4.3. Planning for carbon farming

Existing plans can help you start your carbon farming planning process. For example:

• a farmer might have a farm plan that identifies their farm or product objectives and activities to meet those objectives
• a land manager is likely to have some form of land management plan
• a First Nations land manager may have a whole of Country plan or a caring for Country approach that may include carbon farming considerations.

A plan sets the operation’s high-level context. It helps bring long-term vision into quarterly, weekly and daily actions and decisions. It identifies personal and business values, key metrics and risks. It can be considered a living document, evolving continually with use. It might also draw on an audit of natural resources and infrastructure, providing helpful planning information.

If your plan is old or out of date, this is an opportunity to update it. If you haven’t done planning before, preparing one can support your decisions on carbon farming.

A plan is likely to identify the main business objectives (such as profit and productivity) but may also provide insights into the implicit or explicit carbon-related objectives you aim to achieve. For example, your plan may refer to:

• enhancing your sustainability credentials to access new markets or price premiums
• unlocking additional potential sources of income
• increasing soil health and water quality
• restoring your operation’s landscape and environment, including habitat for birds, pollinators and wildlife.

Plans come in many forms. For example, a whole of Country plan developed by Traditional Owners may identify direct and indirect co-benefits for First Nations farmers and land managers. Direct benefits include jobs on Country, independent revenue, getting back to and caring for Country and protecting cultural sites. Indirect benefits may include meeting cultural obligations, strong governance, community cohesion, self-determination, pride in community and healthy Country.

A plan can also identify other helpful information (such as locations for carbon farming activities and the broader catchment management context).

Short courses, including online courses, are available about farm planning. Many of these courses are based on the unit of competency AHCAGB513 - Develop a farm plan from the national Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation and Land Management Training Package.

Once you determine your carbon farming purpose, you can decide what carbon farming opportunities you want to pursue. Topic 2 provides information about carbon farming activities and practices you can implement.

The AgriFutures Australia Carbon Opportunity Decision Support Tool takes users through a decision tree questionnaire to identify carbon farming opportunities (including some government programs). The tool identifies the following possible opportunities:

• Emissions Reduction Fund (now the ACCU Scheme) participation
• private carbon markets, which refers to markets for types of carbon credits other than ACCUs
• sustainability-linked loans
• low-emissions certification
• productivity gains.

The tool invites users to 'choose their own adventure' and encourages them to consider the pros and cons of the different opportunities. It asks users questions about their business situation, plans, risk appetite and attitudes. There are also fact sheets for each opportunity.

AgriFutures’ A farmer’s handbook to on-farm carbon management is another helpful tool for identifying opportunities for on-farm carbon farming focused on carbon storage. It has a graphic decision tree on page 6 that takes account of the type of farm, its location and other factors to identify applicable ACCU Scheme methods, which Topic 5 explains.

Increasingly, there are government programs to support farmers and land managers to deliver environmental, social and economic co-benefits as well as reduce or avoid GHG emissions and store carbon. For example:

• the Platform for Land and Nature Repair, an Australian Government website that will support the Nature Repair Market, allows users to identify opportunities to earn income from protecting and improving biodiversity
• the Western Australian Carbon Farming and Land Restoration Program, which supports projects to realise agriculture's potential to store carbon, generate ACCUs, growWA's carbon farming industry and deliver environmental, economic and social co-benefits
• the Queensland Government’s Land Restoration Fund, which helps farmers and land managers turn carbon into income while restoring the state's soils and vegetation and delivering other co-benefits
• the New South Wales Government’s Primary Industries Productivity and Abatement program which supports farmers and land managers to reduce emissions, improve carbon management and enhance biodiversity on their land alongside production.

Before deciding on a carbon farming activity or project, you must understand its requirements fully. For example, the ACCU Scheme’s methods set out rules for estimating, measuring, verifying and reporting GHG emissions and carbon storage, among other things. ACCU Scheme projects that store carbon in vegetation and soils are required to maintain the carbon stores for either 100 or 25 years. The project proponent must understand these responsibilities and obligations (and consider the associated risks) and be prepared to comply with them. They also need to consider legal and financial implications.

State and territory government schemes supporting carbon farming activities may also have requirements for participants.

It is important to consider the principles set out in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), in particular the principle of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC), when planning carbon farming activities on land subject to native title. FPIC is a decision-making process and a framework for ensuring First Nations people are properly engaged in any decision that may affect their lands, territories or livelihoods and that outside organisations engage with First Nations people in a culturally appropriate way. Engagement with First Nations communities should be considered when planning for carbon farming.

For more information and guidance on how FPIC applies to ACCU Scheme projects, refer to Topic 5.3 Establishing an ACCU Scheme project.

Farmers and land managers planning a carbon farming activity or project will benefit from independent, professional advice about its feasibility and integration with current activities. These advisers may include agronomists, environmental planners, other agribusiness advisers and financial and legal advisers. Carbon farming specialists in government agencies and universities can also provide advice.

Several state government agencies publish lists of advisers about carbon farming and state government carbon farming support programs. These advisers can help farmers and land managers decide whether carbon farming suits their land and business. Some examples are:

• Western Australia’s Service Provider Directory – Carbon Farming Advisors
• Tasmania’s Carbon Farming Advice Rebate Pilot Program
• Queensland’s Approved Adviser Directory under its former Carbon Farming Advice Scheme.

Farmers and land managers aiming for ACCU Scheme participation sometimes engage a carbon service provider. These businesses offer services to help establish and manage an ACCU Scheme project in exchange for a fee (for example, a payment or some of the ACCUs issued for the project). Their services may include project planning and feasibility studies, preparing a carbon farming plan or land management strategy, calculating carbon stored using an ACCU Scheme method's rules and preparing project reports. They may also act as the project proponent. Topic 5 examines ways to engage with carbon service providers.

The Australian Carbon Industry Code of Conduct is a voluntary, industry-led code for entities providing services in relation to carbon activities, projects and credits. It aims to enhance the integrity, transparency and accountability of Australia’s carbon industry by using the code’s framework to monitor, review and define industry best practice. The code is intended to protect consumers’ rights in the carbon market by defining the minimum standards that all signatories, which are listed on the code’s webpage, agree to meet.

For Climate Active, DCCEEW publishes a register of consultants for Climate Active certification that users can filter by state and search by keyword. Registered consultants help prepare applications for certification, help with ongoing reporting and can carry out technical assessments for certification.

Some criteria to consider when choosing an adviser are whether they:

• have worked with enterprises of a similar size in your industry and preferably in your sector
• have relevant training and credentials (such as qualifications, membership of a professional association or a licence)
• provide the range of services you need if you want to engage just one adviser
• communicate well, are up to date with the latest requirements and technologies and will take the time to give you the information you want
• are good value for money
• have had experience working with First Nations people, if working with First Nations farmers and land managers
• can demonstrate relevant cultural awareness and competency before engaging with a First Nations project.

Inclusion in a list of advisers is no guarantee the adviser meets the criteria above. Before engaging an adviser, you should talk with them and get evidence they meet your criteria. You may also want to consider getting a second opinion on any advice.

If an adviser provides financial advice, they must have an Australian Financial Services License by law.

To obtain information, land managers could also contact their local Natural Resource Management organisation and, for farmers, be active members of their grower groups.

Commonwealth, state and territory agriculture and land management agencies also have many online resources. For example, the CSIRO’s Soil and Landscape Grid of Australia provides detailed digital maps of the country’s soil and landscape attributes so farmers and land managers can better understand their soils and, therefore, their potential to store carbon.

Many industry bodies are leading the development of tools and resources to help farmers understand carbon farming.

There are also many not-for-profit and private fee-for-service consultancies working with farmers and land managers to understand the feasibility of carbon farming on their land.

Making as realistic an estimate as possible of the likely revenue and expense of your carbon farming activity or project is an essential part of carbon farming planning.

Revenue

If, for example, you are conducting an ACCU Scheme project, you must provide at registration an estimate of the total amount of GHG emissions your project will reduce or avoid and/or the carbon it will store. This can provide the basis for estimating revenue. Actual revenue will depend on the effectiveness of project activities, as well as ACCU prices.

Other government programs may also offer financial incentives for carbon farming (such as the Western Australian Carbon Farming and Land Restoration Program and the Queensland Government’s Land Restoration Fund).

Indirect revenue sources can include higher prices for premium, low-emission products and increased sales into new domestic and overseas markets. Carbon farming activities can also reduce on-farm costs, for example, by reducing water and fertiliser use and having more productive livestock.

CSIRO’s LOOC-B: biodiversity co-benefits calculator enables users to quantify the biodiversity co-benefits of land management actions (such as carbon farming) anywhere in Australia. This may allow biodiversity co-benefits to be fully accounted for, realised and rewarded.

Although it is uncommon for Australian farmers and land managers to do so, they can sell other types of carbon credits (not ACCUs) on the voluntary (non-ACCU Scheme) market through organisations such as Verra and Gold Standard.

Costs

Costs to establish and maintain a carbon farming activity or project include:

• time and money to design, implement and manage the activity or project
• professional planning and establishment advice (such as from a professional adviser about agronomy, livestock nutrition, soil sampling or revegetation)
• technology replacement or purchasing of other assets
• ongoing monitoring, compliance, auditing, verification and reporting costs.

Some examples of costs of carbon farming activities are:

• the Indicative costs for projects related to soil carbon and Indicative costs for planting or forest related sequestration projects on the Kondinin Group’s website
• the Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development’s WA Carbon Farming and Land Restoration Program – Costing Guide (XLSX 38 KB), which has typical expense items for establishing a carbon farming activity.

If you are considering the costs of conducting an ACCU Scheme project, the Clean Energy Regulator website provides the latest information about the scheme’s requirements, including current methods.

HELEN MCCOSKER: Our farm planning process has been a really long process. We make sure that it's a living document. That's the most important thing. So we're always adapting and changing our farm plan. But I think to start with, we look at our vision. So what is the vision that we want on our farm long term? So for us, our vision is that we're a generational farm, and we want to leave a legacy. So that's really important to us. And then the other thing is what are the goals to get to that vision, you know. So we sort of talk about what our goals are. So for us, one of our goals is to make sure that we have longer term goals, it includes

MIKE MCCOSKER: It includes regeneration in the soil.

HELEN MCCOSKER: Yep.

MIKE MCCOSKER: We grow the best food that we possibly can. Yeah. We're community-focused, where possible.

HELEN MCCOSKER: Yeah.

MIKE MCCOSKER: Yeah.
You know, our business is our business, and we make money. But, we're also aware of the community around us and how we engage with that.

HELEN MCCOSKER: Yep.

MIKE MCCOSKER: So, you know, how that has probably landed, how we turn sort of long term vision into practical day to day stuff is that, you know, we started probably 20 years ago with a map of the farm and looking at how and where we were gonna break up into smaller paddocks. You know, we changed the fences, so they ran up and down the hill, or across the slope, and we broke what was originally sort of 200 acres into four paddocks, first. Then we broke that down in half again. And so we came down in a couple of steps.
So one of the ways that planned grazing sort of originally turns up in the first few years is all about water and wire. Where are we gonna put the water points and when is it appropriate to break a paddock in half so that we've got smaller paddocks to manage.

We can then plan out 12 months in front. So we'll go through this plan, and we know that we wanna be near the cattle yards, you know, in early May, for weaning, So we can actually work back from there and know exactly where we're going to put the cattle and when, for how many days. And then how many days of rest we need before we're back in that paddock again. So we plan that out just as a mark on the page. And then what we plan and what we achieve is sometimes just a little bit different.

So we go through with the highlighter and colour in the days that we were actually in the paddock, and that just gives us a really easy visual aid because I can see there that I've had 120 days of rest from that grazing to that grazing.