SALEYARDS can play a commercial role in the red meat industry’s push to become carbon neutral the National Saleyards Expo in Casino has been told.
Meat and Livestock Australia carbon project manager Charlie Hawkins said saleyards had the potential to be the certified aggregators of data. The data could be analysed to determine the increases in live weight gains being achieved as a result of improved on-farm practices.
Those certified improvements were able to be converted into carbon credits, which could be sold on to other businesses needing carbon credits to offset their own emissions, he said.
“The drive for carbon neutrality is really about best management practice and efficiency,” Mr Hawkins said.
“Accredited saleyards could play an important role aggregating the data on liveweight gains and measuring the reduction in emissions.”
Mr Hawkins said saleyards could expect about $2/head/year for the life of the seven year herd management project.
An example was Paraway Pastoral Company, which had generated about 50,000 carbon credits in the past three years as a result of improved and measured live weight gains. Those carbon credits were worth about $10 each, he said.
The drive for carbon neutrality is really about best management practice and efficiency.
- Charlie Hawkins, MLA
“Genetics, and generally improving live weight gains cause green house gas emissions to go down,” Mr Hawkins said.
“There is good research to suggest supplements are increasing production and at the same time reducing emissions.
“So why not invest in technologies that increase productivity and have an outcome of reducing greenhouse gases.”
Mr Hawkins said the beef industry was well placed to be carbon neutral by 2030.
However, the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory needed to be ‘tidied up’ to record all of the soil carbon and stored carbon in landscape features such as narrow tree shelter belts, he said.
“Once we’ve done a much better clean up of the inventory we might be in a better position to meet out 2030 targets than we thought,” he said.