24 November 2025
This foreword is from Rob Hewett, Board Chair and Wayne McNee, Chief Executive and was first published in our Year in Review 2024/25 report.
When reflecting on the year, it’s clear the fundamental reasons AgriZeroNZ exists remain unchanged and our work to accelerate the development of tools is coming to fruition.
With more than 95% of New Zealand’s dairy production sent offshore as well as over 80% of beef and sheep products, its undeniable that ongoing global market access is crucial to our sector’s profitability.
As an export-reliant nation we must align with global market drivers:
Major buyers of our premium exports have ambitious emissions reduction targets across their value chains and expect measurable progress by 2030.
Some international trade agreements include enforceable climate targets, with governments demanding transparency on the emissions footprint of imported food.
Competitor markets are becoming more emissions efficient as new mitigation tools, which aren’t fit for our pasture-based farms, become available overseas. Farmers in some markets already claim to be more emissions efficient than New Zealand farmers, particularly in dairy.
Showing progress is vital to stay competitive. To maintain export value and customer trust, we must reduce emissions without losing productivity or profitability.
We’re scanning the world for solutions and investing in local and global companies to ensure their mitigation tools are suitable for New Zealand farms and made available to our farmers.
We’re investing in a range of options – probiotics, inhibitors, feed additives, boluses, vaccines and pastures – because we know farmers need choice, and some early-stage ventures may not make it to the farm at all.
Plenty of progress is being made, and the first of these tools from our portfolio should become available early 2026 – a methane-inhibiting bolus for cattle from Kiwi company, Ruminant BioTech.
Importantly, these tools will be tested, proven, and safe, with New Zealand’s strict animal and food safety regulations in place to protect our animals and people, as well as our environment and export reputation, too.
We continue our work with the Ministry for Primary Industries and the Environmental Protection Authority to clarify regulatory pathways and to support our investee companies to navigate them.
We’re proud of our progress, but there is plenty of work left to do to achieve our ambition.
As the tools we’re investing in approach commercialisation, our focus is shifting to support their uptake on-farm.
It’s been great to see companies like Nestlé and Mars lead the way and reward emissions efficiency through partnerships with Fonterra and Synlait. Meat processors are also in talks with their buyers about similar programmes. This level of collective action across the value chain will be critical to incentivise farmers and support widespread uptake.
While reducing agricultural emissions – especially methane – is without a doubt a challenge, it’s one we’re optimistic New Zealand can tackle head on. It was pleasing to see the government reaffirm our role as part of the solution in its announcement of biogenic methane targets, which stated technology and partnership are what will deliver the reductions.
By doing so we can solidify our reputation as a world leader in premium, sustainable food production, and deliver more value to farmers and our country in the process.
Hon Todd McClay, Agriculture and Trade and Investment Minister
