How Australian farmers reduce emissions, produce the

Aussies have been learning about carbon emissions since a federal Government ‘Carbon Farming Initiative’ was introduced back in 2011, writes Alasdair MacLeod

AUSTRALIAN farmers are the best in the world. They are known globally for their hard work, innovation, and ability to adapt to produce the world’s best food. And they are generating $50-$60 billion in annual exports.

What you mightn’t know is that some Aussie farmers are, at the same time, leaders in finding solutions to climate change by capturing and storing carbon in the soil – putting us on a path to net zero.

And they’re doing this now, on the frontline of climate change, through bushfires and droughts.

Unexpectedly, this is thanks, in part, to initiatives from the Commonwealth Government. It was Canberra that led on this back in 2011 by offering financial incentives to farmers who would innovate ways to store carbon. Back then it was one of the most comprehensive offset schemes of its type in the world. Most of the schemes that were introduced under Canberra’s so called Carbon Farming Initiative involved farmers locking up paddocks and growing trees and shrubs to capture carbon.

These schemes have come under attack for taking away productive farmland and reducing farm income from traditional commodities, such as beef or wool. But the Carbon Farming Initiative also allowed for ‘soil carbon’ projects. And thanks to a handful of innovative Australian technology companies devising ways to measure soil carbon, farmers were given access to these schemes which allowed them to earn additional income on land that continued to be farmed productively.

One of these innovative Australian technology companies, CarbonLink, is about to reveal the first results from their early soil carbon farming projects. I’m told the results will reveal some very encouraging signs for how we can make use of agricultural soils as a