Research
Dairy Specific
As the major greenhouse gases from dairy farms are methane and nitrous oxide, on-farm research is strongly focused on ways to reduce these gases. This is general research into the emissions processes, emissions reduction options and emissions measurement techniques because the emissions reduction scheme that will be applied to agriculture is not yet clear. Specific programs with Dairy Australia investment include:
• RELRP (Reducing Emissions from Ruminant Livestock). This program was initiated by DAFF as part of the national Climate Change Research Program and focuses on methane reduction for all grazing industries. It is coordinated by Meat and Livestock Australia. A fact sheet on the RELRP program is available.
• NORP (Nitrous Oxide Research Program). This program was initiated by DAFF as part of the national Climate Change Research Program and focuses on reducing nitrous oxide from both cropping and grazing industries. It is coordinated by the Grain Research and Development Corporation. A fact sheet on the NORP program is available.
• MAADI (Mitigation and Adaptation in the Australian Dairy Industry). This program was initiated by DAFF as part of the national Climate Change Research Program and focuses on both demonstrating currently ‘farm ready’ options, as well as developing and testing the next generation of options that are nearly farm ready. It is coordinated by Dairy Australia and delivered into the 8 dairy regions under the title of “Future Ready Dairy Systems”. The individual regional sections of this climate toolkit contain a lot of information about/from the FRDS program.
Individual farmers can estimate their emissions using the DGAS calculator.
General
The Australian Government plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in Australia – 5% by 2020 and 60% by 2050. Reducing emissions from agriculture is problematic because on-farm measurement is not currently possible, estimation is problematic, and it is expected that food production will need to double by 2050.
The US, Canada, Japan and the EU have decided not to include agriculture in their ETS’s and will not be applying a cap and trade scheme to agriculture in the immediate future.
New Zealand has included farm emission, but based on estimates, and with the dairy factory as the point of obligation.
Therefore, there are currently no signals or plans to put a price on the emissions from Australian dairy farms. However, if climates continue to change as the scientists predict, then pressure will be applied to farms to reduce emissions and the dairy industry is investing in R&D for that eventuality.
In the interim, the Government has introduced the Carbon Farming Initiative – a voluntary scheme to give farmers, foresters and land managers access to domestic and international carbon markets and therefore provide some incentives to reduce emissions or to sequester carbon.