The National Farmers’ Federation has released an announcement today welcoming the detail on the $63.8 million in the 2024-25 Budget to support the reduction of emissions in the agriculture industry.
NFF Chief Executive Officer Tony Mahar is in Toowoomba at the Sustainable Agriculture Summit to help progress the Agriculture and Land Sectoral Plan. Mr Mahar said the support ministers Chris Bowen and Murray Watt outlined on agriculture’s role in the transition to net zero was reassuring and showed they had listened to farmers.
“The agriculture sector has significant concerns it will be the fall guy for other sectors to reduce their emissions through offsets on farmland.
“National emissions reduction must be a shared responsibility and agriculture will play its part, but that part has to be fair and not comprise productivity, profitability nor food security.”
Mr Mahar said the principles outlined by the ministers today aligned with what the sector had been calling for – close collaboration with the agricultural sector, prioritising food security, and making sure farmland is not a carbon dump for other sectors.
“This is consistent with what the NFF has been seeking as we work towards achieving the ongoing reduction in agricultural emissions trajectory.
“Any credible climate plan needs to partner closely with farmers who manage more than half of Australia’s landmass.
“It’s reassuring to hear the government is on the same page and won’t be imposing targets on farmers.”
Today’s announcement has provided further detail on the $63.8 million announced in Federal Budget to support the reduction of emissions in agriculture, including $28.7 million to improve greenhouse gas accounting – an important down payment with further investment expected.
“We’ve been saying for some time that farmers need to ‘know their number’ – improving and standardising approaches to data collection, measurement and accounting are critical to making this easy and accessible, especially at farm scale.”
The NFF has supported the establishment of the Carbon Farming Outreach Program and welcomes the additional $30.8 million to complement this work, giving farmers much-needed independent advice to make informed decisions about their businesses.
Furthermore, the NFF welcomes the additional government investment in the Zero Net Emissions Agriculture CRC – of which NFF is also a foundation partner.
“If we can get this right, there is real potential to unlock opportunities for agriculture and the broader economy and we are heartened to hear Minister Watt share this view,” Mr Mahar said.
“This will allow agriculture to be part of the solution to a lower emissions future while giving farmers the tools to become more sustainable and productive.
“We thank the ministers for working with the farm sector and look forward to continuing to work closely with the government on the Agriculture and Land Sectoral Plan to ensure agriculture continues to lead the nation in a reduced emissions future.”
Earlier Federal Government announcement:
Major funding to help reduce ag emissions
The government has released the details of $63.8 million announced in the 2024-25 Budget to support the reduction of emissions in the agriculture industry and contribute to the whole-of-economy transition to net zero.
The announcement was made at the Albanese Government’s inaugural Sustainable Agriculture Summit being held in Toowoomba today and builds on the $519 million in funding allocated to rejuvenate the Future Drought Fund.
The funding will help build the capacity of Australian farmers and trusted advisors, improve greenhouse gas accounting at national and farm levels, and drive innovation for emissions reduction and carbon sequestration in the sector.
Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said as supply chains, international markets and the finance sector are increasingly requiring farmers to report on their emissions, providing standardised estimation and reporting frameworks was essential.
“Decarbonisation in the agriculture sector will unlock new opportunities for Australian farmers and landowners,” Minister Bowen said.
“The Agriculture and Land Plan presents an opportunity to chart a way forward and will play an important role in achieving our whole-of-economy emissions reduction targets.
“Our government will work in close collaboration with the agriculture industry to guide us towards a net-zero future.
“The funding provided in the Budget will help the agriculture industry to take action and be recognised for that action.”
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt said because the sector manages a large percentage of Australia’s landmass, the agriculture industry has a lot to gain from a sector-wide reduction in emissions.
“Australian farmers are on the frontline of climate change and it is costing them every single day,” Minister Watt said.
“We want producers to access the benefits of becoming more sustainable while remaining productive and profitable.
“A lot of this work has already begun with many farm businesses adapting their business models to reduce their emissions.
“This funding will go towards the continuation of innovative practices, enhanced training, long-term research and on-ground action.
“While we aren’t setting an emissions reduction target for the agriculture industry, it is our responsibility as the government to help the industry contribute to our economy-wide net zero target. This funding will do just that.”
The funding includes:
- $28.7 million from 2024-25 to 2027-28 (and $0.9 million ongoing from 2028) to improve greenhouse gas accounting in the agriculture and land sector at the national through to farm level.
- $30.8 million over 4 years from 2024-25 to 2027-28 to accelerate on-ground action to reduce agriculture and land emissions. This funding will build on the existing Carbon Farming Outreach Program.
- $4.4 million over 10 years for DAFF to become a partner to the Zero Net Emissions Agriculture Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). The CRC, to be established on 1 July 2024, will be a major vehicle for long-term research into emission reductions from Australian agriculture.
Source: NFF, Federal Government
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