Originally published at: New Zealand farmers call bullshit on government's "fart tax" | Boing Boing
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Presented for your viewing pleasure the climactic resolution of the Peter Jackson 2006 horror-comedy Black Sheep.
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This was a Peter Jackson film?!
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It is a harmful stereotype that all genre films from New Zealand were created by Peter Jackson. /s
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The methane produced is an externality that cattle farmers haven’t had to deal with. If the government is going to tax them, there should be a plan in place to ensure a controlled and orderly collapse of the industry.
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Gas X for cows, why isn’t this a thing?
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There has been an idea floated to make grains or grasses that livestock can ingest but results in lower methane emissions. I don’t know how far off that is, but I think it is a worthy area to throw research into.
I have mixed feelings when the government wants to tax foods and food production. It hurts the poor and middle class more than anything.
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Ripping guts out seems to be the crux of the issue. Not quite sure the punishment is matching the crime tho.
Grass. This is called grass.
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We’ve had the discussion here about how grass fed cow meat is one of the worst for the environment. Sheep pretty much have to be left to eat it, problem is they turn the pasturage into a green desert devoid of most life other than them and grass.
And they both still fart (and belch, cows belxh methane. Something to do with the multiple stomachs thing).
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The belching and farting is still a thing for sure, but (my vaguely informed understanding; IANA animal scientist) the methane production is significantly exacerbated by the use of grains rather than grass, which their stomachs aren’t good at digesting. (Also, increased acidity in the gut, which leads to E. coli that doesn’t just immediately perish when it hits a human stomach, but that’s off topic.)
I am not up to date on why / how cow pasturage is more environmentally damaging otherwise. I mean, other than deforestation to plant pasture. Which is dumb. Are there other dimensions as well?
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There is. See @Grey_Devil’s post about seaweed. New Zealand should have plenty of it. It’s not going to collapse the industry, just like covering irrigation canals to reduce evaporation isn’t going to collapse California’s agriculture industry. It’s just resistance to change and sheer pigsheepheadedness.
Cattle overgraze. They completely denude the pasture if left to it. That results in both more runoff of effluent and to erosion. They also graze right into waterways, leading to even further erosion. One key advantage of bison over cattle is that bison keep moving and don’t overgraze an area.
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This seems less like ‘calling bullshit’ and more like ‘opposing’. You can oppose something and say that it’s bad for business without claiming, much less demonstrating, that it’s bullshit.
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But, but, but…the puns, man!
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