Rick Burke and Jan Loney, Bay of Plenty
Rick Burke and Jan Loney have managed to turn around some serious environmental issues on their sheep and beef farm and it's now a pretty special place. Recently they've started thinking about the farm's impact on the climate and what they might be able to do about it.
About the farm
Pukekauri Farms is just south of Katikati against the Kaimai Ranges. The farm is 295ha, with 162ha in pasture as a beef, sheep and dairy grazing operation. The remainder has been retired and planted - some in exotic forestry (23ha) and the rest (110ha) in native trees, regenerating bush and wetlands.
The farm is predominantly loam ash soil and the terrain is mixed. Around 75% is flat to rolling hills and 25% is steep, and there are some major streams crossing the property. Annual rainfall is around 1,900mm and while the farm has generally been regarded as summer safe, three drought years in a row now have Rick and Jan looking closely at managing the farm for a changing climate and trying to build resilience into their systems.
Production has shifted in recent years from dairy grazing to beef, with the latter now contributing around 75% of farm income. Lamb finishing and wool accounts for 18% of income, with dairy grazing sitting at 8%.
The farm carries just over 3,000 stock units on average. Rick and Jan farm to the grass growth curve, wintering at 14.5 SU/ha, then increasing to 20 SU/ha during spring and summer as feed becomes available.
History
Rick and Jan have part owned and managed Pukekauri Farms since the early 1980s. Twenty years ago, when they were expanding the property, they found they had some major environmental issues.

Pukekauri Farms, looking out to Tauranga Harbour (Photo: Dave Allen Photography)
Runoff from the farm was contributing to sediment pollution in the Tauranga Harbour as well as harming freshwater habitats. The only drinking access for stock was from waterways and the regional council had rated stream health as 2/10.
The job ahead looked huge and initially Rick wondered whether they'd done the right thing in taking the new property on. But he cares deeply about the harbour - surfing and fishing there regularly.
"As farmers, we have a duty to reduce any harmful impacts from livestock farming. As business people, we need to maintain our profitability. As kaitiaki, we need to look after our land and restore and maintain the bush, waterways and pastureland that we work," says Rick.
Several decades on, along with a farm environment plan and much hard work under their belts, Rick and Jan have vastly improved their freshwater and biodiversity outcomes.
"Our stream health rating has jumped to 9-10 out of 10 - as good as you can get," says Rick.
Their efforts have been recognised with several farm environment awards. More recently though, they've been thinking about a new challenge facing farmers - how agriculture impacts the climate.
In New Zealand, agriculture contributes nearly half our greenhouse gas emissions. The Government has legislation in place to put us on a path to a low emissions future, including targets to reduce agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and 2050.
Rick was keen to understand how his existing actions might have helped reduce his farm's emissions and whether there might be more he and Jan could do in the future.
A farm planning approach
Developing and maintaining a farm environment plan has been at the heart of Rick and Jan's success, enabling them to unlock multiple opportunities on the farm to enhance both the environment and their profitability. And with climate change and greenhouse gas emissions now on their radar, this planning approach sets them up well to respond.
A farm environment plan (FEP) is a tool for identifying and managing on-farm environmental risks. It is unique to a property and recognises the local climate and soils, the type of farming operation and the goals and aspirations of the farmer and their family. It is maintained over time as a living document - evolving as risks and opportunities arise.
Beef + Lamb New Zealand has launched a new farm planning resource to replace and build on its existing Land and Environment Plans. Ensuring the sustainability and profitability of your farm business by adapting to climate change, understanding and managing greenhouse gas emissions, and protecting the health of your soils, freshwater and biodiversity is a core concept behind the resource.
Rick and Jan's farm planning journey began back in the 1990s when they got an adviser in to help them understand the capabilities of the land classes on their property and identify ways to better optimise them. A farm plan was drawn up that divided the property into different land management units so that each could be farmed to its potential, with sensitive or unproductive blocks retired. This saw a major refencing effort and the installation of a proper water reticulation system (over 100 troughs). Bridges were also constructed so that stock could stay out of waterways.
Exotic forestry was introduced in some of the unproductive blocks and Rick and Jan have also planted thousands of native trees and shrubs, helping restore bush and wetlands and protect streams and critical source areas. Eligible forestry (both exotic and native) has been registered with the Emissions Trading Scheme to create another revenue stream through carbon credits.
Retiring less productive land meant Rick and Jan could then concentrate their efforts on the productive blocks, managing them more intensively to deliver higher profits while staying within environmental limits.

Rick Burke in the cattle yards at Pukekauri Farms (Photo: Dave Allen Photography)
They have focused on pasture improvement - introducing more clover and other species in with ryegrass (like plantain, chicory and raphno). They now grow less feed, but it's of a much higher quality.
Rick has altered his rotational grazing system to keep residual covers at their most productive length. Deferred grazing is an important practice used in the summer months, with 25% more growth achieved. Cover crops are also helping lift poorly performing paddocks.
The farm plan process enabled them to match stock class to land class, which when coupled with higher quality feed production, has lifted individual animal performance.
Fertiliser application has also been closely looked at. Rick and Jan work with their fertiliser supplier to ensure that it is only used exactly where and when it is needed.
Rick and Jan's greenhouse gas numbers
When Rick and Jan began making these changes in the 1990s, they were focused on freshwater and biodiversity issues and were not thinking about greenhouse gas emissions. Lately though, as they've become more aware of the future requirements on farmers around climate change, they wanted to see what impact their actions had had on their greenhouse gas numbers.
The main drivers of agricultural greenhouse gas emissions (methane and nitrous oxide) are:
- Amount of dry matter eaten
- Protein level of the diet
- Amount of nitrogen fertiliser applied.
Finding out their farm's greenhouse gas emissions was the critical first step. There are several ways to do this - for more, see our 'Know your numbers' page.
In Rick and Jan's case, they enlisted the help of a farm adviser who worked with them to estimate their on-farm emissions. The adviser used the greenhouse gas component of OverseerFM and some spreadsheeting to calculate the farm's total and 'net' emissions. (Net emissions are total emissions minus the 'offset' (sequestration) achieved through farm forestry and other plantings).
Rick and Jan's greenhouse gas, nitrogen leaching and profitability performance from 1998-2021 is shown in the table below.
1998/99 | 2014/15 | 2020/21 | |
N leaching (kg N/ha/yr) | 21 | 19 | 15 |
Biological GHGs from the pastoral area (tonnes CO2-e/ha/yr) | 5.4 | 4.9 | 5.2 |
Net emissions, taking forestry into account (tonnes CO2-e/ha/yr) | 3.0 | 1.9 | 1.2 |
Total net emissions across the whole farm (tonnes CO2-e) | 873 | 553 | 349 |
Economic Farm Surplus ($/ha) | $506 | $969 | $1,106 |
You can see that they have reduced their net emissions by over 50% from 1998 to 2021, at the same time as doubling their profitability. Greenhouse gas emissions per hectare and in total across the whole farm have been decreasing, as have the nitrogen loss figures. The per hectare greenhouse gas emissions from the pastoral area increased in 2020/21 due to a higher stocking rate, but the whole farm greenhouse gas number decreased due to a lesser area in pasture.
On-farm actions
The main things Rick and Jan have done to directly reduce on-farm emissions are:
- Reduce the amount of dry matter eaten
- Improve feed efficiency
- Finish livestock faster
- Reduce use of nitrogen fertiliser.
You can find out more about reducing on-farm emissions on our actions page.
Rick and Jan have also planted many trees, which has helped provide a carbon offset and reduce net emissions.
"Now when I go out for a surf, I think back over the past decades of hard work and can see we've really lessened our impact on the environment," says Rick.
"We can actually see the difference in the quality of water going into the Tauranga Harbour. That's my driver; that's been my 'why'. It's even better now that we know our efforts have helped the climate too."
For Rick and Jan, their farm plan has enabled them to redesign Pukekauri. They are now farming for the future - not only improving freshwater and biodiversity outcomes, but also - it turns out - making a big difference to their agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. And all while increasing their profitability.
With their greenhouse gas numbers in place and a clearer idea of how their farm management practices affect those numbers, Rick and Jan can now incorporate that information into their farm plan. This sets them up well for a future where all New Zealand farmers and growers will need to be measuring, managing and reporting their agricultural greenhouse gas emissions.
Working together: He Waka Eke Noa
By 2025, New Zealand's agricultural greenhouse gas emissions will be priced and all farmers and growers will need to know their annual on-farm greenhouse gas emissions and have a plan in place to manage them.
Work is underway in a partnership between the primary sector, Government and Māori known as 'He Waka Eke Noa' (translating to 'We're all in this together') to support farmers and growers to meet these climate change requirements.
New Zealand primary industry bodies spearheaded the partnership approach, seeking to be part of designing practical solutions to meeting climate change targets in a way that rewards efforts to reduce emissions and supports the industry's future success.
The He Waka Eke Noa milestones are:
- By the end of 2021, a quarter of New Zealand farms* know their annual total on-farm greenhouse gas emissions** and have a written plan in place to measure and manage them.
- By the end of 2022, 100% of farms know their annual total on-farm emissions.
- By the end of 2023, a system for farm level accounting and reporting of emissions has been piloted.
- By the end of 2024, 100% of farms have a written plan to measure and manage emissions.
- From January 2025, all farms in New Zealand are using the system for farm-level accounting and reporting of 2024 agricultural emissions at the farm level. This will include an appropriate pricing system.
* Being all farms over 80 hectares, or a dairy farm with a milk supply number, or a cattle feedlot as described in the freshwater policy.
** In practice this means a person responsible for farm management holds a documented annual total of on-farm greenhouse gas emissions, by methods and definitions accepted by the He Waka Eke Noa Steering Group.
For more on how to find out your farm's agricultural greenhouse gas emissions, and the 'methods and definitions' accepted by He Waka Eke Noa, see our Know your numbers page.