Carbon Farming Handbook released

The recently released Carbon Farming Handbook will provide a wealth of information to landholders, farmers, waste operators and other clean energy businesses wanting to participate in the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI). The handbook sets out how landholders and farmers can improve their land and farm sustainability while also generating carbon credits that can be sold on domestic and international markets.

The CFI, which opened for business in December 2011, encourages farmers, landowners, local government and other stakeholders to generate extra revenue by reducing agricultural and landfill waste pollution. By allowing land managers to sell carbon credits to people and businesses wishing to offset their emissions, the initiative encourages sustainable farming and provides a source of funding for landscape restoration projects.

Several methodologies are already approved under the CFI, including flaring landfill gas, methane in piggeries, planting native tree species and reducing pollution from savanna fires. Further methodologies are currently being developed with the CSIRO, universities, other research bodies and the federal government, working together to create dairy cattle food supplementation, enhanced efficiency fertilisers, manure management and soil carbon.

With the serious risks associated with climate change threatening the future of Australian agriculture and food production, farmers and landholders have an important role to play in our nation’s clean energy future by increasing the land sector’s resilience to climate change and improving long-term farm productivity.

The Australian Government, over the next six years, will support the land sector by investing $1.7 billion of carbon price revenue to support the CFI and other programs to improve productivity, sustainability and profitability.