On Wednesday June 14, Local Land Services Central West, and the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries joined together with Central West Farming Systems (CWFS) and the Sthn NSW Innovation Hub to hold a conference on carbon.
The speaker line up included: scientific and NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) experts; and a panel of local landholders from Central West NSW. While terms such as carbon farming and carbon trading have entered the lexicon, carbon presents both challenges and significant opportunities for primary producers.
The event held at the Condobolin Ag Research Station attracted a crowd of 50 delegates to the full day Conference. CEO Central West Farming Systems, Diana Fear said, “It is great that we have had so many people register for the event. It’s a diverse crowd, we have landholders, agronomists, agribusiness representatives and some have travelled for hours – from Orange and further afield to be here”.
The day opened with Dr Warwick Badgery, NSW DPI addressing the crowd remotely on emissions reduction options for farmers and the role of soil carbon. The quality and depth of information in the presentation required everyone’s full attention and the questions posed at the end of the session revealed how engaged the delegates were.
“Traditionally, farmers have thought of carbon in terms of soil health – and that has not changed”, remarked Ms Fear, “Now, there is a lot of chatter about the evils of carbon as a greenhouse gas – but it’s not just the bad guy – we need to be aware of the role it plays wholistically, measure its impact both positive and negative.
“Carbon has the potential to be an asset, to be farmed and traded – to add value and income to landholder operations. Ultimately, we want to increase our landholders’ and producers’ awareness so they can make the decision on how to handle carbon in their operations”.
Conference speakers also included: Guy Webb, cofounder at Loam – a company researching fungus to assist in soil carbon sequestration; NSW DPI Carbon Team experts, Clare Edwards and Lisa McFadyen; soil scientist, Dr Susan Orgill of SelectCarbon; and four local landholders who had participated in a soil carbon project in the Central West.
“Our role at CWFS is to listen to farmers and understand what they need to be successful. We hear there is a lot of uncertainty, they are concerned about potential regulation and want to be on the front foot.
“This conference is to help our landholders increase their knowledge and feel confident in understanding carbon and the role it could play for their business decisions” Ms Fear added.
For landholders looking to understand the basics on the role of carbon in their operations, there are some tools available online which can assist them in upskilling and understanding the opportunities: NSW DPI Carbon farming opportunities maps: https://carbon.pairtree.co/tool/
Greenhouse Accounting Frameworks (GAF) for a number of industries including sheep, beef and cropping: https://piccc.org.au/resources/Tools.html MLA Carbon Calculator https://carbon-calculator.mla.com.au/
Press Release.