Green is key: Victorian producer’s tricks for carbon neutral farming

The pursuit of a carbon neutral status is second nature for Western Victorian pork producer Judy Croagh.

Sustainability is not a dirty word for Western Plains Pork’s Judy Croagh.

Rather, it’s an essential part of ensuring the profitability and health of her farming business, now and into the future.

And it’s a trend being mirrored by others in the pork industry, with nearly three quarters of Australian pork producers having implemented an environmental management plan on-farm.

For Judy, sustainability “in all manners” is at the centre of how she manages her business, as she works towards carbon neutral status across her large-scale enterprise.

“Highlighting carbon (emissions) is making us more aware, and making us look at how we can improve all the time,” Judy says.

While more research with industry bodies such as Intergity Ag will be undertaken on-farm to better understand the carbon footprint of the business, Judy says a number of measures are already in place to function in a greener way, including using solar panels for power.

Land is leased from neighbouring farms, which she then grazes her 4000 sows on before rotating stock through paddocks.

The landowners then sow a crop on vacated paddocks to capitalise on nutrients deposited in the soil.

Judy Croagh, marketing and sales director Western Plains Pork, Mt Mercer. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin

Judy will often buy grain back from those producers to feed her pigs, creating an almost closed-loop system of farming, benefiting producers, animals, and the environment.

“In the pork industry, all producers are trying to do the right thing … we’re all trying to look to be sustainable and to work towards lowering emissions,” Judy says.

Data from Australian Pork shows 60 per cent of Australia’s pork industry is working towards waste recycling and renewable energy by 2030, and the industry as a whole has reduced greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 70 per cent in the past 40 years.

In the past 10 years, carbon emissions on pork farms have dropped 13 per cent.