Katie McRobert of Australian Farm Institute addresses North Central CMA’s national capital forum.
A capacity crowd of more than 100 landholders and agricultural industry professionals delved into the latest emerging opportunities for the sector at the North Central Catchment Management Authority’s Natural Capital Forum.
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Held in Bendigo on June 13, the forum provided a comprehensive exploration of environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues and discussions on natural capital and carbon emissions.
Keynote speakers Australian Farm Institute executive director Katie McRobert, La Trobe University Associate Professor Jim Radford, and Farming for the Future strategic engagements manager Angela Hawdon set the stage for dynamic conversation, emphasising the growing importance of these topics and the imperative for farmers to actively engage.
“Australian farmers are under increasing pressure both locally and internationally to report on environmental performance,” Assoc Prof Radford said.
Katie McRobert of Australian Farm Institute, Jim Radford of La Trobe University, and Angela Hawdon from Farming for the Future were keynote speakers at the June 13 forum in Bendigo.
Ms Hawdon highlighted the motivations driving farmers towards natural capital initiatives, emphasising resilience, productivity and access to additional markets as key drivers.
She said natural capital is intertwined with mainstream farm management practices.
“Farmers need a good ‘why’ to invest in natural capital. Farming for the Future projects are working on that ‘why’.”
Farmers sharing practical applications of natural capital strategies was a highlight at the forum.
Representing diverse agricultural sectors — including beef, sheep, wool, lamb and cropping — these stories underscored the relevance of natural capital across different farming enterprises.
Loddon Vale farmer Jo Bear, North Central CMA’s Narelle Beattie, Agriculture Victoria’s Alison Kelly and North Central CMA board member Olivia Lawson.
Clare Cannon of Woomargama Station was involved in the farm-scale natural capital accounting project lead by La Trobe University.
“The opportunity to become involved in natural capital accounting became an opportunity to measure our progress,” she said.
“I was impressed with the depth of information and how complete the report was. I’m yet to work out how we can use all this information for now and into the future, but now we have a benchmark.
“I’m sure it will be important for provenance, audits, banking or in ways yet to be established.”
Alison Kelly of Agriculture Victoria’s On-farm Emissions Action Plan Pilot program (AgVic Pilot) encouraged farmers to know your number, understand your number before you act on your number.
“Often farmers don’t know where to start and want advice on how to prioritise actions that are feasible for their farming system and support their goals for emissions reduction (and sequestration) over the short, medium and long term,” she said.
DEECA's Liam Costello spoke about tree-based carbon farming projects.
Loddon Vale farmer Jo Bear took up the opportunity to learn more about their farm emissions number through the AgVic Pilot.
“There’s a lot of noise about emissions, it’s hard to get really accurate information about what to focus on, and with the Australian beef industry setting the aspiration to be carbon neutral by 2050, we don’t want to be left behind, we can’t be left behind,” she said.
Carbon farming was also featured on the program, with Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action’s Liam Costello discussing tree-based carbon farming projects that can also generate a range of on-farm benefits including improving shade and shelter for stock, enhancing surrounding biodiversity and generating wood or timber products.
For more information about the forum's insights, including presentation recordings, go to: https://www.nccma.vic.gov.au
