Summarised by Centrist
Sheep and dairy farmer Paige Wills argues that the farmer-owned cooperative Silver Fern Farms’ (SFF) push for Scope 3 emissions targets is a dangerous concession to global greenwashing, undermining New Zealand farmers and threatening their independence.
Scope 3 emissions targets require businesses to measure and reduce the carbon footprint of their entire supply chain—essentially holding farmers responsible for emissions from their livestock, feed, and farm operations.
Wills calls the emissions agenda a ‘Trojan horse for compliance.’
Wills argues that New Zealand already produces some of the most efficient, natural, and ethical food in the world.
“It’s hypocritical for Silver Fern Farms to heed the demands of supermarket tyrants while ignoring the growing number of actual customers who do not want meat contaminated by vaccines and boluses,” she says.
She cites calculations from Professors David Frame and William van Wijngaarden, which suggest New Zealand livestock’s contribution to global warming is “effectively zero.”
According to Wills, a major concern is that SFF’s partnership with AgriZero could force farmers into reliance on biotech corporations undermining New Zealand’s natural farming edge.
Wills warns that asking farmers to submit emissions data is setting them up for future market exclusions, mandatory mitigations, and even crippling taxes.
“Urging farmers to ‘help out with data’ is tantamount to asking them to dig their own graves. Once handed over, they lose control over how that information is used,” she writes.
