NZAGRC Highlights in 2021

It gives you the latest on how our science is advancing knowledge and understanding of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions and developing technologies and practices to help reduce them. For example, in 2021, building on the success achieved in the low-emitting sheep breeding programme, the dairy cattle breeding programme progressed to full trial stage. This work is happening in partnership with the two main dairy breeding companies in New Zealand - LIC and CRV Ambreed. 

Work by our nitrous oxide scientists on nitrification inhibitors is showing great promise for reducing emissions from cattle urine patches.

Our long-term soil carbon monitoring programme sampled 170 sites across the motu and is on track to have 500 done by June 2023, which signals completion of the benchmarking phase. 

Two new Māori-led projects were initiated:

• Takahuri Whenua - working with Māori Collectives to support their understanding and decision-making on agricultural greenhouse gas mitigation.
• Kohimarama - a scoping study with a group of marae in Tairāwhiti, aimed at gathering information to inform a larger, community-led research proposal aimed at using Mātauranga Māori and traditional environmental knowledge to shape a climate-ready future for this remote, rural community.  

To read more about these achievements and others, have a look at Highlights 2021.