New Zealand angers its farmers by proposing taxing cow burps

[sarisataka]

New Zealand angers its farmers by proposing taxing cow burps

New Zealand's government on Tuesday proposed taxing the greenhouse gasses that farm animals make from burping and peeing as part of a plan to tackle climate change.

The government said the farm levy would be a world first, and that farmers should be able to recoup the cost by charging more for climate-friendly products.

But farmers quickly condemned the plan. Federated Farmers, the industry's main lobby group, said the plan would "rip the guts out of small-town New Zealand" and see farms replaced with trees.

Federated Farmers President Andrew Hoggard said farmers had been trying to work with the government for more than two years on an emissions reduction plan that wouldn't decrease food production.

https://www.npr.org/2022/10/11/1127955580/new-zealand-angers-its-farmers-by-proposing-taxing-cow-burps

They should look into technology that develops a mask to catch the methane from the burps so it becomes a resource rather than waste. The urine is easy, catheters...

[RainCaster]

1. I burp & pee too

Should I be taxed for it?

[yellowcanine]

3. You don't burp methane like a cow does.

Just sayin'.

[RainCaster]

4. My wife would disagree

I had been considering NZ as a good place to go when the GOP takes over. If they tax all my emissions, I could not afford to move there.

[chowder66]

9. Lol!

[SWBTATTReg]

2. I have to laugh although it is a serious issue on the part of the farmers that have to pay this tax.

Why make the farmers pay this tax? Since taxable food products are demanded by consumers via their demand for steaks, cheeses and other dairy products produced by all farm animals, consumers should pay since they are the ones that generate the demand (and farmers also are part of the 'demand' too, thus would share in paying methane taxes on these goods.

Thus, all would pay equally when they buy the products that caused the methane to be generated.

Ah, the age-old question of how to address society's issues and/or problems with taxing it to death literally. I don't think it'll work really in stemming methane production (the root of why they are doing this), thus perhaps some other means of capturing methane and/or using methane to generate power etc. (a one for one exchange) would be better, e.g., the carbon tax?

[MuseRider]

5. The urine is easy?

OK, go do that and come back and tell us you broke yourself by tripping over a turd blossom when it is obvious you got the shit kicked out of you over and over again. #1, have you ever had one? #2, they introduce bacteria when you do it unless you want to stand back there and scrub all the parts #3, even if you scrub them the in and out is going to introduce bacteria and the tissue trauma is going to make that an even easier trap for bacteria #4, do you know how long the urinary tract is from the urethral oriface (I cannot think of the real name for this right offhand) is to the bladder on a cow? I don't but I bet that the catheter will be pretty long and need to be changed out fairly frequently ($$$) among just a few things then add how much you would have to pay someone to change out catheters on 200 head and the enormous heath care costs of standing behind a cow and sticking something up their urethras and this is JUST for the females. I would assume the bulls and steers would need this too.

LOL

[Peregrine Took]

6. Maybe change what they are fed?

[GregariousGroundhog]

7. I doubt the type of feed has any impact

Cow are ruminants. They have a four chamber stomach, the first of which is responsible for anaerobic fermentation of food via various microflora. Fermentation usually results in the creation of carbon dioxide in aerobic environments, and methane in anaerobic environments. Scientist may or may not be able to influence the amount of methane or carbon dioxide in industrial process, but we are talking about the gut of a cow's stomach here.

[LastDemocratInSC]

8. "Feeding Cattle Seaweed Reduces Their Greenhouse Gas Emissions 82 Percent"

From UC-Davis:

https://caes.ucdavis.edu/news/feeding-cattle-seaweed-reduces-their-greenhouse-gas-emissions-82-percent