A carbon story...

With most of Australia’s agricultural sectors agreeing to net zero carbon emissions by 2050, scientists are now working against the clock to work out how best to decarbonise farming.

Grain growing is a tricky one as the carbon doesn’t stay in soil like it does with permanent plantings. So, the CSIRO was commissioned by the grains industry to look at how this most difficult of sectors can be decarbonised.

Senior research scientist and project lead Dr Maartje Sevenster told Country Today the good news was the report showed Australia’s grain industry produced fewer emissions per tonne of grain than its major competitors.

“We have found a way to potentially increase grain production by up to 40 percent, while reducing the carbon footprint per tonne of grain by up to 15 percent. The key is improving our use of fertiliser,” she said.

To produce the world’s grains with as few greenhouse gas emissions as possible, all countries, including Australia, need to play their part.

The carbon footprint – greenhouse gas intensity – of Australian grain is lower than elsewhere, so on a global scale we have some room to increase production to help meet the demands of a growing population, ensuring Australian grains remain competitive in the global market.

The most emissions are from using nitrogen fertilisers. However, the answer isn’t to stop fertilising as the crops will remove what carbon there is in the soil without it. It’s fertilising more efficiently and using crop rotations of nitrogen fixing plants like legumes.

With the EU regulations toughing on carbon emissions, we really need to sell this message that our benchmarking, not that done by someone else in another country, puts our grains ahead of the pack. Similarly, the beef industry must sell the carbon-reduction story better.

The great hope is that the seaweed feed additive will reduce methane emissions, and just to be clear, it’s the burps from ruminants, not the farts, that are the major problem.

The seaweed that weaves its magic is asparagopsis and most of it is being grown off the coast of Tasmania. It is now being grown in Port Phillip Bay and should be commercially available to beef and dairy industries within the year.

Immersion Group director Scott Elliott told Country Today, “Asparagopsis armata and its sister species taxiformis produce high doses of a compound known as bromoform. Bromoform blocks an enzyme that produces gut methane in livestock, particularly cattle and sheep.”

A recent US study found livestock that consumes asparagopsis supplement excrete up to 80 percent less methane.

Mr Elliott is hopeful the feed additive will also reduce methane emissions from sheep.

We just must get the message out that Australia is coming up with real solutions that will drastically reduce our agricultural emissions.