By Wayne McNee, Chief Executive AgriZeroNZ
New Zealand's agricultural sector has built its success on continually finding better ways to farm. Today, one of our biggest challenges – and opportunities – is reducing emissions in ways that strengthen our position in global markets without compromising productivity. Achieving that hinges on three things: market demand, practical tools that work on Kiwi farms and support for farmers to adopt them.
The market demand is loud and clear. Many of the world’s largest food companies and supermarkets consider emissions alongside price and quality when they’re choosing where to source their products. Financial institutions are also taking emissions into account in lending and investment decisions.
For a country whose food and fibre exports are forecast to earn more than $64 billion this year, those signals matter. Strengthening our reputation as a trusted producer of high-quality, low-emissions food will increasingly depend on giving farmers practical options to meet changing market expectations.
Recognising this early, major agribusinesses, banks and the Government came together three and a half years ago to establish AgriZeroNZ. They shared a simple belief: if New Zealand wanted to remain at the forefront of food production, we needed to invest early – and invest together – to accelerate the development of tools that would help keep our farmers competitive.
Back then, many of the biggest questions were unanswered. Could promising ideas become practical tools? Would they work in New Zealand’s pasture-based farming systems? And would customers and farmers see enough value to use them?
From promising ideas to practical solutions
Today, the picture is much clearer.
Wayne McNee, Chief Executive AgriZeroNZ
Through almost $80 million of investment across 18 companies, research projects and trials, a strong pipeline of technologies is moving steadily towards commercialisation and on-farm use. Our growing portfolio spans probiotics, pastures, vaccines, genetics, animal wearables and feed additives.
We’re focused on disciplined investment in the most credible opportunities – here and overseas – so New Zealand farmers are well positioned to have access to the technologies that succeed.
The first tool likely to become available from our portfolio is a methane-inhibiting bolus from Kiwi company Ruminant Biotech. In trials, a single dose has reduced daily methane emissions by at least 70 per cent for 100 days.
It is now progressing through New Zealand’s independent regulatory process, which is assessing its safety, suitability and effectiveness for use in our farming and food production systems. The current application is focused on specific categories of beef cattle.
Most likely to follow next are a low-emission ryegrass and a probiotic-based feed additive.
Of course, not every investment will succeed – that’s the nature of innovation. But we're optimistic that with continued investment and focus, farmers will have a range of tools to choose from by 2030.
This progress reflects the foresight of the organisations that came together to set up AgriZeroNZ. Their commitment and collaboration remain AgriZeroNZ’s greatest strengths, and we're encouraged by growing interest from organisations here and overseas that want to be part of the next phase and turn promising innovation into real impact on farm.
This is important because getting the tools commercialised is only part of the challenge. Success won't just be measured by the number of tools available, but also by how many farmers choose to adopt them.
Building confidence on farm
Farmers have been clear with us. They’ll use emissions reduction tools if they stack up as good business decisions. They need to be confident the tools work, fit their farming system and are safe for their animals. Some innovators and early adopters will lead the way, but most farmers, quite reasonably, want to see the value first.
With tools getting closer to on-farm use, our investors asked us to play a bigger role in their uptake. That led to the launch of our Early Adoption Accelerator, a new initiative designed to bridge the gap between early availability and widespread use.
Backed by up to $51 million in Government co-funding over three years, the Accelerator will support sector-led projects that remove barriers to adoption and help more farmers put proven mitigation tools into practice.
We’re looking forward to working alongside more farmers and companies across the ag sector to help build farmer confidence and advance the use of emissions reduction tools on New Zealand farms.
Maintaining our competitive edge
New Zealand farmers are already among the most emissions-efficient in the world. That's something we should be proud of. But many of our competitors are catching up by using new technologies to improve their performance. Standing still is unlikely to protect our competitive advantage.
The farmers who built this sector succeeded because they continually found better ways of doing things. Equipping today’s farmers with the tools they need to strengthen New Zealand’s position in the global market – and the confidence to use them – will require a joint effort from researchers, tech companies, farmers, government, exporters and customers.
If we get this right, we'll not only reduce emissions, we'll help shape a stronger, more productive and competitive future for New Zealand agriculture.
This article was first published in the NZ Herald AgriBusiness & Trade Report on 23 July 2026
