Net emissions drop but dry period ahead to hit cattle industry carbon sequestration

Australian beef production is contributing 80 per cent less to climate change than it did in 2005, but a period of dry weather could change the picture again.

Red meat production in Australia is contributing almost 80 per cent less to climate change than it did in 2005. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Red meat production in Australia is contributing almost 80 per cent less to climate change than it did in 2005.

And the sector’s contribution to the nation’s total emissions has dropped from 23 per cent in 2005 to 6.69 per cent in 2021.

These are the findings of a major CSIRO review tracking net emissions from 2005 to 2021, published by Meat and Livestock Australia on Thursday.

But the industry must keep investing and developing new technologies to deal with methane, if it’s to keep curbing net emissions, industry groups and producers say.

The work by CSIRO, Australia’s National Science Agency, updates estimates of emissions attributable to the production and processing of beef, sheep and goats based on the 2021 Australian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

It shows the nation’s red meat and livestock industry has reduced its net greenhouse gas emissions by 78 per cent since 2005 to 2021.

The report’s findings have come as a welcome surprise to many in the sector, including Mortlake seedstock producer Gordon Branson, Banquet Angus, one of Australia’s most successful Angus breeders.

“I’m surprised to hear emissions have gone down in that time, but if there is that much of a reduction it is a sign that we are on the right foot going forward,” Mr Branson said.

“Technology is better, so much better, and inputs are more specific, if that’s variable rate fertiliser, or whatever you look at, so all that progress helps.”

Banquet Angus’s Gordon Branson, Hamish Branson and Dianna Meulendyks, Mortlake.

Other producers, such as Mark Wootton, Hamilton, have recently warned of selling carbon credits outside of the farm business.

He said producers would “need the credits” to balance out their emissions from livestock production, instead of selling them to other emitters, particularly until new methane reduction technology was available.

Meat and Livestock Australia Carbon Neutral 2030 project manager Julia Waite the reduction was primarily due to changes in the land use sector.

“Low rates of clearing and greater volumes of regrowth have contributed to a larger pool of carbon on land associated with livestock management, bringing down the collective position of the sector,” Ms Waite said.

The study also reveals how dependent the sector is on rainfall to drive carbon sequestration rates, removing the greenhouse gas from the atmosphere and enabling the industry to balance out some of its other emissions, including methane.

Drier conditions – as experienced now in many regions – slow down how much pasture growth there is, and therefore, how more carbon is sequestered and stored in the soil.

“The contribution from land use change was particularly significant between 2020 and 2021 due to high rainfall, which was 9 per cent above the historical average, and conditions favourable for vegetation growth during La-Niña,” Ms Waite said.

“The contrast is especially stark given the previous two reporting years were marred by drought and bushfires.

“Given the variability of the Australian climate, we anticipate sequestration volumes will retract when conditions trend back towards drier El Nino.”

MORE INVESTMENT NEEDED

Emissions were attributed to the red meat industry based on animal numbers, feed intake, livestock processed, and resource use.

The CSIRO data shows the largest proportion of direct emissions from red meat is enteric methane produced by grazing beef cattle, which have remained stable.

Sequestration attributable to the red meat sector was estimated using satellite imagery.

Ms Waite said sequestration helped “balance the ledger” while private and public investment continued in other options for reducing direct emissions.

“Novel interventions like low-methane pastures, supplements, and genetic indexes are likely to play a bigger role in the later part of the decade, provided they are commercially viable with co-benefits for the whole farm business,” she said.

“Over time this can reduce the reliance on sequestration.”

In 2017 the industry committed to a CN30 target definition of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, with MLA co-investing $152m in research and development toward reducing red meat supply chain emissions.