The process of carbon sequestration has been the mainstay of one Adelaide company, which has succeeded in supporting two Goulburn Valley farmers who have earned carbon credits on their grain cropping land.
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LawrieCo was established in 1999 and is a foundation member of the Soil Carbon Industry Group, a leading organisation dedicated to accelerating the development of soil carbon farming.
LawrieCo CEO and carbon strategist Mat Denton said each farmer’s journey — such as that of Luke Felmingham and his father Ken — was going to be different.
“After establishing a baseline of carbon content, satellite imaging is then used to check for lead indicators which means in effect how the plants are growing,” Mr Denton said.
“This will then lead to soil testing by the clean energy regulators; I like to say that they are like the ATO as they audit and ratify what needs being done by the farmer.”
The regulators then conduct a ‘T1’ test in which one-metre core samples are taken on the property.
Mr Denton said the carbon value on Luke Felmingham’s land from that test was “astronomical”.
“We had to go back again to check it and then re-submitted it to the regulators.
“Then they go through the process of inspecting Luke’s practices and the property and then they interview him too; we are very hands on with all of that.”
Mr Denton said the initial purpose of LawrieCo was to use soil carbon as a means of maintaining and measuring soil health and that the company was a pioneer in the field.
“So the DNA of our business all this time has been building soil carbon.
“Luke is the first grain cropper to do this; his father is now just the second one, and there are six others on the way.”
LawrieCo has long lobbied the government for recognising soil carbon sequestering and setting up the method of it.
“Our priority is also the continuity of the program.”
Mr Denton said carbon sequestering was a win-win-win as it benefited the climate, increased soil health which then had a direct correlation with productivity and producing higher quality food.
“It’s not only productivity: improved mineral composition of the soil means the food product itself is healthier.
“People then having an income from ACCUs is the fourth win.
“I think this is the biggest disruptive initiative in agriculture.”
Mr Denton said caution was needed in approaching the agriculture industry with new farming methods and products, and said lucrative opportunities for investors was not a priority.
He also said the company’s suite of products were not ‘snake oil’.
“We have what we call the six action steps, and a farmer does not necessarily use all of our products.
“I liken it to a Rubik’s cube where one side of the puzzle can be balanced out — or solved — but the others may not and yet you need to balance them without disrupting the completed sides.
“We take a very structured approach to what I call ‘crawl, walk, run’.
“Once you're happy with that we start adding to it.”
The Felminghams’ success also required the involvement of Albury-based project developer AgriProve, the country’s largest carbon auditing company, which manages all legislative compliance and contracts for selling carbon credits, tailoring each project to the needs of the individual farm.
Mr Denton said farmers were using the two companies to undertake the soil projects and that AgriProve’s computing platforms were now superseding government-provided carbon calculators.
“(AgriProve’s) platforms have 22,000 data points on their maps, so farmers can look up their farm’s location.
“AgriProve is one of the only company’s which does this and as AI gets that more accurate, it's going to be a cracker.”
Mr Denton’s motto is ‘taking carbon farming from theoretical to actual’.
“We knew we could do it but with credits now in the bank we can say ‘yes we can actually do it’,” he said.
“There is nothing more exciting in my world than this all making sense; it really makes sense.”
Luke’s advice for starters
According to Luke Felmingham, there are ‘plenty’ of producers practising good soil health, but in general there are three types of farmers.
“There’s the naysayers, then there’s those sitting on their hands — not knowing whether to go left or right — and there’s the die-hard carbon people,” Luke said.
“I’m new to the game but have been able to achieve a ridiculously good result without much effort.”
Luke said partnering with the two support companies allowed for making changes with compliance without affecting the final result.
“The government has been very rigid in their thinking, so the partners really liaise with them.”
Luke said international interest in investment was “huge”.
“I hosted some European investors, who invest purely in carbon.
“We’re talking big money.”
Luke also highlighted the advantage that carbon farming had for his produce.
“The accreditation will help me market my hay, lamb and grains; that’s the other benefit than just selling carbon on the market.
“Yes, it is in its infancy and yes, we will see some changes.
“But just like the water trading, we simply have to embrace it.”
Country News journalist