At the Sustainable Agriculture Summit held in Toowoomba last Thursday, the Federal Government announced details of $63.8 million allocated in the 2024-25 Budget.

The funding will go towards supporting the reduction of emissions in the agriculture industry and contribute to the whole-of-economy transition to net zero.

The summit was attended by industry representatives, as well as Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen and Agriculture Minister Murray Watt.

The funding includes:

• $28.7 million over 10 years (inclusive of $900,000 ongoing from 2028-29) to improve greenhouse gas accounting in the agriculture and land sector at the national through to farm level.
• $30.8 million over four years from 2024-25 to 2027-28 to accelerate on-ground action to reduce agriculture and land emissions. This funding will build on the existing Carbon Farming Outreach Program.
• $4.4 million over 10 years for DAFF to become a partner to the Zero Net Emissions Agriculture Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).
• The CRC, to be established on 1 July 2024, will be a major vehicle for long-term research into emission reductions from Australian agriculture.

This article appeared in On Our Selection News, 30 May 2024.