SOIL carbon will be the focus of tomorrow’s BeefConnect and Carbon Neutral Grazier Network webinar, with experts looking at the potential opportunities in northern grazing systems.

Over recent years, there has been a huge growth in interest in the potential for soil carbon sequestration in agricultural lands, and the opportunities this may offer land managers for earning carbon credits.

However, in contrast to wide agreement on the value of soil organic matter for soil health and productivity, there are very divergent views on the potential for sequestration – increasing the amount of carbon stored permanently (for at least 100 years) for climate change mitigation – creating uncertainty for policy and for land management.

While interest is now high, relatively few studies have been conducted, especially long-term trials, to understand the impacts of climate, soil, and management factors on carbon cycling in the extensive and spatially variable landscapes of northern Australia. A review of research and on-ground trials with soil carbon data relevant to northern grazing lands was undertaken to evaluate the evidence for soil carbon sequestration through adoption of new management strategies.

This webinar looks at what the review and analysis found on soil carbon sequestration opportunities for producers and where gaps in knowledge remain a barrier to participation in carbon credit schemes such as the Emissions Reduction Fund with guest speaker, Beverley Henry, Adjunct Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology.

There are currently 289 soil carbon projects registered under Australia’s Emissions reduction scheme; 73 percent of which were registered in 2022 following the previous federal governments $54.4m commitment to support farmers and land managers to access low-cost soil sampling and certified testing in exchange for sharing their data under the Pilot Soil Monitoring and Incentives Program.

Of the 45 projects that were registered early enough to have been issued Australian Carbon Credit Units, only one Victorian project has been awarded credits.

• For more information head to the FutureBeef calendar

* Beef Connect is a collaboration between FutureBeef and Beef Central