New Zealand to charge farmers a burp fee for sheep and cows

The New Zealand Government has presented its first proposal in the world to impose taxes from 2025 on gas emission by the belching of sheep and cows that cause the greenhouse effectin a country where the head of cattle multiplies the number of inhabitants.

The plan, which does not specify a collection estimate or detail the issue price or how these will be measured, will be consulted with farmers until November 18.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has ensured that all the money raised will be returned to the industry by funding new technology, research and incentives for farmers.

In New Zealand, a country of five million inhabitantsalmost half of the country’s emissions come from the agricultural sector, mainly due to its 26 million sheep and 10 million cowsruminant mammals that expel the methane produced during digestion through their eructations and flatulence.

The proposal, also promoted by the alliance of primary sector associations He Waka Eke Noa, includes incentives for farmers who reduce emissions, which can also be offset by planting forests.

However, the proposal does not convince all farmers’ associations, who claim that this policy will cause a reduction in the number of cattle and sheep farms in the country.

New Zealand’s Federated Farmers Association, one of the industry’s main lobby groups, says this government project “will wipe out rural New Zealand” and see farms replaced by tree plantations.

The agricultural sector accounts for 10% of New Zealand’s gross domestic product and 65% of export earnings.

The Wellington Executive, whose goal is to achieve neutrality in polluting emissions by 2050, has until the end of the year to decide how it will tax emissions from the agricultural sector.