The federal Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre (PICCC) has launched Greenhouse Accounting Framework (GAF) tools, which are calculators designed for specific farming commodities.
Farmers can use the GAF tools to calculate their greenhouse gas emissions for their own production as well as for carbon sequestering in soil and trees.
Agronomist and carbon farming expert Cam Nicholson spoke to more than 30 livestock farmers at Avenel on Wednesday, November 14 about the opportunities and limitations of carbon farming.
Mr Nicholson said calculation processes were still being developed and farmers will soon realise carbon calculators have limitations.
“First of all, they’ve come from a national set of calculations, the only data that the government has, and it was collected seasonally for livestock and not monthly,” he said.
“So, just taking that calculator and dumping it at the farm level, you look at it and say for example ‘I don't have cows like that’.
“Genetically we know there's a big difference in the methane that individual cattle produce and your numbers can change more frequently.
“Unfortunately you can't reflect those nuances in the tool, yet.
“And I really stress the ‘yet’ bit.”
Mr Nicholson said carbon projects also involved using trees and soil for carbon sequestration so farmers could gain carbon credits.
He drew attention to the efforts of larger Australian companies to reduce emissions, such as malt producer Malteurop and dairy giant Fonterra Australia both committing to 30 per cent reductions by 2030, and Tongala meat processor Greenham reaching a carbon output lower than the national standard.
Pressure from shareholders and investors has driven these companies to seek a lower footprint along their supply chains, preferring to buy from farmers with good carbon practices.
Mr Nicholson said other limitations to the GAF included not yet recognising retrospective tree planting, the need for detailed record keeping and exclusion of biodiversity efforts.
“Another current exclusion is that if you make your own hay, you will get pinged for the fuel you use, but not if you use a contractor,” he said.
“But the message for this is that it is still evolving; don’t get despondent about the numbers coming out.”
Mr Nicholson said he wanted farmers to have a sense of excitement at the opportunities available with new management ‘tools’ coming onto the market.
“I hate people thinking they have got to wait for the new set of tools before they do anything,” he said.
“What we're expecting is for people to be doing a good job with the GAF tools they currently have available, because it is good for more efficient productivity anyway.
“If you can ask ‘am I doing the best I can with the current tools that I’ve got?’ then that's where you should be.”
The role of the GAF tools
- Align with the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory to predict the magnitude and sources of gases emitted from a farm and any product at the farm gate.
- Include three emission levels:
Scope 1 (e.g. methane and nitrous oxide)
Scope 2 (e.g. electricity)
Scope 3 (pre-farm emissions e.g. urea)
- Quarterly updates of the calculators allow policy makers, markets and the public to understand how Australia is tracking against its emission targets.
