Australian farmers live in an environment where they are called upon by the community to contribute to greenhouse gas emissions reduction as well as the repair of the natural environment. It can be confusing for farmers, with the Australian Carbon Credit Scheme available for eligible projects that store carbon, as well as demands from supply chains and finance institutions to gather data on emissions and reduce them where possible.
Carbon EDGE has been developed by Meat & Livestock Australia with assistance from Pinion Advisory. It is a course that allows livestock producers to develop an action plan tailored to their business to improve both sustainability and productivity while gaining an understanding of what carbon markets and policies mean for their livestock enterprise.
Pinion Advisory’s lead consultant for sustainability, Sarah Barrett, piloted the Carbon EDGE course in 2023 and has seen it successfully roll out in 2024. “We have people who have come into the room on the first day of Carbon EDGE full of questions, often as a result of being approached by a carbon project developer. They left after the second day, relieved. This is because they have come to an understanding of where they should put their efforts to reduce their emissions as well as being empowered to make informed decisions when approached by a project developer, their customers, or their bank”.
“Producers learn through a mix of information delivery and individual and group exercises. One of the most popular exercises is a role play, where participants do a pretend ‘pitch’ for investment in emissions reduction on the farm to a family member or bank manager. They really get into it, creating great discussions, and sometimes it’s hard to get them to rejoin the group!”
The course covers the basics of the science of greenhouse gas emissions from livestock enterprises, creating a basic greenhouse gas account for a farm, carbon credit schemes and supply chain requirements, storing carbon on-farm and ways to reduce emissions. Meat & Livestock Australia are also considering the addition of another module covering the rapidly developing biodiversity market, but that is unlikely to be up and running until late 2025. There are other carbon farming education programs available now through various State and Federal Government schemes, but Carbon EDGE goes beyond entry-level information and is a comprehensive and action-oriented program.
Pinion Advisory will be delivering Carbon EDGE workshops in South Australia and Tasmania in early 2025. Courses will be run from 12 and 13 February in Adelaide, 24 and 25 March at Oatlands and 27 and 28 March at Smithton. Meat & Livestock Australia have a deal for eligible producers this financial year, which has reduced the cost from $1,100 per participant to $300.
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