What does a phase-out of synthetic nitrogen fertiliser look like?

The Green Party will support farmers to reduce pollution at the source, rather than leaving communities to pay for polluted water and costly treatment upgrades.

We will start by lowering the current cap on synthetic nitrogen fertiliser for dairying, since this sector uses more than 60% of synthetic nitrogen and is the largest contributor to water pollution. We will work with farmers across other sectors to cut fertiliser use but we’ve not set a timeframe on this phase-out, recognising there are challenges.

We will work alongside industry to develop a clear implementation plan with milestones. We will also support regenerative farming initiatives. The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) has invested in these sorts of programmes before through the Sustainable Food and Fibre Futures fund.

There are already organic and regenerative farmers in Aotearoa making good livelihoods without synthetic nitrogen fertiliser. In fact, the payout to farmers for organic dairy is around one-third higher than for conventional dairy.