Several million dollars worth of Australian carbon credits awarded to two Queensland beef properties last week should alert many more farmers and graziers to the opportunities available to them in Australia’s race to reduce carbon emissions.

Rather than being rewarded for not clearing their land or returning it to native vegetation, the federal Clean Energy Regulator gave the farmers 151,600 Australian carbon credit units for “implementing improved grazing practices”, leading to a measured increase of 151,600 tonnes of soil carbon being sequestered over five years.