12. Question No. 12—AgricultureMARK CAMERON (ACT) to the Minister of AgricultureQuestion No. 12—Agriculture12. MARK CAMERON (ACT) to the Minister of Agriculture: Does he stand by the Acting Minister of Agriculture's statement made on 16 November 2022 that specific mitigation technologies commercially available now include low-methane sheep genetics the effluent pond treatment technology EcoPond and urease inhibitor"; if so how many commercial farms in New Zealand are currently utilising each of these technologies?Hon DAVID PARKER (Attorney-General) on behalf of the Minister of Agriculture: Yes. In the case of urease inhibitors I am advised that 7800 farms utilised this technology as of 2017. I don't know the exact number of farms using EcoPond technology to reduce methane emissions from effluent ponds but I suspect I know that if we asked farmers or directed them to require them to provide that information the member would object.Mark Cameron: How will dairy farmers be able to afford EcoPond technology for which the first year's cost is modelled at 14.7 percent of the average dairy farm's net income on top of the 6.7 percent of net income they will lose because of this Government's emissions pricing proposals?Hon DAVID PARKER: I'm not able to confirm the calculations that the member sets out to the House. I do note that just in the last week or two the Westpac NZ Agribusiness Climate Change Report predicted that outcomes from the transition to low-carbon agriculture in New Zealand include reduced on-farm production costs through resource efficiency and increased producer returns through a changing trade environment.Mark Cameron: Why did the Acting Minister of Agriculture refer to low-methane sheep genetics as "commercially available" when in response to written question No. 43014 (2022) the Minister of Agriculture identified that "low-methane sheep genetics are being trialled in a small number of commercial farms"?Hon DAVID PARKER: Because the Acting Minister probably understands as I do that methane emissions per unit of production in sheep production have increased by around 1 percent per annum for more than 20 years including through improved genetics which have reduced the time to first lamb and increased twins and triplets.Dr Duncan Webb: What are the urease inhibitors mentioned in the primary question?Hon DAVID PARKER: Urease inhibitors reduce the volatilisation losses of ammonia from urea and so maximise the nitrogen that is available for plant uptake. This means that less nitrogen needs to be used for the same production and there is less nitrous oxide produced which otherwise adds to climate warming. Urease inhibitors are an example of how climate mitigation can increase farm efficiency.Mark Cameron: Why hasn't the Minister considered adopting ACT's policy of tying New Zealand's agricultural emissions price to that of our five trading partners instead of penalising our farmers the most emissions-efficient farmers in the world and leaking more emissions offshore?Hon DAVID PARKER: Because the ACT policy is barking mad and would lead to increased emissions whereas the Labour Party policy of increasing investment in science partly funded by farmers will increase farm efficiency as well as reduce emissions which is a win for farmers and a win for the environment."