The fertiliser industry has labelled calls for synthetic fertiliser manufacturers to pay for their climate pollution "out of touch" and "disappointing".
It's part of the Climate Change Commission's new advice on agricultural emissions pricing, which would see fertiliser join petrol and coal in the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS).
Tokoroa farmer George Moss's cows are healthy, they also produce more milk and less methane.
"What we're doing to reduce our emissions - we're chasing efficiencies on the farm, we're looking to have the most efficient animals we can to actually utilise a very limited amount of feed," said Moss.
He crunches his farm's data to estimate his emissions, admitting it's not a farmer's natural skillset.
"We went farming to work with animals, to be outside, not to sit in front of a computer screen."
And a good chunk of farmers aren't on track.
By law, every farm must document their emissions by the end of this year. He Waka Eke Noa says 61 percent of farmers are there, but the Climate Change Commission has "high confidence" the remainder of farmers will not reach the commitment.
"The urgency is because we are late to the party, we have left ourselves less time to do what we have already agreed should be done," said Commission Chair Dr Rod Carr.
To hurry things up, the Commission's calling for synthetic fertiliser to be priced at the manufacturer and importer level in the Emissions Trading Scheme alongside fossil fuels.
"It's simple, it's cost-effective to administer, and it can be implemented swiftly."
But the industry says nitrogen fertiliser use has dropped significantly anyway and the global supply crisis has already caused its price to soar.
"We're a little bit surprised. It feels a bit out of touch," said Dr Vera Power, Fertiliser Association chief executive.
"You have to remember that fertiliser contributes to the agriculture sector. That's $50 billion worth of exports."
Moss reckons hiking the cost of fertiliser could shift farmer behaviour in the wrong direction.
"What would the behaviours be at cropping level or the farm gate level?
"It would be to substitute other forms of probably protein, which would have a potentially similar environmental outcome."
Emissions from nitrogen fertiliser have increased by 636 percent since 1990. What to do about that is one of the many questions the Government will need to answer before deciding by the end of this year, how agriculture will pay for its greenhouse gases.
