They look like any other cattle strolling through a grassy paddock in Queensland, but beneath their hooves the soil is doing more than producing feed. It is helping to fight climate change.
Key points:
- Bonnie Doone Beef has been awarded 94,666 Australia Carbon Credit Units
- It is a record number for an individual soil carbon farming project
- For every tonne of livestock they carry, they bury 6.6t of carbon after accounting for all emissions
At Bonnie Doone Beef, 500 kilometres north of Brisbane, Carly and Grant Burnham have been working for nearly a decade to change how they farm to improve their soil and their sustainability.
Despite dry years, bushfires and disease attacking their pasture, their efforts to sequester carbon have paid off, generating a record number of Australian Carbon Credit Units (ACCUs) for an individual soil carbon farming project.
At a time when the meat industry is reassessing its carbon goals, the couple hopes the 94,666 units, worth about $2.8 million, will help consumers understand how agriculture can be a part of the climate solution.
Change for next generation
The sandy dirt road to the Bonnie Doone homestead is lined by gum trees.
Organic free-range cattle graze in nearby paddocks, with views of the North Burnett region’s prime farming land stretching all the way to the horizon.
For five generations the Burnham family has raised livestock here, but in 2016 Mr Burnham knew he had to make a change if the next generation was going to succeed.
“There was a lot of talk about how to measure soil carbon. It was still pie-in-the-sky stuff back then,” he said.
He wanted a more resilient operation, which meant understanding more about the grasses and the soil that supported them.
“We were cattle producers for years leading up to this point,” Mr Burnham said.
“When we really looked deeper … it’s about being a grass producer more than a cattle producer.”
They became involved in a research project to measure the carbon in their soil across 5,275 hectares, sampling and testing over a five-year period.
“During the first five years of our project we experienced three very dry years,” Ms Burnham said.
“We were concerned this would have a negative impact on the soil carbon sequestration.”
She need not have worried.
Years of reducing paddock sizes, shortening how long the cattle were in them, lifting the number of water points to reduce cattle walking and soil compaction, and some technology, proved its worth.
They stored 126,222 tonnes of carbon during the reporting period.
“If you remain focused on ecology and production, soil carbon comes as a result,” Ms Burnham said.
Record result
At a time when some producers are calling for a rethink of the meat industry’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2030, the Burnhams have gone further. Their cattle are carbon negative, according to carbon accounting measures.
For every tonne of livestock they carry, 6.6 tonnes of carbon is buried in their soil, after accounting for all emissions.
The work, which has been audited, has resulted in the largest allocation of ACCUs for an individual soil carbon farming project in Australia.
The couple partnered with CarbonLink for the project, which has developed more than 95 per cent of the soil carbon credits issued in Australia to date.
Chairman Terry McCosker said there were strict controls on how increases in soil carbon were measured to generate the ACCUs.
“It is proof that landowners who are committed to a tangible improvement in soil health can generate a diversified income stream while contributing to a healthier planet,” Dr McCosker said.
The Clean Energy Regulator confirmed the Bonnie Doon allocation was the single largest issuance to a soil carbon project.
There are seven on the current public register.
For Mr Burnham, it was never about seeking extra income, but instead finding a way to show just how powerful a tool farming could be for environmental improvement.
“I think we’re in a really blessed position to be food producers and land custodians,” he said.
“I just love the opportunity to be connected to the consumer.
“The decisions that they’re making at the shop or online, or however they purchase their beef or produce, is actually helping make a difference to our environment.”
