Resource efficiency

There are three key drivers of biological emissions: 

• Dry matter eaten
• Protein content of feed
• Nitrogen fertiliser use

Reducing any or all of these drivers will lead to a reduction in emissions. The key is to identify opportunities to reduce these drivers while maintaining or improving profitability. This will be different for different farms and systems. Managing resources efficiently can therefore help reduce emissions.

There is no "one size fits all" for this action. Every farm will be different, depending on the farm system and the people running it. For some farms, there will be a lot of areas to improve efficiency. For others, there will be very little. Farm system modelling and getting good advice can be a good place to start. 

Some examples of areas where efficiencies can be gained include: 

• Improving feed quality so that less feed is needed to produce the same level of performance
• Rebalancing stocking rate and improving individual animal performance
• Altering the diet
• Using technology to support decisions with fertiliser application and use, and irrigation practices (if relevant)
• Reducing empty rates in cows and ewes so fewer replacements are needed
• Using dairy-beef animals sourced from the dairy industry as breeding replacements or for finishing

The gains will vary between farms. They could be as low as 1% and as high as 20%, depending on the current level of resource efficiency. However, even 1% adds up across a lot of farms. The benefit of any gains in resource efficiency is that they often improve profitability. 

Intensification usually leads to increased total emissions. Depending on how improvements in resource efficiency are made, the gains made from making one action could be offset by another decision made elsewhere. For example, putting in a forage crop to finish lambs faster improves efficiency, but if that means more stock can be carried elsewhere in the system, or more lambs can be finished, this may lead to greater emissions overall. This is where a whole system approach is needed in planning and implementation.

Emissions intensity is the volume of emissions produced per unit of product, e.g. kg emissions/kg milk solids or kg emissions/kg meat. This is different to 'absolute emissions', which are the total emissions produced by an enterprise or an entity like a farm.

Reducing emissions intensity means that fewer emissions per unit of product are being created, but if there is an increase in the units produced, then there can still be an increase in absolute/total emissions. 

Over the last couple of decades, New Zealand farmers have markedly improved the efficiency of their farming operations. In dairy, this has been driven by increased milk yield per cow and for sheep through increased reproductive efficiency and higher lamb growth rates and carcass weights. This has reduced emissions intensity by about 1% per annum. Our emissions per unit of product are among the lowest in the world. 

It isn't possible to relate this improvement to any single practice; but things like improvements in plant and animal genetics, pasture and feed management and animal health, and better optimised fertiliser applications have all played a role. 

The improvement is occurring because inputs are being used more efficiently, resulting in an improved input:output ratio. This doesn't simply mean more from less; it means that outputs increase relative to inputs. Inputs (and emissions) may well increase, but outputs increase more. 

This phenomenon is unlikely to stop. Farmers and growers constantly innovate and strive for production efficiencies simply to stay in business, and supported by the science community. 

However, emissions reduction targets both in New Zealand and internationally are framed in absolute reduction terms, not reductions in emissions intensity. Even though emissions intensity is likely to continue to reduce here, on its own this is not enough to meet climate targets. 

It's critical to start by finding out what your on-farm greenhouse gas emissions are and to understand the risks of focusing on intensity reductions alone (which could lead to increased absolute/total emissions).