A farming protest called has hit back at the Government after Agriculture Minister Damian O'Connor labelled last week's tractor convoy turnout as "embarrassing".
A protest organiser has blamed the low turnout numbers on farmers being unable to get off their farms at this busy time of year.
Groundswell NZ - founded by two southern Kiwi farmers in 2020 in reaction to Government regulations - held nationwide protests against a new farm emissions pricing plan.
It planned almost 60 protest convoys around the country.
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In Auckland, tractors drove across the Harbour Bridge, while in Wellington only one tractor was seen as 100 protestors gathered on Parliament's lawn with Voices For Freedom members having a significant presence.
By 1.30pm the crowd had greatly reduced.
Agriculture Minister Damian O'Connor said he thought the crowd size was "embarrassing for them, not as many as they thought I guess".
But Groundswell co-founder Bryce McKenzie told Newstalk ZB that radio numbers were low because farmers were busy.
"This is about as busy a time in the year that you can get on the farming calendar," he said.
"And that is something we've noticed with this government.
"Whenever they make a major announcement they always seem to do it at this time of the year because they know farmers can't get activated, they can't get off the farm."
McKenzie said he thought crowd numbers were "excellent" in some places and not as many as he'd hoped in others.
He said the minister's comments were "disappointing".
Groundswell protesters took to the streets because they do not want to be part of New Zealand's Emissions Trading Scheme.
The ETS is the Government's main plan for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Farm emissions mainly come through methane - burped out by ruminant livestock like cattle, sheep and deer - but also from nitrous oxide, stemming from sources like fertiliser and cow urine.
Critics such as Greenpeace have been critical of agriculture being able to draw on a $710 million fund for emissions reduction efforts, despite not being a part of the ETS that funds it. An impasse between the industry and ETS organisers was reached in 2019 when sector leaders, representing some 20,000 to 30,000 small farm businesses, broadly signalled support for a new pricing system, but one outside the ETS - with the partnership He Waka Eke Noa set up to develop the detail.
The new scheme now out for consultation would see farmers pay for agricultural emissions in some form by 2025.
But Groundswell's McKenzie said the proposal could cost up to $3.72 billion in direct loss of production to farmers, with rural economies being hurt by the "ripple-on" effects.
Despite the Government picking up many of the initial recommendations from the He Waka Eke Noa discussions, other farming groups have also not greeted the recent announcement warmly either.
Federated Farmers argued the plans would "rip the guts out of small-town New Zealand, putting trees where farms used to be". It accused the Government of throwing out the years of work the sector put into finding a solution - and said it was "deeply unimpressed" with its take on what He Waka Eke Noa put forward.
"We didn't sign up for this," national president Andrew Hoggard said.
