LOOKING through the program for next month’s Beef 2024 in Rockhampton, it is clear carbon is going to be one of the main themes of the event.

With many different perspectives on the growing and changing side of the industry, Beef Central/AgCarbon Central has found some of the names to keep an eye on.

Terry McCosker

Well-known for his grazing consultancy business RCS, Terry McCocsker has expanded into the carbon market in recent years – starting a new company Carbon Link.

Dr McCosker has long advocated for greater recognition of the ability of grazing practices to build carbon in soils.

Working with producers who shared a similar vision, Dr McCosker started measuring soil carbon long before an Australian crediting system was in place.

He founded in Carbon Link in 2007, which last year facilitated the first large-scale issuances of soil carbon credits in the Australian system. The company has measured soil carbon over 200,000ha of land.

Dr McCosker is constantly looking for new data to communicate the benefits of the grazing management needed to build soil carbon – he has recently parallels between soil carbon and water holding capacity.

He will be presenting at the Tech Talks program on Thursday morning.

Alasdair Macleod

Former NewsCorp executive Alasdair Macleod has become one of the largest investors in Australia’s livestock industry – with a focus on environmental markets and technology.

Mr Macleod is the chair of the MacDoch Group and Wilmot Cattle Company, which broke new ground in 2019 with the sale of soil carbon credits to Microsoft using an American scheme.

While the Microsoft deal was small in comparison to the Carbon Link issuances last year, it started a lot of conversations about the potential for a soil carbon industry.

Wilmot has since started more soil carbon projects using the Australian methodology and the MacDoch Group has started up its own soil carbon company called Atlas Carbon.

Mr Macleod has been urging the industry to look “beyond carbon neutral” as he believes the grazing land can sequester more carbon than it emits.

He also talks about the potential of other environmental markets producers may be able to tap into.

Mr Macleod will be appearing on the Wednesday seminar line up with Marg Will, who leads an organic certification body. With years of expertise in marketing claims, Ms Will has also been vocal about the need for Australian producers to measure their carbon footprint.

John Gilliland

Looking overseas and John Gilliland is a well-known and respected leader of the Irish agricultural industry.

His farm in Ireland has had an independent verification to claim it is “beyond net zero”.

Dr Gilliland is a former president of the Ulster Farmers Union and is a former director of a 6000-year-old farm in Ireland called Devenish Lands.

His work at Devenish Lands challenged some of the international perspectives on soil carbon and he has often spoken about being jealous of the Australian soil carbon system.

The Irish beef industry is also at an interesting time, with the Government planning to make big cuts to methane emissions, which has resulted in protests. Dr Gilliland has been calling for the Government to recognise the industry’s ability to sequester carbon.

He will be talking on Tuesday morning at a Woolworths-held event to hosted by Greenstock managing director Anna Speer.

Scientists lining up

With carbon becoming a popular field of study, many scientists are lined up to present to the Rockhampton crowd.

University of Melbourne professor Richard Eckard has played a major role in the development of carbon accounting systems for Australian farms. Recently, he has been raising concerns about Australia’s soil carbon industry, calling for more transparency.

Integrity Ag & Environment managing director Stephen Wiedemann will also be making several presentation throughout the week – talking about greenwashing and deforestation. Integrity Ag has worked with many supply chains to meet carbon targets and take on farm baselines.

Well-known researcher and Queensland University of Technology adjunct professor Beverly Henry will be giving a look into her work studying soil carbon in the north.

One the Wednesday, the newly formed net zero emissions in agriculture CRC will be holding a seminar with some of its main proponents – including University of Queensland professors Ben Hayes and CEO Richard Heath.

Bert Glover

Armidale-based asset management company Impact Ag Partners says it has generated $1m in soil carbon credit revenue and played a major role in the Microsoft soil carbon deal.

The company’s managing director and founder Bert Glover has been working to build business in the United States, including Rupert Murdoch’s US$200m ranch in Montana. The operations have unique environmental pressures, managing landscapes similar to the hit television show Yellowstone.

Impact Ag has been targeting “natural capital” markets and has been working on decarbonisation strategies with properties in the US.

Bert will be talking in the Tech Talks on Wednesday with Zach Jones, who works for the company and is a fifth generation Montana rancher.

Other speakers to look for

On one side the Tech Talks program will hear from some of the carbon industry’s well-known operators including Precision Pastures, Greencollar, Upscale Carbon, Ruminati, Atlas Carbon and Carbon Link.

Agrimix CEO Ben Sawley will be presenting on Wednesday about the use of flux towers to measure carbon going in and out of the soil.

Meat & Livestock Australia will also have a strong presence at the event with CN30 project manager Julia Waite speaking at multiple sessions.

On the sustainability front Cattle Australia will be launching its deforestation definition in the Australian context and the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework will be providing an update on how the industry is going meeting its targets.