Farmers and cattle can't carry Australia to net zero 2050

This is the key message from farm leaders in submissions to the federal government on its agriculture and land sectoral plan, one of six plans that will underpin Australia's transition to a net-zero economy.

The other plans cover industry, electricity, transport, resources and the built environment. All will feed into the Net Zero 2050 road map and 2035 emission reduction targets.

Agriculture advocacy groups support an economy-wide aspiration of net zero by 2050 but say it can't rest on the shoulders of farmers.

The National Farmers' Federation submission said agriculture must not become the solution to other sector's problems.

"Agriculture will continue to play its part, but we cannot be singled out as the only, or the primary, solution to this complex problem," NFF chief executive officer Tony Maher wrote in the submission.

"While technological innovation will continue to support ongoing emissions reduction, food and fibre cannot be produced without emissions."

The NFF, and other producer groups like Cattle Australia and Grain Producers Australia, outlined big achievements already made by agriculture in emissions reduction and said other sectors could learn from what farming has done.

A total of 7.6 million hectares of cattle-producing land has been identified for conservation or protection purposes, and the national red-meat industry has reduced its emissions by 65 per cent since 2005, for example.

Australian beef falls well below the global median for emissions intensity.

"As enteric fermentation from livestock represented 69pc of agricultural emissions in 2023, this is a significant achievement that must be acknowledged and celebrated, and one that demonstrates the sector's steadfast commitment to climate action, often at the individual cost and expense of farmers," the NFF submission said.

NFF and CA argued that unlike fugitive fossil fuel emissions, agricultural emissions were predominantly biological, a natural process and broadly cyclical in nature.

They said methane had a significantly lower atmospheric lifetime of 12 years compared to carbon dioxide which could persist for decades longer.

CA chief executive officer Chris Parker said the single focus on absolute emissions reduction under the current carbon dioxide equivalent accounting frameworks was detrimental for the beef industry.

"Emerging science changes the perception that livestock are large emitters and therefore must be accounted for differently in the future," he said.

CA said the grass-fed industry would become climate neutral, having no additional impact on global temperature rise.

CA went as far as to say the government should refocus on other commodities, both within agriculture and in other sectors of the economy.

Dr Parker said there were significant emissions from other sectors of the economy that were easier to mitigate.

"The singular focus on grass-fed cattle emissions in agriculture is not helpful," he said.

CA pointed to international comparisons on sustainability released by the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences last year which showed that even with the CO2e accounting methodology, Australia's emissions intensities were below average for cattle compared to other major developed producers and exporters countries, and Australia has reduced agricultural emissions more than most other developed countries in the past 30 years.

GPA's submission focused on the need to incentivise farmers and land managers with good policy settings that create strong positive economic signals.

Chief executive Colin Bettles said research by the Grains Research and Development Corporation and CSIRO - the Australian Grains Baseline and Mitigation Assessment report - found that the Australian grains industry was already producing world-leading low emissions intensity grain when compared to other grain producing regions and countries, including the European Union, the United States, Canada, Russia and Ukraine.

"Good policy settings that provide more carrots and less stick will help build on this strong track record in future and capture mutually beneficial opportunities," he said.