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THEWEEKLYTIMES.COM.AU WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 7 2024
BULL BUYING GUIDE
AUTUMN
for all in supply chain Agriculture Victoria is running an on-farm emissions action plan pilot with up to 250 farm businesses.
Cattle industry well on track
The nation’s peak body for grass-fed cattle producers has said beef could be a solution to climate change rather than a contributor. Cattle Australia, which represents the producer sector of the grass-fed beef industry, is urging the government to take a “balanced approach” and presented strong reasons in its recent submission to the proposed Agriculture and Land Sectoral Plan, “CA highlighted the crucial role beef producers already play in this space, and welcomed the opportunity to provide strategic comment on the plan that will guide Australia’s 2050 net zero ambition,” CA chief executive Chris Parker said. “As custodians of almost 80 per cent of Australia’s agricultural land ... grass-fed beef producers are an integral part of the solution. “The Australian beef industry has made a leading contribution to combat further global warming and with the right support in coming years, will achieve the state of climate neutral. “To ensure a profitable and resilient future for the beef industry, CA supports an industry-driven pathway, with support from government to enable producers to access the advice, technology, innovations and incentives they need.” Given the role of cattle producers in land
management in Australia, Dr Parker said this needed to be acknowledged. He said beef production did produce methane, but the cyclical nature of biogenic methane (where methane is not only produced but consumed in beef production) needed to be taken into account. Part of the submission included work released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences which showed an international comparison on sustainability and agri- environmental indicators. “A key finding was that even with CO2e accounting methodology, Australia’s emissions intensities are below average,” Dr Parker said. “Additionally, Australia has reduced agricultural emissions more than most other developed countries in the past 30 years. “More than any other sector, the beef industry has taken the lead and made significant investment in research, development and adoption. “There is still so much potential and a real opportunity for government, in partnership with industry, while considering the importance of food security, nutritional security and the societal role of meat.” A summary of the issues raised will be released at a later date.
“The main thing for produc- ers is to adopt things that make sense as they are ready and work on innovations.” TAKING ACTION The “Making cent$ of carbon and emissions” on-farm book- let by Agriculture Victoria (a free online resource) provides examples of actions that farm businesses can take to improve their emissions performance on-farm under the key action areas. The key action areas in- clude: ENERGY: Increasing ef- ficiency, renewable energy and emissions reduction; NITROGEN use efficiency and fertilisers: Improving ef-
ficiency and saving money; HEALTHY soils: to grow food and store carbon; LIVESTOCK: Improving per- formance and reducing energy loss; TREES: For farm health; SUPPLY chain: Prepared for what others are doing. The booklet provides prac- tical tips on how producers can continue to manage carbon and emissions on-farm. Mr Anderson said there would be things producers were already doing that they may be surprised to discover were contributing to lowering emissions. Some of the management options listed in the booklet in- clude:
UNDERSTAND your energy use: Get an energy assessment or audit to the national stan- dard (AS/NZS 3598.2:2014) to measure your current energy use and highlight areas for im- provement; ESTIMATE the methane and nitrous oxide emissions on your farm using a greenhouse gas accounting tool (agricul- ture.vic.gov.au/carbonemis- sions for links to appropriate tools); MONITOR soil nutrient levels: Monitor soil organic matter/ soil organic carbon over time via testing; I MPROVE the quality of the feed that livestock eat to re- duce methane emissions: Im- prove the quality of pasture or
forage by optimum grazing management, growing high quality forage crops; CONSIDER ram and bull selec- tion and breeding to achieve increased reproductive rates and shorter finishing times: Utilise Australian Sheep Breeding Values, Estimated Breeding Values for cattle and Australian Breeding Values for dairy cattle; KEEP accurate records on the inputs and outputs of the pro- duction system. Meat and Livestock Austra- lia have a number of useful re- sources available for red meat producers, including a fact sheet aimed at beef producers on 10 ways to be on the front foot towards carbon neutrality.
CSIRO emissions studies at Lansdown research station.
Murdeduke Angus Delivers Type and Performance 105 BULLS THURSDAY 7 TH MARCH, 2024
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