Now available online – Workshop: What Can Farmers Do? Farmer-led, science-based greenhouse gas mitigation strategies for Australia and abroad
March 25, 2021
We are pleased to provide the recording of the recent hybrid event, What Can Farmers Do? Farmer-led, science-based greenhouse gas mitigation strategies for Australia and abroad, held on 23 March from 2.00-5.30pm.
Momentum is gathering around climate change action in Australia and around the world. This was certainly evident from the interest in this event, which attracted an online audience of around 400 from 25 overseas countries and from all over Australia, as well as key stakeholders involved in climate and agriculture policy and R&D.
The Crawford Fund and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) recently hosted the workshop to highlight what farmers are doing to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. These innovative practices are making a difference and provide strategies that could be implemented across Australia and around the world.
The workshop coincided with the Council meeting of the Global Research Alliance (GRA) on Greenhouse Gases in Agriculture, which was chaired by Australia represented by ACIAR. Activities of the GRA are increasingly relevant to both global and national priorities as more importance is placed on global food security and the resilience of agricultural systems.
This event was also one of Australia’s first Independent Dialogue as part of the lead up to the UN Food Systems Summit, so it will contribute directly to the Summit’s ambitious vision and objectives in the Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. We will be reporting back on the key findings to inform the Summit process, and we will make this report publicly available.
We would like to thank our eminent panel of Australia’s leading farming, and scientific minds in this area for driving this dialogue and sharing their agricultural and land management strategies contributing to reducing greenhouse gas emissions nationally and internationally.
Examples of which technologies and practices work at the farmer field scale and the current scientific challenges and opportunities for greenhouse gas abatement in animal and cropping systems will provide exciting insights into the future direction in this emerging and essential future direction for global agriculture.
Media releases relating to the event for radio and general release received coverage in Beef Central, Grain Central, National Commercial Rural News, The Wire (at 18m59s) and on ABC Country Hour (at 14M46S-25M49S).
Links to PowerPoint presentations are linked with speakers’ names below and results from the online polls are also available.
(bottom) Terry McCosker, Richard Eckard, Maartje Sevenster, Jamie Isbister, Colin Chartres and Daniel Walker.
Setting the scene
The Hon. John Anderson, Chair, The Crawford Fund
Welcome
Fiona Simson, Chair, Commission for International Agricultural Research and President, National Farmers Federation
How can the Australian farm sector contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions at home and abroad?
Andrew Campbell, CEO, ACIAR
The goals of the Global Research Alliance on Agricultural Greenhouse Gases and Australia’s contribution
The view from the farm
Lucinda Corrigan, Director, Rennylea Pastoral Company
Key issues facing farmers in reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Mark Wootton, Owner, Jigsaw Farms
Integrating forestry, carbon and indigenous plantings with high-productivity grazing on a large scale
Terry McCosker, Director and Co-Founder, Resource Consulting Services
Strategies and incentives for carbon sequestration in cropping and pastoral systems
What is R&D telling us?
Richard Eckard, Director, Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre, The University of Melbourne
Scientific challenges facing agricultural greenhouse gas mitigation in livestock systems
Maartje Sevenster, Senior Research Scientist, Climate Smart Agriculture, CSIRO
Scientific challenges facing agricultural greenhouse gas mitigation in cropping systems
The international perspective
Jamie Isbister, Ambassador for the Environment, DFAT
Meeting potential carbon neutrality: Australian agriculture’s role in an international context
Colin Chartres, CEO Crawford Fund
Q&A with all speakers
Daniel Walker, Chief Scientist, ACIAR
Summing up and vote of thanks
