Basic regenerative agriculture, involving rotational grazing to allow rested paddocks has shown that in a year like this one, farmers who adopt such measures can take better advantage of opportunity.
At a recent virtual conference hosted by the Grassland Society of Southern Australia, Wilmot Cattle Company general manager Stuart Austin gave examples of data driven change at his company's properties on the New England.
At Wilmot, Mr Austin used a data management program called Maia Grazing, which was developed on the company's Hernani property, with number of cattle and days on grass tightly monitored and movements planned.
Paddocks are rested for an average 45 to 60 days and up to 90 days in winter. After fires in September trade cattle were sold off the Hernani property along with valued Angus breeders at Woodburn near Walcha. It was a hard decision but a necessary one. Within four months it paid dividends.
"By February we were back in business," Mr Austin said. "And 2020 has proven to be our most profitable year."
Key to the program is matching stocking rates to carrying capacity with that ratio monitored every day.
Grasses are allowed to be diverse, including forbes and herbs. To boost carbon in the soil and to provide protection the company has planted 22,000 trees including 50 different species.
By monitoring soil carbon levels across all three farms, with samples taken from the same location at the same time very year, it can be shown that carbon was not lost after the fires. The Hernani property had half its paddocks burnt in September and in May, when testing was done again, levels held at five per cent. The farm has an historical high of 6pc and that is Wilmot's target. At their Walcha property the aim is to bring levels to 3pc while the degraded country north of Gunnedah, formerly cropped, is expected to show swiftly increasing levels as the farm is transitioned to rotational grazing.
"The response has been tremendous at Walcha," he said. "We are simply maintaining ecological health and ground cover.
Another aspect of carbon farming, beyond the production increase, is the ability to tap into Australian Carbon Credit Units, which are traded as shares. Mr Austin expects a $200,000 investment in base line sampling, combined with on going monitoring, will yield five-fold within 10 years with soil carbon rising to 6pc, at an ACCU price of $15 to $16.
Future options
Professor Richard Eckard, from the University of Melbourne's Primary Industries Climate Challenge Centre, also addressed the online conference and said farmers will have to minimise their greenhouse gas emissions, along with other industries and governments. Farming in a way that grows carbon, to offset emissions from livestock and fossil fertilisers, will go a long way to achieving neutrality.
There is a lot to work with. Compared to nitrogen which presents at 3.3pc of pasture, carbon accounts for 43 - 48pc. In the standing animal there is 23pc.
Methane production by livestock is directly related to dry matter intake, with poorer pastures producing less CH4 while rich dairy country produces the most.
Supplements of grape marc and tannins can reduce methane burps. New Zealand is working on a vaccine.
Prof Eckard reminded growers that carbon levels will plateau over time. "So management must be maintained over time," he said.
Legumes must be adopted to contribute nitrogen and trees must be planted to add more soil carbon at depth.
"Tree are not to be thought of as monetary," he said. "Trees on the farm are not for income. They are for increasing soil carbon.
He said sandy soil under crop could be assumed to carry 1pc carbon while perennial pasture over clay soil in a high rainfall environment might yield 5-6pc. A drainage ditch growing kikuyu in the subtropics recorded 6-8pc.
The greatest gains, he reminded growers, can be made reverting long term cropping country into pasture.
