General News
1 December, 2023
‘Carbon on Farm’ talk success
LISMORE Land Protection Group held a 'Carbon on Farm' event recently in Lismore.
Attendees heard from Cam Nicolson, a carbon and farming expert.
They learnt about the different impacts of carbon, methane and nitrous oxide, which are the main greenhouse gases that are produced from livestock and cropping.
Landcare facilitator Sarah McMaster said one of the topics discussed was market changes and the factors driving them.
“The government is pushing change, but industry is the main driver,” she said.
“Big companies are now asking farmers to know their carbon emissions intensity.
“The trend looks like that if you know and have a low carbon intensity then buyers are more likely to buy from you.
“It's going to be a point of differentiation that farmers can use to sell products at a higher price or not miss out in the market.”
Topics of discussion included ACCU's, insetting and offsetting carbon credits, and ways to increase soil carbon or reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions.
The event went for two hours, with attendees taking notes and asking lots of questions.
“The take home message was that farmers should start recording basic things on their farm like stock numbers, liveweight gain, fertiliser use etc and keep good records of these so when you need to figure out your carbon intensity then you have everything ready to go,” Ms McMaster said.
“It would be good to run another night where we work through the carbon calculators to determine the carbon emissions intensity on peoples farms.”