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Let's Talk Soil Carbon
Strive to Improve Your Soil health! And Keep Excellent Records and Soil Samples – that’s the message to farmers from internationally renowned soil carbon expert, Dr Terry McCosker at workshops held in Goondiwindi and Warwick recently.
More than 100 farmers and industry representatives attended the ‘Let’s Talk Soil Carbon’ workshops hosted by Southern Queensland Landscapes; many hoping to understand the complex legislation and identify ways to implement soil carbon sequestration on their own farm as a new income source.
While just 1% of all carbon projects currently underway in Australia is from agriculture, Resource Consulting Services (RCS) Director, Dr Terry McCosker told the gathering plans to improve the legislation are in progress to make it easier for agriculture to realise income from carbon projects.
“It’s a bit of a problem at the moment and the complexity and methodology outlined in the act makes it difficult for farmers to take part,” Dr Terry McCosker said.
“Currently the legislation allows for farmers to 1) measure their soil carbon improvement or 2) calculate improvements based on modelling developed by the CSIRO,” Dr McCosker said.
“Both have limitations in as much as measuring can be costly and for many small farms, it may not be viable,” he said.
“And with modelling it’s a blanket approach which gives everyone in a certain restricted region the same baseline, which means if you have been a proactive farmer practicing soil carbon sequestration techniques you will start on the same baseline as your neighbour who has done nothing; this is not the best fit for people outside high soil organic carbon regions as indicated via the CSIRO mapping.”
But a third option is in the pipeline; a hybrid approach which will combine the best of both methods 1) and 2) and hopefully resolve some of the complexities of implementation being experienced by the agricultural sector.
“It is going to get less complex and it will be more relevant to the agricultural industry in the future as we fine tune things; and I expect we are probably a year away from seeing the changes the industry needs,” Dr McCosker said.
“In the meantime, farmers should look at how they can improve the health of their soils and start putting in processes to keep excellent records of their activities to achieve improvements including basic agronomic soil samples; so that if the regulated market for ACCUs is not viable, there may be alternatives on the voluntary market. However focussing on productivity improvements should be the first priority.” he said.
“At the moment some farmers feel the work they have done in the past is not recognized and I understand their concern but any improvement in soil health will be contributing to productivity and profitability,”
“But I believe the problems with the current regulations are addressable if we keep communicating and pushing for change; however our first priority is to focus on improving soil and ecosystem health for better productivity and profitability. Any gains from carbon or environmental credits is a bonus for the future….”
Dr Terry McCosker will present at two more workshops set to be held in Chinchilla and Charleville during May and he encourages landholders in these regions to attend so they can plan and prepare for advantageous changes to the legislation which will see the adoption of soil carbon projects in agriculture made easier.
Let’s Talk Soil Carbon – Chinchilla
WHEN: 18 May 2021
WHERE: Chinchilla Cultural Centre, 80-85 Heeney Street, Chinchilla
REGISTER: https://bit.ly/32CT42r
CONTACT: Anita Erba at anita.erba@sqlandscapes.org.au
Let’s Talk Soil Carbon – Charleville
WHEN: 20 May 2021
WHERE: Charleville RSL
REGISTER: https://bit.ly/3eozCfl
CONTACT: Kate Percival at kate.percival@sqlandscapes.org.au
ENDS
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The Condamine Headwaters, a critical ecosystem in Southern Queensland, has long faced threats from sedimentation, habitat degradation, and thermal regime changes. The Blackfish Project, dedicated to reversing these impacts, unites scientists, landowners, and the community in a shared mission to restore and protect this vital environment. At its core lies the river blackfish, a sensitive indicator of the overall ecosystem health. Central to the project's success is the unwavering commitment of landowners like Paul Graham. Inspired by the project's vision, Paul reached out to SQ Landscapes seeking support for a solar pump and tank to divert his cattle away from waterways on his property. Paul's deep-rooted love for his land, captured in his humorous quip "I love my land more than I love my wife," is a testament to the powerful connection between people and place that drives conservation efforts.
The Board of Southern Queensland Landscapes recently met in Toowoomba. In addition to the Board meeting, Board and Executive worked through updating SQ Landscapes’ strategy. Company Secretary Pam Murphy highlighted the importance of the latest Board meeting and what it means for the company’s future. “The updated strategy will help SQ Landscapes deliver sustainable natural resource management (NRM) outcomes that improve the lives of people in regional communities now and for the future,” Pam Murphy said. “We’re excited to continue delivering value for our region and build Flourishing Landscapes and Healthy Communities across Southern Queensland under the guidance of the Board,” Mrs Murphy said.
Annual General Meeting When: Wednesday, 13 December 2023 Where: Online via Zoom Time : 9.00am for 9.30am start
When Sophie and Adrian McInnerney began adopting their “paddock to plate” experiment into their lambing business, they quickly discovered how a new and exciting approach to running their enterprise transformed their resilience and soil health. Multi-species cover cropping was the answer, and now their business has become a diverse enterprise that has embraced variations in livestock feed and crop rotation, building riparian fencing, and investing in healthier soils. This has opened the young couple to new opportunities to create new revenue streams, protect their business against natural disasters, drought, and prepare for economic hardships. Their property, “Bellhaven Brook”, located just an hour east of Goondiwindi, was the site of Macintyre Ag Alliance’s latest Multi-Species Cropping Field Day. With the support of Southern Queensland Landscapes (SQ Landscapes), the event aimed to promote the McInnerney family’s new land practices, offering an opportunity to educate land managers in the region of new ways to strengthen their property and enterprise. SQ Landscapes’ Goondiwindi-based Project Delivery Officer Keith Walker joined land managers for the workshop and highlighted how multi-species cover cropping could pave the way to rebuilding healthy soils and farming enterprises. “What was great about visiting ‘Bellhaven Brook’ is that you don’t have to be a scientist to understand this stuff. The idea is to just try and experiment like the McInnerneys did,” Keith Walker said. “These cover cropping systems are all about building your experience, experimenting and slowly developing a healthier and richer soil profile; which is the basis of all businesses; cropping and grazing alike.” Mr Walker said. “It was interesting to see the range of people, the ages from young and old, and the differences in enterprises. It’s a reminder that this genre of agriculture is starting conversations,” he said. “It’s all about implementation on the ground and getting the results for less money and experimenting with what people are doing.”
Cool burns, camels, and funding for local farmers were on the agenda at 'Risdon Stud' as land managers Nick and Liz Suduk hosted the Southern Queensland Landscapes and Department of Resources site visit to showcase the success of the Natural Resources Investment Program 2018-2022 (NRIP). Risdon Stud, south of Warwick, was primarily a high-intensity horse stud, but under new ownership with the Suduk family, the focus has been on restoring productivity and landscape health. “The Suduks participated in the NRIP project, where they received on-site guidance from First Nations fire practitioner Robbie Williams from Fire Lore, for cool burning in native vegetation areas,” Project Delivery Lead Natasha Mylonas said. “This was their first exposure to this type of burning and they have since embarked on a journey towards building their confidence in applying it elsewhere on the property,” Ms Mylonas said. “The NRIP project also supported livestock fencing, largely to exclude cattle from a large patch of remnant vegetation, combined with weed management in that remnant vegetation,” she said. “It is really difficult to muster out of the remnant vegetation, so the fencing has meant easier mustering of the cattle, as well as reduced weed spread and damage to the native vegetation in the patch.” “Outside of the NRIP project, they maintain a herd of agisted camels as part of their weed management strategy and experimented with fire to manage wattle regrowth,” Natasha Mylonas said.