnormal behavior, refusal

(01:40):
of feed intake, and even death. Now you are, when
you're not farming with Blair, you are the poster girl
for the Methane Science Accord. This is what you guys
are banging on about.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Yeah, well, we've had a lot of concerns about this
for some time now, Jamien. And it's interesting to see
this really highlighted and de mark over the last two weeks.
And obviously, as some of your listeners will know, the
active ingredient is let me get this right, three nitro
oxy pro panel, which is THREEP. So it's essentially an

(02:13):
enzyme that's used by nathanologenic microbes to that produce methane
to block the enzyme, so essentially works to alter the
microbio and the stomach, which is particularly concerning given all
the knowledge we now have around you know, the stomach
by health really being a key tenant in being healthy,
whether you're a cow or a human, and that is

(02:35):
really concerning. So and I guess what we've looked into
is as we know that the consumers generally do not
want to consume it, and you know, and their meat
and their milk, and why would you farmers don't want
to use it because of the because of the cost,
and the no rational rational reason why you'd have to
use it. And also you know, again ninety three percent

(02:55):
of our two thousand farmers in New Zealand that we've
sieve had said they will not use it. Now the
danger government had mandated its use, as Nathan Rtney says,
and their intense farmings obviously quite too. You know, it's
a feedlot system rather than our our free range pastoral
systems here. So they've done that for a piece of
climate change colt over there. And last week both the

(03:18):
government and the Danish Visionary Association issue the press release
allowing farmers to actually withdraw from using it if they
suspect health conditions and because animal welfare has been compromised.
And I now see that the UK have also stopped
under trials that they were doing with it as well.
So again really concerning that we are currently putting tax

(03:38):
payer money into essentially the same the same type of
feed aditives and vaccines et cetera that will be altering
you know, the natural ruminant processes.

Speaker 1 (03:47):
Jamie, Jane, come on, let's be honest here. This is
you just shoving a bowlus right up the backside of
agri zero n Z.

Speaker 2 (03:55):
Yeah. Well again, Jamie, you know that the big concerns
here are are, you know, animal health concern We don't
know the long term impact, but also the biggest one
is actually they're not needed at all. All of these
tools will make about as much difference to global temperatures
as painting every sense post in the country. Would so
that would be extensive, It would sound good, it would
look nice, but it means it's totally meaningless to global temperatures.

(04:18):
And you know, it's really interesting any time you ask
a politician or an overpaid bureaucrat or a well funded
scientist that's doing methane mitigation sites what difference any of
this will make to global temperatures, and they cannot answer it,
and instead, of course, they roll up that line about
our global customer, this is what they want. So, you know,
junk food companies, nisla, McDonald's, this is what they want.

(04:39):
And the really sad thing is it was now in
a country that's paying what is it, two million dollars
an hour of just Sinder's interest off an hour, we've
now copped up nearly a billion dollars on chasing rainbow
stam In imagine if that same money had been spent
on enhance and biodiversity, by security, water quality, water raage,

(05:00):
pest control. And it really concerns me that we're, you know,
we're hearing Christopher climate change lots and still rolling out
that line, we must meet our climate, our carbon zero
by twenty fifty and it's an irrational response, a response
to it, Jamie. And three hundred billion dollars could be
clock dark by then, and that's what's at one hundred

(05:20):
hospitals and ten years at the health budget, Jamie. So
I will not you know, I will knock back down
some fighting on this, Jamie, because again it's not whether
or not climate change it is or isn't happening, it's
how we respond to it, Jamie. And this is absolutely irrational.
And again, if you look at photosynthesis, and I've just
written a article from the New Zealand Herald on this,

(05:41):
it's a closed loop. Ruminant animals are simply a one
cog in the wheel. So we actually, you know, on
a molecule for modicle basis, only three percent of the cotos,
all by grass, ends up being returned as methane. And
it's a very simple back of the envelope stuff. In fact,
I explained this to a Bush High school a class
last week and they said, yeah, we know that. They

(06:04):
know that, so it's very strange to their eg sector leaders.
Our research scientists continue to waste money in this area.
And I actually I want to apologize to the textpayer
because we are literally wasting money that could be going
into some real R and D jamming.

Speaker 1 (06:17):
Okay, look on the bright side, Jane. At least with
Chippy's capital gains tax, you're going to get three free
visits to the doctor each year. Hope you get some
rain in North Otago.

Speaker 2 (06:26):
Thanks Jammy,