A report from Farmers for Climate Action released last week showed farmers want to be greener in their operations but don’t know how or where to start when it comes to lowering carbon emissions on their farms.

In Queensland, farmers will now have a 10 year low emissions roadmap to follow, a document released in Rockhampton on Tuesday (March 21) by Agriculture Minister Mark Furner and supported by peak farm bodies AgForce and Queensland Farmers Federation.

The leaders of both organisations hope the plan will bring clarity and guidance to Queensland agriculture’s carbon-fighting efforts, particularly as pressure mounts on livestock producers to control methane emissions from their stock and for farmers to use fertiliser and water more efficiently and to use more renewable energy.

The release of the plan came on the same day that leading scientists from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released their strongest warning yet that the world will pass catastrophic warming of more than 1.5 degrees within 10 years without massive and coordinated human intervention to bring carbon emissions under control.

The report notes that global emissions of carbon dioxide hit a record high last year despite growth in green technology and greater uptake of renewable energy and low emission innovations such as electric-powered vehicles.

The plan for Queensland farmers has a concerted ‘research and development’ focus for the first five years of the strategy’s time frame, such as:

• Industry-led research into methane reduction stock feeds for livestock.
• Industry-led support for development of green fertiliser options.
• Exploring opportunities to promote on-farm use of renewable energy.
• Industry-led development of an information portal to educate producers on carbon farming options.

The outcomes of the R&D phase will then be reviewed to map out “preferred futures” for the remainder of the project.

Furner said farmers who implemented plans to lower greenhouse gas emissions now would have fewer transition costs and disruption to their business than those who delayed and found themselves urgently responding to market forces.

He said the aim was to provide a “structured, smooth transition, while minimising dramatic changes”.

“Now is the time to take action – adopt the roadmap’s strategies and yield the benefits of secure long-term economic and social prosperity,” he said.

“But this is not a set and forget approach—we will keep refining the roadmap as over time we develop even more emissions reductions solutions.”

AgForce CEO Mike Guerin said Queensland farmers recognised the importance of adopting new practices and technologies to ensure the long-term sustainability of their industry.

“As proud and responsible contributors to the state’s economy, we recognise the importance of supporting the roadmap and doing what we can to lower emissions to promote long-term sustainability,” he said.

Queensland Farmers’ Federation CEO Jo Sheppard said the roadmap would cut through the noise of an “increasingly crowded marketplace”.

“A strong agriculture sector is important to us all and we need to make sure that farmers are supported to achieve environmental outcomes whilst still being able to do what they do best in producing the world’s best food, fibre and foliage,” she said.

“It is so important that government works closely with industry to achieve our ultimate goals of a viable, sustainable agriculture sector, sound environmental outcomes and stronger regional communities.”