Through the environmental sustainability program, MLA invests in research, development and adoption activities that demonstrate industry leadership in the management of land, water, biodiversity, climate variability and emissions reductions. This program also aligns closely with the feedlot program to address greenhouse gas suppressing technologies, animal welfare and wellbeing and manure and effluent management.
Industry has set the ambitious target to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions across its production and processing sectors by 2030 (carbon neutral by 2030 or ‘CN30’). This continues to be a key point of difference for Australian red meat in a competitive global protein market.
The investments required to achieve carbon neutrality are guided by the CN30 Roadmap which navigates the complexity of economic, social and environmental issues, influencing all aspects of the red meat value chain, from animal genetics to feed additives through to meat processing and consumer marketing, universities and other research organisations, private organisations and industry stakeholders.
The CN30 Roadmap sets out the four key work areas representing important challenges industry must address to achieve CN30 and captures the key tools and technologies that industry and enterprises can use.
Outcomes
Measuring soil carbon in grazing systems
An MLA research project has demonstrated that the use of flux towers can generate robust and defensible annualised estimates of ecosystem carbon exchange over large, spatially averaged areas suitable for a carbon accounting environment.
This project is a significant first step in finding solutions to one of the major constraints to demonstrating soil carbon sequestration in grazing lands: the labour intensity and high cost of validating on-ground carbon stock changes.
Researchers tested eddy covariance flux towers capable of monitoring highly sensitive changes in carbon sequestration and emissions at a landscape scale in two paddocks near Goondiwindi, Queensland. Results showed a significant increase in soil carbon at both sites using the towers, though only one site undertook intensive soil coring.
The initial rainfall response at the end of the 2019 drought demonstrated the significant potential for flux towers to help understand changes in soil carbon and provide accurate estimates of changes in the carbon and water cycles that traditional soil sampling cannot determine.
While the relatively high upfront costs of flux towers limit their widespread deployment for direct measurement of every farm, increased mobility of equipment – when combined with process models for upscaling across bioregions – will greatly extend their applicability.
The project determined that more work needs to be done to account for carbon in different pools to enable determination of annualised carbon accounts in net ecosystem exchange of carbon. Above-ground biomass, belowground roots and tree carbon must all be subtracted from the ecosystem to accurately determine soil carbon stocks.
Carbon EDGE
In late 2023 MLA launched Carbon EDGE, a two-day training program providing participants with an understanding of emissions reduction and carbon storage activities relevant to a livestock grazing business. Participants use their own business data and insights to develop a carbon action plan as they learn about the practices and technologies that could reduce their carbon footprint and improve sustainability and productivity. The program focuses on key greenhouse gas (GHG) terminology and concepts and provides participants with in-depth information on practices to reduce and sequester GHG within a livestock grazing business.
Six Carbon EDGE workshops have been delivered across Australia as part of the pilot program, with producers and attendees providing positive feedback on the value of the workshop. Registrations are now open for the revised program, with new dates and workshop locations continually being announced.
Carbon calculators
MLA’s digital carbon calculator has recently extended its capabilities in calculating on-farm net emissions from sheep, beef and mixed enterprises to goat producers and feedlot businesses.
MLA has also developed a planning tool called the Quick Start Carbon Calculator, released as part of the e-learning module, Carbon in Action.
The Quick Start Carbon Calculator has not been built as a replacement for the full calculation, rather to onboard producers to gain an initial understanding of their net emissions. It services as a quick planning tool to map out various scenarios in terms of vegetation and cropping area change, livestock and flock make-up, and different seasonal conditions to see how this may affect their net emissions.
Environmental Credentials Platform
The Environmental Credentials Platform was launched at Beef Australia in May 2024 and allows producers to demonstrate their on-farm sustainable practices to supply chain end users such as processors, retailers or banks.
This tool is the first of its kind, bridging the gap between the sustainability data that markets and supply chain customers are beginning to request and what is currently feasible for producers to provide in a low cost and accessible way.
The launch follows testing of the platform design by more than 50 beef producers and supply chain participants, including rigorous on-farm testing of sustainability credentials across the five core themes of biodiversity, ground cover, tree cover, carbon balance and drought resilience.
The need for a low cost, voluntary and approachable option to collect and collate sustainability data was highlighted as a priority by the group. Integrating satellite imagery technology with self-guided learning modules and self-assessment checklists was also a priority in keeping costs and compliance minimal.
The platform has incorporated the MLA carbon calculators, remote sensing technology, self-guided lessons and self-assessment checklists. The platform will contribute to reporting of sustainability credentials through the Australian Beef and Sheep Sustainability Frameworks to substantiate industry commitment and claims. The end result will provide an environmental credential report of collated sustainability data generated by producers that can be shared at producers’ discretion and revoked at any time, allowing the users’ full control over their data.
MLA will continue to manage and build on the platform, enabling linkages with other tools and technologies that strengthen its environmental credentials, such as Accounting for Nature, the Australian Farm Biodiversity Certification Scheme and AgForce’s AgCarE program and ensuring the platform remains free and accessible to all livestock producers.
The platform launch follows the culmination of four years of research and investment. The project was funded through a grant from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) through the National Landcare Program Smart Farming Partnerships program and involves a collaboration between MLA, the University of Queensland and World Wildlife Fund Australia.
Australian Beef Sustainability Framework (ABSF) and Sheep Sustainability Framework (SSF)
Highlights include:
- Delivery of the second SSF materiality assessment to assess changes in material topics from an internal industry impact and external stakeholder financial dependency perspective.
- Delivery of the second biannual national beef, sheep and wool producer survey into animal husbandry and environmental stewardship practices completed, providing crucial data for indicator reporting.
- ABSF and SSF Annual Updates now reporting in reference to the GRI Standards, specifically the applications of GRI principles, general disclosures, and material topics, as well as GRI 13: Sector Standard for Agriculture, Aquaculture and Fishing and the topics considered to be material by the Australian beef, sheep and wool industry.
- ABSF elected to the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB) Board of Directors for 2024 and 2025.
Key performance data in the 2024 ABSF and SSF Annual Updates include:
- In 2021, the Australian red meat industry reduced its net CO2-e emissions by 78% since 2005.
- Significant increase in livestock prices translated into an increase in the beef and sheepmeat industry’s contribution to Australia’s GDP.
- 57.41% of natural resource management regions are achieving healthy groundcover thresholds, down from 68.52% in 2022 (factors include dry seasons and fire outbreaks).
- 55.07% of cattle producing land is being actively managed for biodiversity outcomes. This equates to 160 million hectares of grazing land and greater than the size of all European Union farms combined.
- The Australian beef industry achieved 100% compliance with antibiotic Maximum Residue Limits for the second consecutive year.
Land management commitment
Cattle Australia is advocating for a land management commitment that will underpin an Australian policy position on deforestation and a national framework for land management practices that reflects Australia’s cattle production system.
The commitment is the result of an industry roundtable in Rockhampton last November, attended by 50 industry leaders from across the supply chain, that came together to broker a national industry response to emerging market regulations and international reporting requirements. MLA has assisted in project administration and oversight which will extend to an international standards and regulatory environment review.
The project seeks to develop an Australian deforestation definition which will validate Australia’s sustainable land management practices, to be communicated to financial institutions, customers, and markets.
Defining deforestation-free supply chains for red meat products
With input from MLA, the Australian Meat Processing Corporation (AMPC) led a research investigation into ‘Defining Deforestation-Free Supply Chains for Red Meat Products’ in response to concerns that international frameworks and corporate policies targeting deforestation-free commitments were becoming increasingly complex and conflicting across diverse regional and country contexts.
The report identified a strong case for demonstrating the sustainability credentials of the Australian red meat industry in respect to forests, highlighting the importance of the interpretation of deforestation, that it must be grounded on local contexts, land use practices and data collection methods.