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Last week's Tai Tokerau Climate Change Conference has already generated a response that reflects the urgency with which we collectively have to act. Following a powhiri at Te Puna o Matauranga marae (NorthTec), Minister of Climate Change, James Shaw opened the conference congratulating the attendees for their support for action in Northland. The Minister announced … Continue reading Tai Tokerau Climate Change Conference generates action →

We find carbon in four main places, the ocean, the soil, the atmosphere and in vegetation. The carbon problem is simple really, we have extracted it from the earth in various forms and vented it into the sky. Since the start of the industrial revolution, we have increased CO2 in the atmosphere by 140%. So, … Continue reading Soil resilience →

"Profit was positively correlated with the particulate organic matter of the soil, not yield". That's a conclusion reached in a study on regenerative agriculture practices in the United States, passed on to me from Max Purnell, a dairy farmer from Hauraki. Max has an insatiable appetite for knowledge about regenerative agriculture, and specifically carbon sequestration, … Continue reading Growing soil carbon →

We have to deintensify dairy for a whole lot of reasons. Uppermost in public discourse is water quality, but also intensification has to be sustained by increased inputs that place a burden on the environment. For example, imports of palm kernel meal has risen from 96 metric tonnes in 2003 to 1,600 metric tonnes in … Continue reading Trees and dairy →