Carbon Confusion: Demystifying Your Farm’s Carbon Footprint

Carbon offsets. Carbon footprints. Carbon neutral farming.

These days, it seems everyone wants a piece of the carbon pie. Government, agricultural associations, buyers and consumers are all zoning in on the carbon footprint of agricultural producers.

Your personal beliefs about carbon emissions are irrelevant. The reality is that ag producers who don't get on top of their carbon accounting are going to be left behind.

Knowing your current carbon footprint is going to be imperative for broadacre and livestock farmers.  If you want to continue to trade and pursue new opportunities for growth, you need to know your numbers.

Buyers like Coles are working towards emissions targets for their suppliers. Big banks like NAB are helping farmers make better decisions about investing in ‘natural capital’. The recently passed Nature Repair Bill is going to reward landowners who take action to protect biodiversity on their land. Private investment is growing in the regenerative ag and carbon farming space.

To supply your produce at a premium price, it is going to become a requirement to verify your carbon footprint. And prove you are taking action to reduce or neutralise your carbon emissions.

Calculating the carbon footprint associated with broadacre and livestock farming is tricky. There are lots of factors at play. There are many ways to account for emissions, and most of the calculators available are pretty clunky.

The first step is to know your numbers. Not just your business financials, but you need to collect data about your value chain, carbon emissions and offsets.

Once you have your numbers, you need to figure out what to do with them. But you don’t need to do it alone. Engage an advisor who can help you apply best practice carbon accounting principles. And connect you with the right people to help you work through any gaps or challenges you might have.

Once you know your baseline carbon footprint, you can start exploring practices and technology that will minimise your footprint.

Calculating your carbon footprint

Calculating your carbon footprint is complex. But if you break it down into it’s key elements, you might find some aspects are easier to work through that you anticipated. Once you get started, you can identify the parts that are harder to calculate. Then you can seek trusted advice on how you can manage these gaps. The key elements of calculating your carbon footprint include:

Direct emissions

These are the carbon emissions created by your farm. Common sources of direct emissions include:

·         Enteric fermentation from livestock

·         Decomposition of manure

·         Fertilisers (especially synthetic ones)

·         Crop burning

·         Fuel and energy used in machinery, equipment, vehicles, buildings and other sources

Indirect emissions

Captures the carbon emissions not directly caused by your agricultural activity, but related to it.

Comon sources of indirect emissions include:

·         Converting natural land to agriculture

·         Growing and transporting animal feed

·         Processing, packaging and transporting agricultural products

Carbon capture (sequestration)

Activities undertaken that increase carbon capture. Examples of carbon capture include:

·         Crop rotation

·         Rotational grazing

·         Reduced tillage

The typical process for calculating your carbon footprint involves the following steps:

1.       Gather data about how much money has been spent or how many units have been used in relation to your value chain

2.       Covert the data into a common unit of measurement (there are tools to help you do that)

3.       Translate the business activity to the associated emissions

4.       Calculate the emissions resulting from all the business activities

The key to accurately calculating your footprint is to

1) know your numbers so you are working with the best data possible, and

2) work with a trusted, accredited carbon accounting advisor. They can help you apply best practices, translate your business data into emissions measurements, and close any gaps

3) build relationships with people in the field who are accredited, informed and independent.

This way you can feel confident that your footprint calculation is as complete and accurate as possible, given the information available at the time.

Check the terminology

There’s a load of terms thrown around in relation to carbon footprints, emissions and sustainable farming. It pays to get familiar with the lingo. Then you better understand how new information, projects and policies might be relevant to your farming enterprises. And it helps you sniff out the snake oil merchants selling phony schemes (yep, there are plenty of them out there).

Here are definitions of the common terms used:

Biodiversity – variety of life (plant, animal and microorganisms) found in a geographic area, across species, genes and ecosystems.

Australian Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) Scheme – provides funding for individuals and organisations to adopt approved practices and technologies which reduce emissions or increase carbon storage (was previously the Emissions Reduction Fund).

Carbon credits – permit allowing an entity to produce a set amount of carbon emissions. Carbon credits can be traded between entities.

Carbon emissions – Carbon dioxide emitted during the burning of fossil fuels (oil, coal, natural gas) and waste materials, and from some industrial processes.

Carbon farming – farming in a way that reduces greenhouse gas and carbon emissions and/or captures and holds carbon in the vegetation and soil. Check out the Carbon Farming Roadmap for South Australia here.

Carbon footprint – a measure of the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere as a result of the activities of an individual, entity or community.

Carbon offset – an action taken to compensate for the carbon emissions produced by an individual, entity or community. Carbon offsets can be quantified and traded commercially.

Carbon neutral agriculture – agricultural activities which achieve a net zero balance of carbon emissions, so that their carbon emissions are matched by their carbon offsets.

Greenhouse gas – any gas that absorbs infrared radiation coming from the Earth’s surface and reradiates it back to the Earth’s surface. Carbon and methane are types of greenhouse gas.

Nature Repair Bill –national framework for a voluntary national biodiversity market. Makes it easier for companies and other businesses to invest in nature repair initiatives, rewarding landholders for protecting biodiversity.

Regenerative agriculture – an approach to farming focused on restoring and enhancing the ecosystems on a farm through nurturing soil health and increasing biodiversity. Examples of regenerative agriculture practices include rotational grazing, crop rotation and increasing crop diversity.

Soil carbon project – projects that involve removing carbon from the atmosphere and storing it in soil. These projects earn carbon credits for reducing greenhouse gas and increasing carbon storage.

Sustainable agriculture – an approach to agriculture that meets the needs of the present with minimal negative effects of the environment.

Upstream/Downstream emissions – consideration of the indirect emissions that occur as part of the value chain of an agricultural enterprise. Upstream emissions come from the inputs into an agricultural enterprise, for example producing feed for livestock. Downstream emissions come from the use and disposal of the outputs of an agricultural enterprise, for example transporting fruit to supermarkets.

 Calculating your carbon footprint is challenging. But these challenges aren’t insurmountable. With a structured process and trusted advice to guide you, it can be done. Don’t get left behind and be penalised by the market because you can’t confidently state your carbon footprint.

At Cross Country Management, we provide independent, unbiased carbon accounting advice to broadacre and livestock farmers just like you.

If you are looking for help with calculating your carbon footprint, get in touch for a confidential, no obligation call.