This report, which appears to be over 18 months late given the date it shows (?), needs further attention before it can be released. At the moment the conclusions are full of statements for which no evidence is presented (e.g. The 170 farms in the data set were from across all B+LNZ farm classes and appeared to be representative of the NZ red meat sector), which didn’t require a multi-year study of 170 farms (e.g. “Biological GHG emissions (methane and nitrous oxide) were highly correlated with total feed consumed. Methane emissions are directly related to dry matter intake”), which should have been included in the study’s analysis (e.g. “The extent to which annual or perennial cropping, forestry or native vegetation are practical and adoptable options will be dependent on biophysical, market, regulatory and management drivers.”), which seem to suggest potential opportunities without ever revealing what this entails (e.g. “The variability both within and between biophysical and financial clusters suggest real opportunity for efficiency gains to drive increased gross margins for some farms.” ), and which are so contrived that it is rather difficult to understand what is meant (e.g. “The bottom line is farmer decisions around how the feed consumed on-farm is utilised in terms of choice of enterprises, their configuration into farm system, and the way they are managed is highly variable and known to have a major influence on financial performance.“).

The document’s conclusions end by stating: “A focus on improving animal system gross margins will allow the greatest income for those GHG emissions and give the most flexibility to reduce the dry matter intake if GHG emission reduction targets are a priority.” This again hints at a set of practical actions the study has identified – and that farmers may want to consider - in pursuance of these objectives. It would be good if the study authors could start the process of informing the objects of their study by writing a set of conclusions on the actual findings and their practical implications in plain English. 
