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THE winner of last year’s national ‘Raising the Baa’ competition carbon farming to offset a farm’s own emissions cannot work under the present rules.
Western Victorian sheep producer Andrew Dufty won the competition after being judged one of the best adopters of technology and labour efficiency in the sheep industry, together with his innovative management and environmental awareness.
His prize, a $10,000 study tour to Europe to examine the impacts of environmental regulation on farming practices, has only aided his conclusion that carbon farming may not be a viable offset to traditional livestock production, given the present trading rules.
Having planted 250 hectares or 17 per cent of his 1452ha western Victorian farm to woodlots and shelterbelts, he aimed to offset the emissions from his 11,000 sheep flock and 400ha cropping enterprises, but came to the conclusion that it was not viable.
As a trial, 57ha of shelterbelts have been measured for carbon sequestration and this has been estimated to lock up the equivalent of about 3400 tonnes of carbon dioxide over 17 years. This figure is based on a calculation of just under 200t sequestered annually or 3.5t/ha annually.
The estimations have been put together through CarbonSMART, a Landcare initiative that helps existing farmers join the carbon sequestration industry.
Based on present production estimates, Mr Dufty’s property, Melville Forest, emits some 2250t of carbon dioxide equivalents a year.
To offset this would take 580ha of plantations or 40pc of the property.
The important assumption in these calculations is that the only avenue available to offset livestock emissions is planting trees.
Even if Mr Dufty was able to change his farm management to increase carbon in the soil, this extra sequestered soil carbon would not be ‘counted’ as part of his farm emissions inventory.
* Extract from a full report in Stock Journal, March 26 issue.
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