Labor Environment Action Network methane proposal could push meat prices higher

A controversial push to cut emissions from farms could bite already-struggling families by pushing the cost of meat and dairy products in our supermarkets even higher.

Higher prices for meat and dairy could be on the cards if a radical environmental group forces farmers to cull their herds to cut methane emissions, a peak agriculture sector lobby group has warned.

At issue is a proposal by the Labor Environment Action Network, or LEAN, to convince Labor to adopt its policy on “climate, clearing and cows” at its national conference, which kicks off Thursday.

The policy calls for, among other things, a halt to land clearing activities and halving emissions from agriculture via a variety of means including “managing stock numbers to maximise efficiency.”

“This proposal is about taking farms out of production, killing jobs and pushing up food prices. It’s as simple as that,” said National Farmers’ Federation president Fiona Simson.

“It goes beyond the Government’s very recent commitment to the Global Methane Pledge, it massively exceeds the IPCC’s own advice, and it’s scientifically impossible without cutting herd numbers – something the Government is on record opposing.

NFF president Fiona Simson says the move would put farms out of business. Picture: John Elliott

“Delegates need to be clearheaded about what really matters to Australians and what the ALP stands for. Is it protecting jobs and tackling the cost of living? Or pleasing environmental outliers who have turned their back on science and common sense?”

“We’ve seen governments globally fall victim to anti-farming policies which ignore the basic need to grow food and fibre, and the community backlash that follows. We don’t want that style of politics to take root here.”

“We have every expectation that logic will prevail here, but we won’t mince our words when we see this sort of nonsense being peddled,” Ms Simson concluded.

The issue forcing farmers to reduce herds to meet net zero goals has emerged as a political hot button around the world.

The plan aims to cull cow herds to reduce methane emissions. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Irish farmers have been told they may have to kill nearly 200,000 dairy cows over the next three years to meet methane emissions targets.

In Holland radical plans to force farmers to cut nitrogen emissions led to nationwide protests earlier this year.

However Felicity Wade, national co-convener of LEAN, denied herd culls were on the agenda.

“We aren’t talking about undermining herd sizes or increasing the cost of food! Cows create methane, a potent greenhouse gas,” she said.

“As they digest food, they burp methane. Our amendment calls on the government to invest to crack the questions about how we reduce these emissions in an cost effective way, without impacting animal or human health.”

Originally published as Labor Environment Action Network methane proposal could push meat prices higher