Mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from New Zealand pasture-based livestock farm systems

Abstract

The reduction of the agricultural greenhouse gases, methane and nitrous oxide is likely to play an important role in New Zealand’s transition to a low-emissions economy. A limited range of options currently exists to reduce emissions from pasture-based livestock farming systems. However, several promising options are under development which have the potential to considerably reduce on-farm emissions, such as inhibitors and vaccines. On-farm forestry can be used to offset emissions through carbon sequestration in trees, but more scientifically robust and consistent evidence is needed if soil carbon sequestration is to be used to offset New Zealand’s greenhouse gas emissions.