Benefits of Carbon Farming in Australia

by | Aug 24, 2022 | Carbon Farming

As a farmer, have you thought of farming carbon ever? Carbon farming is surprisingly profitable and can work alongside your current farming operation.

In this blog, we have discussed carbon farming and its benefits in Australia.

What is Carbon Farming?

Carbon farming, by simple definition, is the process of agricultural management that helps the land accumulate and store greenhouse gases instead of releasing them into the atmosphere.

Carbon sequestration is the key success of carbon farming, which is a naturally-occurring process where carbon is absorbed by the land and gets stored in the soil or gets converted to new vegetation. We are all aware the emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere is a driving factor for climate change; therefore, limiting carbon release is the prime objective of carbon farming projects. These projects work toward avoiding carbon emissions and increasing carbon sequestration through changes in land management practices. Since carbon farming complements the existing farming operations, you need not worry about locking up or de-stocking.

Benefits of Carbon Farming

Carbon Farming

Common Carbon Farming Methods

  1. Human-induced Regeneration Method: The most widely practised vegetation carbon projects undertaken by landholders across Australia are the Human-induced Regeneration (HIR) projects. These projects involve storing carbon in biomass and provide additional revenue. Some of the activities that can be implemented under human-induced regeneration are controlling grazing pressure, managing introduced, and non-native, plant species, and ceasing clearing regrowth.
  1. Soil Carbon Method: This is a land-based method designed to enhance the storage of carbon within agricultural soil. Soil carbon projects enhance soil health, fertility, and production. A study on the soil carbon method stated that “soil carbon or soil organic carbon (SOC) is the carbon stored in the soil as a component of soil organic matter, including plant and animal matter that are in various stages of decay. It is directly related to agricultural productivity as increased carbon stocks improve water holding capacity, nutrient availability, and soil fertility”.
  1. Reforestation and Afforestation Method: This type of farming method helps in permanent planting using forest species on previously cleared land. To measure carbon stocks, direct field measurement of trees to estimate carbon stocks is the preferred method.
  1. New Farm Forestry Plantations Method: Under this method, farmers focus on establishing agroforestry or permanent planting on their farms. Ensure that the area of land that you would be using for the farm forestry project has already been used for grazing or cropping for at least 5 years before you start the project.
  1. Plantation Forestry Method: For plantation forestry, you need to establish a new plantation forest on land with no plantation forest for about seven years, convert a short-rotation plantation to a long-rotation, and maintain a pre-existing plantation forest that was built under any other method but suits the needs of plantation forestry.
  1. Reforestation by Environmental or Mallee Plantings Method: This method is similar to the reforestation and afforestation method and involves planting and maintaining trees or shrubs in agricultural areas. However, the key difference between this method and the reforestation and afforestation method lies in how the carbon stocks are measured.
  1. Avoided Deforestation Method: This type of project focuses on protecting native forests by taking effective deforestation in australia for converting the lands for agricultural use. This is one of the best methods to avoid carbon emission and also helps in maintaining biodiversity, erosion, and salinity.
  1. Beef Herd Method: Methane, a greenhouse gas gets naturally emitted by cattle when they breathe, as a product of fermentation. Adopting improved management practices that boost productivity can minimise the amount of methane emitted per unit of production. This is also known as emission intensity. To reduce methane emission, improvements need to be made towards nutritional management of grazing cattle, enhancing reproductive performance, etc. This method is preferred by cattle grazing enterprises and is a cost-effective solution.

Carbon Farming in Australia

The first carbon farming initiative in Australia was introduced in 2011 through the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) where several land managers participated. Since then, carbon farming evolved in size and scope with around 100 million carbon credits awarded to successful projects under the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF). These projects implement methodologies that suit the location, farming practice, availability of land, and land-use history. Currently, there are about 1000 projects registered across all states and territories in Australia.

A report stated that “Queensland is well positioned to generate carbon credits through carbon farming. There are already over 250 carbon farming projects in the state operating under the Australian Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF)”. Also, the Queensland Government committed to reducing carbon emissions by at least 30% by 2030 and reaching zero net emission by 2050.

Benefits of Carbon Farming in Australia

There are numerous benefits of carbon farming for land managers, producers, communities and the environment.

Environmental benefits of carbon farming include:

  • Restoring native flora’s diversity within the farm
  • Enhancing the native wildlife quality and habitat size
  • Enhancing water quality
  • Putting a check on erosion, run-off, and river sedimentation
  • Boosting soil health, water retention, and biological diversity both above and below ground.

On-farm benefits of carbon farming are:

  • A stable and diversified income source
  • Possibility to invest in on-farm infrastructure including fences, water points, etc.
  • Control of feral animal populations
  • Less grazing, erosion, or run-off
  • Ability to withstand the impacts of drought and other extreme weather conditions
  • The possibility of de-stocking before the drought
  • Better animal health
  • Better productivity due to enhanced water retention and soil health

Social benefits of carbon farming include:

  • More employment opportunities
  • Better scope of skill development
  • The capability to invest back into the local community

Other than the aforementioned benefits, carbon farming, being an increasingly lucrative voluntary market, also provides financial benefits to the land managers in Australia.

Wrapping Up,

If you are researching on the agriculture market online, browse through the official KG2 website, Australia’s largest independent farmer database. We use advanced Australian farm software to create and develop new and unique data products. Should you require more information on the Australian agriculture industry, get in touch with KG2- your unrivaled agribusiness data partner.

HERE’S WHY MORE FARMERS NEED TO PRACTICE CARBON FARMING

HERE’S WHY MORE FARMERS NEED TO PRACTICE CARBON FARMING

by | Jul 20, 2021 | Carbon Farming

As the world continues to see and experience the physical impacts of climate change, the agriculture industry is in the hot seat – not only for contributing to around 24% of global green house gas emissions, but also for actively combating with this crisis with a series of climate-conscious practices, called carbon farming.

The impact of climate change is drastically changing the world and the agriculture sector is no exception. Farmers and agribusinesses are constantly struggling to maintain efficiency and increase yields while battling extreme weather conditions, which results in increased crop diseases and uncertainty in market prices. On the other hand, there is growing pressure on agribusinesses and growers to adopt precision agriculture to increase sustainability and efficiency while mitigating risks and loss.

Farming and livestock raising account for more than half of the Earth’s inhabitable land. Many of the agriculture practices release significant amounts of two powerful green house gases – methane and nitrous oxide. Methane is mainly produced by livestock through their digestion and waste (stored manure and organic waste in landfills). Nitrous oxide emissions, on the other hand, release from pastures and crops that use organic and mineral nitrogen fertilisers. Carbon farming, also known as regenerative farming practices, covers a variety of agricultural methods aimed at taking excess atmospheric carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere and storing it in soil, where it helps with the growth of plants.

CARBON FARMING BASICS

Carbon farming comprises a set of farming practices that are implemented across a variety of farm types with an objective of gaining more carbon dioxide than is lost in the process- which results in increased storage of atmospheric carbon in the soil and vegetation. This approach includes both land and livestock techniques and can occur in various forms, such as organic farming benefits, regenerative agriculture, permaculture, and other food production methods. The amount of carbon stored in the soil depends on the soil type and climate. During the photosynthesis process, plants pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while storing it into the soil.  When plants die, the stored carbon is either released back into the atmosphere or remains in the soil for long periods of time. Many traditional farming practices lead to the release of carbon, while those classified as carbon farming practices do the opposite.

Listed below are some practices that can be implemented as part of carbon sequestration:

  • No-Till Farming: Conventional tilling process involves digging, ploughing and overturning soil in order to prepare it for cultivation of seeds or crops, which causes carbon to release back into the atmosphere. To eliminate carbon emission, consider planting perennial crops that don’t require tillage, or using a no-till drill for large-scale annual plantings. You can also go for mulch farming which involves covering soil with wood mulch, helping reduce carbon footprints.  
  • Composting: Spreading compost directly over the surface of the soil instead of tilling it in can help significantly limit release of methane as microorganisms in the finished compost oxidise methane before it is released into the atmosphere.
  • Livestock Rotation: Cattle produce methane during their digestion process, and both methane and nitrous oxide during decomposition of manure. Instead of leaving animals to graze over one area of pasture continuously, which can disturb stores of carbon, you can allows them to rotate between a series of small paddocks, so that carbon stores can remain intact, reducing further emissions from those areas.  

BENEFITS OF CARBON FARMING

In addition to aiding land and livestock management to reduce GHG emissions, carbon farming system provides the added benefits of improving the farmer’s bottom line by improving soil health and increasing crop yields.

Another lesser known fact about carbon sequestration, which could potentially be of benefit for many small farmers and agribusinesses, is that increasing organic soil carbon through methods like no-till is relatively cost-effective. Some agricultural studies indicate that carbon farming costs 10-100 USD per ton of CO2 removed from the atmosphere as compared with 100-1,000 USD per ton for advanced tools and technologies that mechanically remove carbon from the atmosphere.

Moreover, carbon farming also opens an additional revenue stream for farmers and ranchers who take up carbon farming practices. By reducing carbon emissions from their agriculture practices, carbon farmers get the opportunity to earn Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) which can be sold either to the Australian Government or in the secondary market to create additional income. What can be better than doing your part in reducing the release of harmful green house gases from your farm while converting carbon into funds.

Here’s a sum up of benefits of carbon sequestration other than actively removing carbon from the atmosphere:

  • Increased microbial activity and soil biodiversity
  • Enhanced soil structure, health and fertility, decreased salinity
  • Reduced risk of soil erosion and nutrient loss
  • Diversified farm income streams which prove to be of great significance especially in agricultural crisis and extreme conditions like drought.   
  • Improved agricultural efficiency and productivity
  • More efficient use of water and fertilisers
  • Better native vegetation, habitat and animal health
  • Improved biodiversity
  • Reduced pollutions and improved air quality

CONCLUSION

Carbon farming is an agricultural way to combat climate change by limiting GHG emissions. While it is a beneficial and exciting farming approach, especially given that Australian farmers and agribusinesses are incentivised to cut the amount of green house gases they produce and release into the atmosphere and undertake activities that promote carbon sequestration, successful implementation of carbon farming requires extensive research and professional guidance.

Being a leader in agriculture market online, KG2 helps farmers and agribusinesses understand the potential and possibilities of the carbon farming system before they integrate it into their farm operation. In addition to that, we offer you robust Australian farm software to implement and manage your carbon farming practises. Our expert team combines comprehensive agriculture data with market research and innovative satellite technology to help you identify GHG reduction opportunities in your farm and undertake carbon farming approach with an aim to increase farm efficiency and productivity while becoming an environmental-friendly business. 

contact-popup