Jacqueline Rowarth
Viewpoint: New Zealand farmers push for biotechnology regulatory reform — ‘Farming regulations can’t stop a flood, but they can stifle a farmer’s ability to practice their craft’
In a world with food prices escalating, it is difficult to understand why any government would implement regulations that made ...
Carbon tax on farming to reduce carbon emissions? New Zealand is pioneering this new policy. Here’s why its touted benefits may not be a sure thing
Agriculture contributes an estimated one-quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions. The economy in New Zealand, a tiny country at the ...
New Zealand’s commitment to removing invasive animal predators opens the door to reconsidering its 20-year rejection of genetic modification
Aotearoa New Zealand, the Land of the Long White Cloud, is the first place to see the sunrise on a ...
Viewpoint: Ideologically-based beliefs are preventing New Zealand consumers from experiencing the benefits that gene editing in agriculture can bring
It is over two decades since the Royal Commission on genetic modification (GM) responded to the task of evaluating the ...
How social justice activists are undermining New Zealand’s efforts to produce a sustainable farming system
Sometimes—often, even—a singular ideological focus can have unintended consequences in food production that actually undermines the social justice goals that ...
Viewpoint: New Zealand’s case for genetically edited crops and foods
The world is struggling. The United Nations (UN) has calculated that the number of severely food insecure people had doubled ...
‘More food grown on less land with less water’: Why agricultural intensification is the key to sustainable farming
Rising food prices, gaps on shelves and requests from supermarket chains to be kind and try something else if a ...
Viewpoint: Why it’s reasonable to question if regenerative agriculture is really more sustainable than conventional farming
Scientists have been accused of mounting a sustained attack on regenerative agriculture and splitting the science community. Not all, but ...
New Zealand scientist challenges ‘scaremongering’ about herbicide glyphosate
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup™, is the most widely used herbicide in the world. It affects a specific enzyme ...
Viewpoint: Dissecting the misguided demonization of glyphosate, one of the world’s most effective and safest weedkillers
Social media's coverage of glyphosate has been on a par with that for the Covid vaccine – misunderstandings, mistruths and ...
Food prices have increased by 33% worldwide and costs are continuing to rise. How can we boost productivity to feed a growing population?
The FAO food price index has increased 32.8 per cent from September 2020 – food prices globally have increased by ...
Viewpoint: Organic farming’s 44% productivity gap makes for a facile sustainability case, New Zealand agricultural scientist says
With all the research and information available it is extraordinary that the myth of organics – that the food is ...
Former New Zealand EPA chief scientist says agrochemicals help ‘provide safe and affordable food’
The US Department of Agriculture has calculated that pesticides have become less toxic, more potent (leading to lower application rates), ...
New Zealand farmers experience 25% lower cancer rates than city dwellers, study shows, challenging misleading environmentalist claim they face higher pesticide cancer risks
The good news [in the 2020 New Zealand] State of Cancer report is that the overall incidence of cancer is ...
‘Farmers aren’t stupid.’ If ‘regenerative agriculture’ worked, they’d embrace it, New Zealand dairy scientist says
This is a call to make it clear that what is being suggested by environmentalists will limit our ability to ...
Viewpoint: To feed the world with minimal environmental impact, we can’t rely on organic farming
If the goal in farming is feeding an increasing population with least impact, conventional agriculture is the approach most likely ...
Roundup ban? Glyphosate-free farming would mean higher food prices
Food production without the use of glyphosate (commonly sold as Roundup) to control weeds, will mean increased food prices. ...
What’s the future of meatless burgers and other ‘synthetic foods’?
[Editor’s note: Jaqueline Rowarth is chief scientist at the Environmental Protection Authority of New Zealand] Both Impossible Burger and Perfect ...