What is Australian Carbon Farming

You’re fantastic at producing animals and cultivating crops, but have you ever considered farming carbon? While it may not be the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about cultivation, carbon is becoming increasingly profitable, can function alongside your current farming operation, and can even enhance output.

What is carbon farming?

Carbon sequestration is critical to the success of carbon farming. Sequestration is a natural process in which carbon is absorbed by the landscape and deposited in soil or converted to new growth by vegetation. CO2 emissions into the atmosphere are the primary driver of climate change, and lowering carbon emissions remains the primary goal of carbon farming programs.

Carbon projects reduce carbon emissions and enhance carbon sequestration by changing land management methods, but this does not require you to lock up your land or de-stock. Carbon projects, when done correctly, complement existing operations and provide benefits to both businesses and the environment.

Australian Carbon Farming

Carbon farming is the process of modifying agricultural operations or land use in order to increase the amount of carbon stored in the soil and vegetation (sequestration) and minimize greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, soil, and plants (avoidance).

By trapping the sun’s heat and preventing it from reflecting back into space, greenhouse gases in our atmosphere help to maintain the Earth’s temperature. Rising concentrations of Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane function as extra blankets, warming the planet and altering its temperature.

Human actions, such as the combustion of fossilized carbon (fossil fuels) and deforestation for land development, have upset the carbon cycle’s equilibrium. Carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere when fossil fuels are burned or land is cleared. Trees and other environmental elements can reabsorb some of the excess carbon dioxide, but the Earth’s capacity to do so is limited.

Carbon farming gives an opportunity to assist restore balance by utilizing land-based plant life and wetlands to naturally reabsorb excess carbon dioxide, or by modifying land management techniques to lower the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by humans.

Due to the fact that carbon is utilized, stored, and released in many ways by plants and animals as part of the so-called carbon cycle, carbon can be “farmed” in numerous ways.

Land managers can improve the amount of carbon their land stores by, for instance, including native plant species into their system or modifying grazing management to ensure year-round ground cover and preserve soil structure.

To lower the number of greenhouse gases generated, for instance, animals could be fed differently to reduce their methane emissions.

Carbon sequestration is important to the success of carbon farming. Sequestration is a naturally occurring process in which carbon is absorbed by the landscape and deposited in the soil or turned into new plant growth by vegetation. The output of CO2 into the atmosphere is the dominant driver of climate change, and the reduction of carbon emissions continues to be the primary objective of carbon farming programs.

Carbon projects reduce carbon emissions and improve carbon sequestration by modifying land management methods, however this does not imply that you must secure your property or eliminate livestock. If properly executed, carbon initiatives complement existing operations and provide business and environmental benefits.

Methods of Carbon Farming

Carbon farming methods accessible through the Clean Energy Regulator (CER) include savanna burning initiatives, vegetation management projects, and modifications to on-farm agricultural systems. There are numerous ways to participate and profit.

By increasing the amount of on-farm vegetation available to store carbon, vegetation programs accomplish net carbon reductions. There are several acceptable vegetation management activities that can be implemented:

>Human-Induced Regeneration programs seek to recover areas of a property where vegetation has been or is actively suppressed, typically through mechanical or chemical damage, or overgrazing by cattle and feral animals. Changes in management practices, such as the development of infrastructure to facilitate rotational grazing and appropriate management of the feral animals, allow for natural recovery of native vegetation. Regenerated bushland and woodlands reduce greenhouse gas emissions and carbon storage while enhancing soil health, water retention, and biodiversity.

>Avoided Deforestation initiatives to protect portions of natural forest that were previously cut and turned into farmland or grassland with official permission. Carbon credits are generated for landowners that maintain the forest and do not clear the land. Carbon abatement is accomplished by not destroying native vegetation and avoiding emissions.

>Avoided Clearing initiatives protect growing forests from the planned clearing in the future. Carbon is stored in native regrowth that is expected to be destroyed under the historical clearing regime of a land. To be qualified, there must be proof of two historical clearance episodes where unrestricted clearing was permitted and cropping or grazing was carried out.

Other viable approaches and carbon abatement options that concentrate a greater emphasis on changing existing farm systems exist.

Soil carbon projects generate carbon credits by storing carbon in the soil, a practice that has been shown to improve soil quality and, thus, cattle and crop productivity. Soil carbon sequestration and regenerative agriculture are the most essential and cost-effective strategies for storing and reducing global CO2 levels. According to environmental consultant Energetics, improved farming and land management, as well as low-carbon transportation, could contribute to the majority of Australia’s abatement targets by 2030.  Many strategies can be used to increase soil carbon, including:

-Increasing the rate of carbon intake by vegetation planting or the addition of compost or mulch

-Variations in fertilizer application and timing

-Modifications to irrigation methods

-Reducing carbon-emitting activities such as stubble burning and vegetation cutting.

-Modifications to grazing and tilling operations to lessen soil impact and disturbance

-Changing the soil profile to enhance the residence period of carbon in the soil, such as adding clay to sandy soils.

“Herd of Beef” Cattle and dairy farmers are involved in projects involving animals, grazing, and broadacre farming. These strategies cut emissions and earn carbon credits by enhancing the overall health, nutrition, age structure, and productive efficiency of cattle. Projects must be carried out on a sufficiently large herd of 10,000 head or more, and may include nutritional changes, lowering the average age of the herd, lowering the proportion of unproductive cattle, or modifying the number of cattle within each livestock class within the herd.

-Animal Waste Management Methods are for farmers with piggeries or dairies to reduce emissions by introducing new waste treatment methods that degrade methane.

Why choose Carbon Farming?

Participation in carbon farming operations is motivated by a variety of factors, including landscape restoration, soil fertility enhancement, generating income, and carbon neutrality objectives.

Landowners that practice carbon farming give benefits not only to the country, and Australia, but to the whole world through combating climate change, land degradation, and food insecurity.

Landowners can restore vital biodiverse habitats for Australia’s endangered native animals if they choose to farm carbon by incorporating plantings of native plant species on their holdings, such as through shelter belts or by installing native perennial grasses and groundcover.

In addition,

carbon farming approaches have the additional advantages of recovering degraded soils, boosting crop yield, and lowering pollution by minimizing erosion and nutrient runoff, purifying surface and groundwater, and promoting microbial activity and soil biodiversity.

The additional benefits of carbon farming allow for the production of more food with less pollution, while also enhancing soil quality and sequestering carbon dioxide. Carbon farming technologies have the potential to begin reversing the devastating effects of climate change if implemented on a sufficiently broad scale. Promoting and expanding the use of these practices is one of the most effective ways t