By AR Williams, Canberra correspondent
CSIRO and Meat and Livestock Australia are championing a new seaweed-based feed additive, FutureFeed for cattle to prevent methane emissions from cow farts which are symbiotic with the natural environment. (https://www.future-feed.com/)
Only in Australia does such monumental, bureaucratic stupidity exist, paid for with taxpayers money and another slug against livestock producers, trying to remove a climate change problem that scientifically does not exist. Professor Ian Plimer explains:
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/CrPmItKuXOE
While CSIRO contradicts itself in a number of topics the methane issue has confused its research officers no end.
In 2015 CSIRO said the real contribution of bovine methane gas towards a ‘Greenhouse Effect’ was actually much lower than first thought according to their media release:
‘Methane emissions from cattle in Australia are 24 per cent lower than previously estimated, equivalent to 12.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, following analysis of new Australian research data.
MLA General Manager, On Farm Innovation, Matthew McDonagh said the results of this Australian research provide an accurate dataset which clearly show our cattle contribute substantially less to methane emissions than previously believed.
“This revelation clearly shows livestock-based emissions are nowhere near what they were thought to be and will help improve the accuracy of Australia’s national greenhouse gas emissions estimates,” Dr McDonagh said.’
The CSIRO, NFF, MLA and Cattle Australia are qangos, in part feeding off the public teat and provide questionable support for the country’s struggling agricultural sector which is burdened with more legislative and regulatory oversight than nearly all of our trade competitors put together.
There has been no successful or appreciated farm producer lobby since Queensland’s popular farmer’s giant the Cattlemans Union amalgamated with the United Graziers Association to form Agforce circa 2000. Although moderately efficient, Agforce has evolved into a shadow of its former entity, the CU.
While Australia is known worldwide for producing the cleanest and greenest meat and farm produce it has not achieved this recognition solely from government regulations.
Most innovative cattle producers generally shun government intervention which unnecessarily adds to production costs and loss of control over their land.
Primary producers are becoming more fearful of federal Labor’s recently passed Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) which has the potential to wipe out states’ environmental regulations and replace them with something out of George Orwell’s imagination.
Consumers in recent times seem to have woken up to the fact farmers have no ability to recover legislative imposts and are price takers having to exist in a market driven economy and take what they get.
