I was skeptical and imagined an agricultural trip to New Zealand organised by our Government, could frame us as a bunch of environmentalists.

At the World Dairy Summit in Auckland earlier this month, Don Reicosky, retired soil scientist from the United States Department of Agriculture, called himself "a black sheep" in the US. This was due to his views on climate change and agricultural environmental responsibility.

He appeared to have assumed the audience in the 100% Pure nation was full of like-minded individuals.

Who could blame him for jumping to this conclusion? We have the Emissions Trading Scheme, our international marketing campaigns are centered on our cleanness, the Green Party has a strong presence in our Parliament, and we are nuclear free to boot.

I found it slightly awkward. The summit itself was themed around the issue of sustainability and environmentally friendly dairying.

In reality, farmers continue to rally against agricultural emissions becoming incorporated into the ETS, and lobby groups maintain pressure the Government to exclude agriculture from the controversial scheme.

This friction remains in the agricultural sector but our international reputation as "clean and green" continues to grow.

From Fonterra to the Agriculture Minister, the heads of our main export industry are pushing an environmental front.

Nick Smith, Minister for Climate Change and Environment, told the Federated Farmers council meeting recently that agriculture could be excluded if there wasn't "comparable commitment from other countries by 2015".

If we bail out, the international community could be forgiven for feeling misled and confused.