Latest news with #Conversions
Otago Daily Times
02-07-2025
- Politics
- Otago Daily Times
Farm forestry ban too late to help: advocate
The farm-to-forest ban passed its first reading last week but a Southland Federated Farmers executive says its too late, the damage has been done and is continuing. Executive member and farmer Dean Rabbidge said since the ban's announcement on December 4, there has been a rush to convert arable land into forests. "If anything, we've only seen an acceleration of it since December 4 with people knowing that this is their last chance," he said. The sheep, beef and dairy farmer said after pulling pines out of his own property he has learned the damage the conifers do to the soil. "It's taking a lot of work to get it back into productive land through fertiliser and seed and stuff," he said. Pine needles themselves are quite toxic, he said, and do not let anything else grow. He said the farms that have been converted into forestry would have had soil that was at the optimum level for animal health and pasture production. "[The soil] has been cared for and looked after for maximum food production values, and now we're just planting it in pine trees," he said. The ban, or Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme — Forestry Conversions) Amendment Bill, will include exemptions. After the first reading, Minister for Agriculture Todd McClay said investors that were able to prove intent to afforest between January 2021 and December 4 would be exempt from the ban. This exemption, which was part of the December 4 announcement, was clarified by the minister. Mr McClay said that the combination of buying land and ordering of trees prior to December 4 would be an example of proof of a qualifying investment. He said each of these actions alone would not. This exemption has been a source of confusion for concerned farmers who have said the grey area of "evidence of intent" opened up a loophole that has been exploited. Mr Rabbidge said the grey area remains and his organisation will continue to hold government ministers to account over this issue. "There's still been some very, very questionable land purchases go on recently under the guise of, hey, we had seedlings ordered — that was their intent to plant," he said. "We're still going to keep the pressure on the government to make sure that all the loopholes are closed." The Wyndham farmer said the rapid conversion is visible to those living rurally, but it will take a while for urban residents to recognise the affect. "It's far too late, but people are finally waking up to the damage that forestry, both production and carbon, is doing to the rural sector," he said. "It's not until the urban areas feel the effects of it that it's going to be far too late."
Scoop
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Legislation Introduced To Restrict Farm-To-Forest Conversions
Press Release – New Zealand Government The Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme – Forestry Conversions) Amendment Bill will restrict wholesale conversions of farmland to exotic forestry by stopping LUC 1-5 land from entering the ETS and capping new ETS registrations on LUC 6 land. Minister of Agriculture Today Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay introduced long awaited legislation that will put a stop to large-scale farm-to-forestry conversions – delivering on a key election promise to protect the future of New Zealand food production. 'For too long, productive sheep and beef farms have been replaced by pine trees in the race for carbon credits. That ends under this Government,' Mr McClay says. 'The Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme – Forestry Conversions) Amendment Bill will restrict wholesale conversions of farmland to exotic forestry by stopping LUC 1-5 land from entering the ETS and capping new ETS registrations on LUC 6 land. 'It will also protect farmers' ability to diversify – allowing up to 25 per cent of a farm to go into trees, while stopping the kind of blanket ETS planting that's been gutting rural communities in places like the East Coast, Wairarapa, the King Country, and Southland.' As previously announced the new restrictions will take effect from 4 December 2024. The law will: Restrict farm conversions to exotic ETS forests on high-to-medium versatility farmland (LUC classes 1-6) A limit of 15,000 hectares per year for exotic conversions on medium versality farmland (LUC class 6) The annual limit of 15,000 hectares for LUC 6 farmland will be allocated by a ballot process, including a reserved quota for small block holders, with the first ballot proposed to be held in mid-2026. Allow for up to 25 per cent of a farm's LUC 1-6 land to still be planted in exotic forestry for the ETS, ensuring farmers retain flexibility and choice. Protect specific categories of Māori-owned land, in line with Treaty obligations The Bill proposes time-limited transitional exemptions in rare cases for people who were in the process of afforestation prior to these changes originally being announced on 4 December 2024. To be eligible for a transitional exemption, applicants need to show sufficient evidence that they made a qualifying forestry investment between 1 January 2021 and 4 December 2024. Transactions that commenced after this date will not be eligible to register in the ETS. The applicant will need to demonstrate that the investment relates to the specific Land Use Capability (LUC) class 1–6 land they are applying to register in the ETS. Registry of 25 per cent of LUC 1-6 land will be registered against the properties title to restrict further planting as a result of subdivision. 'Labour's careless ETS settings turbocharged the sell-off of our farming base. They let speculators put short-term profits ahead of long-term food production. That was careless – and it ends now,' Mr McClay says. 'This Government is backing farmers, restoring balance, and making sure the ETS doesn't come at the cost of New Zealand's rural economy. 'This policy is pro-farming, pro-food production, pro-commercial forestry and pro-rural New Zealand.' The legislation is now before Parliament and is to come into force October 2025.
Scoop
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
Legislation Introduced To Restrict Farm-To-Forest Conversions
Press Release – New Zealand Government The Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme – Forestry Conversions) Amendment Bill will restrict wholesale conversions of farmland to exotic forestry by stopping LUC 1-5 land from entering the ETS and capping new ETS registrations on LUC 6 land. Minister of Agriculture Today Agriculture and Forestry Minister Todd McClay introduced long awaited legislation that will put a stop to large-scale farm-to-forestry conversions – delivering on a key election promise to protect the future of New Zealand food production. 'For too long, productive sheep and beef farms have been replaced by pine trees in the race for carbon credits. That ends under this Government,' Mr McClay says. 'The Climate Change Response (Emissions Trading Scheme – Forestry Conversions) Amendment Bill will restrict wholesale conversions of farmland to exotic forestry by stopping LUC 1-5 land from entering the ETS and capping new ETS registrations on LUC 6 land. 'It will also protect farmers' ability to diversify – allowing up to 25 per cent of a farm to go into trees, while stopping the kind of blanket ETS planting that's been gutting rural communities in places like the East Coast, Wairarapa, the King Country, and Southland.' As previously announced the new restrictions will take effect from 4 December 2024. The law will: Restrict farm conversions to exotic ETS forests on high-to-medium versatility farmland (LUC classes 1-6) A limit of 15,000 hectares per year for exotic conversions on medium versality farmland (LUC class 6) The annual limit of 15,000 hectares for LUC 6 farmland will be allocated by a ballot process, including a reserved quota for small block holders, with the first ballot proposed to be held in mid-2026. Allow for up to 25 per cent of a farm's LUC 1-6 land to still be planted in exotic forestry for the ETS, ensuring farmers retain flexibility and choice. Protect specific categories of Māori-owned land, in line with Treaty obligations The Bill proposes time-limited transitional exemptions in rare cases for people who were in the process of afforestation prior to these changes originally being announced on 4 December 2024. To be eligible for a transitional exemption, applicants need to show sufficient evidence that they made a qualifying forestry investment between 1 January 2021 and 4 December 2024. Transactions that commenced after this date will not be eligible to register in the ETS. The applicant will need to demonstrate that the investment relates to the specific Land Use Capability (LUC) class 1–6 land they are applying to register in the ETS. Registry of 25 per cent of LUC 1-6 land will be registered against the properties title to restrict further planting as a result of subdivision. 'Labour's careless ETS settings turbocharged the sell-off of our farming base. They let speculators put short-term profits ahead of long-term food production. That was careless – and it ends now,' Mr McClay says. 'This Government is backing farmers, restoring balance, and making sure the ETS doesn't come at the cost of New Zealand's rural economy. 'This policy is pro-farming, pro-food production, pro-commercial forestry and pro-rural New Zealand.' The legislation is now before Parliament and is to come into force October 2025.
Time Business News
10-05-2025
- Business
- Time Business News
Enhanced Ecommerce and Google Ads - What You Need to Know in 2025
In light of rising concerns about privacy and growing legal protection offered to safeguarding personally identifiable solutions (PII), many leading tech companies, including Apple and Google, have committed to their privacy-first solutions in marketing and advertising solutions. Google Ads Enhanced Conversion is one such method that allows Google to receive first-party user data provided on a business website which is then hashed and sent to Google, protecting PII. Google then matches this hashed data to signed in Google accounts to attribute conversions to ad events. Let's review this in greater detail Google Ads Enhanced Conversions work by providing marketers with a more robust method to track conversions using first-party data. Here's a breakdown of how it operates: Data Collection: When a user interacts with an ad and completes a conversion action (like making a purchase or signing up), Google Ads Enhanced Conversions can capture the first-party data provided by the user. This data can include email addresses, phone numbers, and other identifiers. Hashing for Privacy: Before sending this data back to Google, it is hashed (encrypted) to ensure that the user's privacy is maintained. This means that only anonymous, encrypted data is shared, complying with data protection regulations. In this sense, Google is protecting PII as it does not collect unhashed values of protected user data. Integration with Website: Enhanced Conversions can be integrated directly into a website or through Google Tag Manager. This allows for seamless tracking and data collection when users convert after engaging with an advertisement. Cross-Device Tracking: The use of first-party data enables better tracking across multiple devices. When a user clicks on an ad on one device and converts on another, Enhanced Conversions can help accurately attribute that conversion back to the original ad interaction. Improved Attribution: By leveraging first-party data, Google Ads can provide more accurate conversion attribution. This allows marketers to see how their campaigns are performing and understand the customer journey better. Real-Time Insights: As Enhanced Conversions provide more precise tracking and attribution, marketers can gain real-time insights into their campaigns. This helps them refine strategies, target specific audiences, and improve overall campaign performance. By using Google Ads Enhanced Conversions, marketers can enhance their understanding of customer behavior and optimize their ad campaigns more effectively in an era where traditional tracking methods are becoming less reliable. Implementing Google Ads Enhanced Conversions can be achieved through various methods, depending on your technical expertise and the tools you're using. Here are the different ways to set up Enhanced Conversions: Google Tag Manager (GTM): If you are already using Google Tag Manager, you can set up Enhanced Conversions easily by adding the necessary tags and triggers. GTM simplifies the process by allowing you to manage tags without directly modifying your website's GTM, create a new tag for Enhanced Conversions and configure it to send first-party data (like email addresses or phone numbers) when a conversion event occurs. Direct Integration via Google Ads Tag: If you prefer a direct integration, you can implement the Google Ads conversion tracking tag manually. You'll need to add the conversion tracking code snippet provided by Google Ads on your thank-you or confirmation pages where conversions that the first-party data is collected at the time of conversion and is sent securely with the conversion tracking tag. Using the Google Ads API: For advanced users or developers, implementing Enhanced Conversions can be done via the Google Ads API. This approach allows for more flexibility and customization based on your specific tracking using the API, you can programmatically send conversion data, including hashed first-party information, directly to Google Ads. E-commerce Platform Integration: Many e-commerce platforms, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and Magento, have built-in integrations for Google Ads Enhanced Conversions. You can enable Enhanced Conversions through platform-specific settings or plugins, which often simplify the setup the documentation for your e-commerce platform to find instructions on how to activate Enhanced Conversions. Server-Side Tagging: If you are using server-side tagging solutions, such as Google Tag Manager Server-Side, you can set up Enhanced Conversions to send first-party data from your server to Google Ads. This method enhances data privacy and reduces the risk of data loss due to browser limitations. Server-side tagging is one of the most fool-proof ways to collect data in a first-party environment and exercise complete control over what information you wish to send to third-party platforms, such as Google Ads, while abiding by your organization's privacy policy. Content Management System (CMS) Plugins: Some content management systems, like WordPress, may have plugins available that facilitate the setup of Google Ads Enhanced Conversions. These plugins often provide user-friendly interfaces to configure tracking without needing to write code. By selecting the implementation method that best fits your expertise, resources, and existing tools, you can effectively set up Google Ads Enhanced Conversions to improve your tracking and attribution efforts. If you are looking for help setting up enhanced conversions for your Google Ads campaigns, contact Webtage, a technical marketing analytics company. We have helped multiple businesses set up enhanced conversions for their Google Ads campaigns and helped improve attribution and returns on investment. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
