For those of us who believe looking after the planet is bigger than politics, we need to think of life post-election. So, what do we have?

If Labour wins (and stranger things have happened), we get 'business as usual' - The CFI, and a mandatory market, but with prices linked to the EU post 2015 - which, by all accounts probably means low prices! We also get a market STILL run by Government - and since when do Governments run a market well? 

If the Coalition wins we get the CFI, plus 'CDM type' projects - which is to say energy efficiency methodologies - in an effort to gain 'lowest cost' abatement. Soil is still in their 'direct action' plan, but has to compete with others. It is 'assumed' soil may well NOT be lowest cost (due to delays in getting going and bringing forth innovation I would suggest!) 

Either way, we get a mandatory market at low prices - high volumes AND/ OR a market dominated by ONE player - the Government - after low prices.

However - strangely enough, they both need to reach the 5% by 2020 target, which is quite a lot of carbon. Therefore one can safely assume there is a market.

As one who entered this space with a deep belief that we need to make changes to the way we consume energy and to the improvements of our 'farm scape' , as well as continue to grow economically and socially, then I'm wondering:

• Can we make a market without 'Government' How do we transition from this phase of 'Government forcing us to do something to a population which wishes to make changes and therefore change happens? 
• Is this happening anywhere in the world? 

If so, what is the 'business case'?

• The cost of the extreme weather events is already mounting, here and overseas. This is why Governments are worried. China is worried! They will 'mandate' things as we move forward and it is likely they will impose tarriffs on countries who are not doing something. 
• Most people have children and grandchildren and wish for our most beautiful planet to remain so. After all, 'good planets are hard to find' and even if there is a small chance climate change is real, if we give them a Good Value, easy to implement reason for adding $25 a week to their budgets to ensure it does, I have no doubts they will do so. (how much does a steak cost in Sydney, for example?)
• Business understands they need a stable atmosphere to maintain business and they have a duty of care to stakeholders and others. Responsible business such as Transforce Buik Haulage in Dubbo NSW stands ready to support farmers in their bid to improve their soils and help them 'clean up after themselves'

So, I'm dreaming of a real market, one where normal business drivers exist, where jobs are created and profits earnt, where our soils are simultaneously resorted, our air cleaned and our children protected. Where our energy efficiency improves, we learn to use our waste profitably again and Government is not front and centre!

Can we do it? Yes we can!

The Two Markets

In this week's webinar 'The Two Markets' we will be exploring some of what is happening here and overseas and 'envisioning' a market we'd like to live in. Our webinars are for innovators - We go beyond just 'explain the CFI', we give clues to potential futures, we open up your mind. We have over 25 years of Marketing and Business experience which we have focussed in this area. Come, pick our brains and be inspired about the future!

Whats happening with the CFI this week?

Confidence in the Carbon Markets has been shown by the Landfill Gas Recovery and Intensive Pig Industry.

Since the first piggery 'CO2 from methane' digester project was started in the Young District, there are now four others up and in the running for Carbon Credits. Two declared and two more coming. Add this to the fact that there are no fewer than 20 capture and combustion of methane in landfill gas from legacy waste projects, shows that people will invest to enter this market. See the full list here.

Meanwhile Broadacre farmers and the soils wait... 

Go forth and plant trees, my son! (sayeth the Department). Begs the question yet again - is the CFI just an intensive industry/waste industry initiative? There have been millions spent on soil carbon research - and our need to change soil management is immediate. We have been given assurances that things are moving fast...

Webinars

Carbon Farming is here to stay - both sides of politics are committed (YAY!). Coalition is promising a soil carbon methodology within the CFI - with a 25 year option, but low on details at this point. 

Don't forget to register for upcoming webinars to make sure you are ready to take decisions! We take the pain out of the language and point the way to the future. 

Soil Carbon "Action on the Ground" 

The VCS guys are off and running. Their 'learnings' will help us all. Click here to view the VCS soil carbon meth in action!

ALSO from overseas - more soil carbon measurement protocols being developed. Who said nothing is happening overseas? Click here for more information!

Check out our new Resources section

Because we are educators at our core we like to share our wealth of information. We have an academic and business background and have researched widely. These resources are a great way to understand the what/where/how of Carbon Farming, the CFI, and other matters. Plus, many of them are FREE.

We've been working hard on the 'methodology' area as well, to enable 'the common man' to be able to participate in this 
area. Michael has written a fantastic guide which is available in the online shop - it's a great guide to staying sane through the process!

Miscellaneous great links and stories from home and abroad! 

• Want the facts and only the facts on recent heat wave, duration, highest temps? Click here to read the Bureau of Meteorology's climate statement. Sobering reading if you ask me. 
• Discussion around climate change and doing something may be changing in the USA as people come to grips with the increased cost associated with the ferocity of surges, storms and other nasties - click here to read.
• Measuring, mapping, and understanding water risks around the globe! Very authoritative. Click here to read.

I remain your humble carbon servant. I can be reached on 02 6374 0329, or email louisa@carbonfarmersofaustralia.com.au.

An 'extremophile' is an organism that can live under extreme environmental conditions that most life forms would be unable to tolerate*. WOW, just like they have now got new 'temperature' colours on maps so we can show temps of over 50 degrees! Who knows what 'adaptation' traits, language and new measurements we may have to come up with! Hold onto your hats!

Question: What is the global warming potential of nitrous oxide ? How do you make money from it? 
Answer: Find out at the first webinar "An Introduction to Carbon Farming and Trading"

Voluntary and Mandatory Markets

The discussion about the 'two markets' is heating up as Australian politics makes it unclear as to wether or not we'll have a mandatory market if the coalition wins (ie they scrap the carbon price). My view is that the Carbon Market is here to stay, and is a great vehicle for farmers to assist in the climate change mitigation. So our focus is on the long term, on making a market of the type that can become part of an enterprise mix for farmers, and be out of the reach of politics!

For a report on the role of the Voluntary Markets, see V Carbon News.

To make sure you are across all these issues, attend our upcoming Seminar "The Two Markets".

Soil Carbon News

Guess what!? There IS an approved Soil Carbon Methodology - Its just not a 'Carbon Farming Initiative' one. 

This one is by the Voluntary Carbon Standard - a Standard APPROVED for use in Australia for projects. So, these guys have solved the issues our scientists and others have been struggling with. ALSO, they are keen to work in Australia. Still early days, but in our unwavering pursuit of unlocking the soil's potential, we will be diligently persuing this as well!

From around the world

• Maybe we could be sustainable at 9 billion if we lived this way - Great walk around a New York apartment.
• ‘Climate Change is here’ How companies are preparing for it. Some excellent resources here on the corporate side of things showing that we really, really need to change now. 
• Dolphin Rescue, gives me a happy feeling.

Three weeks to go to the first Webinar - Don't forget to register, numbers are limited!

We leave you now with this pearl of wisdom: "Men Argue, Nature Acts" - Voltaire. 

Yours, as ever - humble carbon servant. I can be reached on 02 6374 0329, or email louisa@carbonfarmersofaustralia.com.au.

* Reported in Workman Publishing 2013, and included in Gary Reynolds 'quick tips' newsletter

Back on the job! Sorry for absence over the last few weeks although may have caught up with many of you on the old 'social media' - call it 'post conference' exhaustion! Having cleared the first few piles of material however, the sheer weight and interest of what is going on pulls me back again to spread the word. 

Announcing the Website Revolution!

Many moons ago, we dreamed up a megasite - in fact a 'webtropolis' and it is now live! We'll have much more general information for you, as well as many ways of moving forward with your carbon farming and even energy efficiency goals and aspirations. We'll have places where you can let us know what you are thinking, and a place for innovations as well. We'll be working hard over the break to develop it further!

New Training Announced

Yes, we are entering the 'digital age' like never before! We've figured out the technology and we will be holding our very first Webinars in early February - Check back for dates as I'll be beavering away getting the materials ready.

Soil Carbon... on and on and on

Meanwhile, in the face of continued 'discussion' between science and practice on what can be done in soils, Michael has uncovered the 'theory of the outliers' and managed to have a chat to Dr Jeff Baldock about these 'unexplained' results. We've identified with Dr Jeff Baldock of CSIRO that our carbon cockies and indeed the 19 wonderful farmers in the Major General Jeffries program and others could well be the 'outliers'. That is those who have shown that they CAN do more, store more and keep more than is commonly understood.

We hope to put a research project application in around these areas, using the 'Good Doctor Baldock' and our fabulous Carbon Farmers. Stay tuned!

Elephants in the room

1. Is the CFI an 'intensive industry' only space? 

As well known advocates of soil carbon and broadacre farming in the 'carbon farming' space, we pose the question: Is the CFI destined to be for Councils, those who burn savannah and intensive industry only? While I am very grateful for the 'Environmental Plantings' Meth - and this is the first one which can be undertaken by a broadacre farmer - Where is soil carbon and nitrous oxide reduction from altered fertiliser use? 

Nowhere on the Government site can you see what is happening within the bowels of the 'soil carbon working group' or the nitrous oxide side - I have suggested more transparency to the Department, so hopefully it's not a sin to be able to be informed on such things.

2. The mystery of the 'meth'. 

While there are many and various 'Grant Applications' open, of which we are part of a few (stay tuned), and which will result in many great training opportunities, we remain prisoners of the difficulty of 'methodology interpretation'. Have a look at an approved one on the Government site. 

The problem is, they are highly technical, and difficult to read (Greek, we say!). Without a 'Plain English' version of each, how is a well informed landholder going to be able to decide which one is best for them? No use educating everyone on a process that once it gets to the point of project implementation falters on this difficulty? Let me work on that one!

Conference Wrap-up

Well, did we raise the profile of what farmers can do in this space? Did we deliver it in Plain English, and did we show the step by step guide? Yes we did. Is it still complicated, and long winded and New?Yes it is. 

This is a 'journey' and a process new to all. Its complex because you are selling information - But consider this - This is the ONLY thing you can sell, where you get to keep the product - Yes, you will keep the carbon you store, for instance, and the benefits of reductions in nitrous oxide! (Thanks to Peter Richardson of Object Consulting for pointing this out). Conference slides are also available at the Conference program page, and included here for your reference:

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Alistair Handley (2344 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Angus Maurice (13965 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Brian Murphy (4593 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Darryl Paulhus (3113 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Freddy Sharpe (831 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Jennifer Lauber Patterson (1439 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Kellie Waters (1946 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Mary-Anne Wilson (345 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Mobile Pyrolysis Plant (6951 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Peter McGee (690 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Peter Robertson (633 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Romily Webster (1790 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Shane Joyce (15013 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Tony O'Hara (494 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Virginia Young (1918 KB)

Carbon Farming Conference 2012 - Wayne Sharpe (1387 KB)

We had a terrific line up of Carbon Cockies and Shane and Shan Joyce were thrilled to take out the top honours.

I'd now like to, of course do the Merry Christmas thing - and wish you a calm, peaceful, time - full of as much sleep, grog, sand and water - or whatever it is you need to rest awhile and recharge the batteries! We'll be back early next year - and we are calling 2013 - THE YEAR OF THE SOIL CARBON METHODOLOGY.

Yours, as ever  - humble carbon servant. I can be reached on 02 6374 0329, or email louisa@carbonfarmersofaustralia.com.au.

There is a movement afoot to blame soil carbon for nitrous oxide emissions from soils. You might have read this somewhere recently: “The carbon (organic matter) content of a soil is a major driving factor in the amount of N2O it can emit. Farming systems that produce large amounts of carbon, either as pasture or crop residues, have the potential to emit higher levels of N2O. This is because the carbon provides energy to bacteria that carry out the denitrification process. Preliminary research from the Nitrous Oxide Research Program has found that in some regions retaining crop residues can lead to high N2O emissions.”

Are they recommending to farmers that they stop building carbon rich soils? Are those naughty N people trying to burst soil carbon’s balloon with yet another reason why increasing soil carbon is bad for you? Well, here is another perspective from a group of eminent scientists that includes Prof. Peter Grace from QUT: “To date the vast majority of evidence supports nitrogen input as the most robust and reliable default proxy for calculating N2O emissions.”* So it is the amount of N applied that determines how much N2O emitted.

It wasn’t an increase in soil carbon levels that caused the N2O curve to climb steadily for 40 years, obviously. Soil carbon levels have been falling ever since the first plough bit into the virgin soils of the Great South Land. It was inputs of N that caused the N2O spike, not soil carbon. The fact that reducing application of N is standard advice now in outreach and training programs. American farmers are even now still being encouraged to over-use N fertiliser “with the common practice of producers to apply N fertilizer rates based upon recommendations derived from yield goal calculations known to overestimate crop N needs.”

Yield goal estimates? What are they? “Since the 1970s it has been common practice… for producers to apply rates of N fertilizer based on recommendations derived from yield goal estimates. The agricultural departments of land grant universities and state agricultural organizations have typically endorsed yield-goal N fertilizer rate recommendations. These organizations are the most common source of external information and advice for producers” say Millar et al. The practice of over-prescribing N inputs by advisers was so widespread that the Methodology for reducing N fertilizer use on crops is accepting these levels as a business-as-usual scenario for proving additionality. 

* Millar, N, G.P. Robertson, A. Diamant, R.J. Gehl, P.R. Grace, and J.P. Hoben. 2012. Methodology for Quantifying Nitrous Oxide (N 2 O) Emissions Reductions by Reducing Nitrogen Fertilizer Use on Agricultural Crops. American Carbon Registry, Winrock International, Little Rock, Arkansas This methodology developed by Michigan State University (MSU) with support from the Electric Power Research Institute.

They sound like drugs, but these "Meths" aren't illicit, although they can cause brain-strain. Our Meths (methodology, or recipe for a carbon credits project) are about to change. For example, the compulsory forfeiture of intellectual property in carbon "meths" has finally been identified as a disincentive to involvement in the CFI (Glossary below.) by the DCCEE. It is one of a series of important shifts proposed in the new Draft Guidelines, out for consultation.

Intellectual property is covered in three places: 

1. “You will retain all intellectual property rights in respect of your application, but you must agree to allow it to be copied, used and modified by DCCEE and others for the purpose of the CFI.” 
2. “Acceptable justification would include that the information should not be published if it reveals, or could be capable of revealing: trade secrets; or any other matter having a commercial value that would be, or could reasonably be expected to be, destroyed or diminished if the information were disclosed.” 
3. “If you have applied, or intend to apply for a patent concerning a methodology proposal, you should contact DCCEE before you submit a proposal.”

• Despite dramatic differences in geographic regions, climate, climate change exposure, and recent histories of extreme weather events, the findings from Australia and Great Britain across most risk perception, belief, and concern domains were remarkably similar.
• Belief and acceptance of climate change among respondents was very high, with this acceptance including acknowledgment of some level of human causality for the vast majority of respondents.
• Public concern levels with respect to the threat and perceived impacts of climate change were also very high.

You know what the great thing about this is - not that we have a problem (which was so preventable if we'd just lived within the planets means), but that if we can find the will there is still a great solution.