17/10/2019 Balance of tree and grass cover | Australian Beef Sustainability Framework

Balance of tree and grass cover

Definition: Beef production is considered compatible with well-managed landscapes.
This priority looks at industry’s care of natural resources and biodiversity, by measuring
area of land managed for environmental outcomes and changes in vegetation.

Indicators

The context
In Australia, beef is produced from land that is often unable to support other food production. Looking at
Australia’s landmass, 45% is used for grazing on natural vegetation with 9% used for grazing on modified
pastures. As the largest steward of the Australian landscape, the beef industry has an important role in
maintaining, protecting and enhancing the land. As a food producer, managing the land productively and
sustainably is critical to feeding a growing world population.
Overwhelmingly, positive production and environmental outcomes are aligned. In some areas production and
environment need to be managed independently, but generally grazing can be undertaken in the natural
environment, assisting the cycling of nutrients through the system and providing other environmental benefits.
The 2019 Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services report identified a
huge global risk of biodiversity loss. The report identified global beef production as a risk factor. Specifically in
Australia, well-managed beef production systems are sustainably integrated with biodiverse ecosystems. This
differs from some other systems and agriculture sectors that operate in artificial mono-culture ecosystems.
Improving management across Australia is an opportunity to stem global biodiversity loss.
Many of our stakeholders have strong interests around this priority. Inside the industry, producers in Queensland
are challenged with onerous regulation with new vegetation laws. These laws make it challenging for producers
in parts of Queensland who, due to the climate, face the challenge of significant tree regrowth or thickening on
certain soil types that negatively impact pasture production; and can also have negative environmental impacts
with soil run-off due to lack of ground cover. Outside the industry, deforestation is a key customer and investor
focus area due to the approaching global deforestation targets in the New York Declaration on Forests and the
Sustainable Development Goals.
At least 14 of Australian beef’s biggest customers, including McDonald’s, are committed to reducing, and in some
cases eliminating, deforestation in their beef supply chains. Through the Framework process, industry has been
working closely with key customers and stakeholders in this area.
Vegetation change is an extremely complex issue in Australia. Negative environmental impacts are attributable to
clearing as well as regrowth and encroachment in some northern regions. There are competing sustainability
priorities at play and land use needs to be considered as a balance of food production and environmental
benefits.
In response to this contentious issue, the Framework convened the first multi-disciplinary Expert Working Group
in June 2018 to develop practical and evidence-based measures for this priority.

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From the industry’s perspective, balancing tree and grass cover in a sustainable way is critical for the short and
long-term viability of beef production. Ultimately, farmers need healthy soils, water and pastures to provide a
feedbase and hydration for the animals in their care. Good grazing and natural resource management on-farm
leads to positive outcomes for both business and environment.
Caring for the land is becoming more difficult for farmers. Climate is becoming more variable, and extreme
weather events more frequent. In addition, changing regulations and market requirements as well as community
concerns demand that livestock producers be ever more adaptable and agile in this dynamic landscape.
The red meat industry’s long-term prosperity requires taking a proactive and precautionary approach to
environmental sustainability. A reactive approach that only deals with the symptoms of resource degradation will
not be enough to ensure the industry’s longevity.

Industry position
The industry believes well-managed landscapes and livestock production are not mutually exclusive when
looking at the whole farm system. In many landscapes, cattle can be grazed across the property, while others
require a mosaic style of management where some areas are protected to preserve the ecological value on the
farm, while other areas are used for production.
The industry is committed to:
Responsibly managing vegetation within the landscapes that it operates for the dual benefits of food
production and ecosystem services
At a minimum, abiding by all federal and state laws to protect and enhance areas of high conservation
value
Managing landscapes in a manner that is regionally appropriate with consideration to farm planning with
an appropriate balance of tree and grass for:
Grazing livestock
Conserving and where possible enhancing biodiversity
Focussing on maintaining ground cover to prevent soil run-off into waterways
Actively managing re-growth to protect existing pastures and grasslands
Actively managing vegetation when required for fire breaks, weed and pest control

What the data is telling us

The Framework has spent a year working with an expert advisory group and consulting stakeholders and six
months working with Cibo Labs to develop the nation’s first measures for vegetation change for the beef industry.
Following advice from stakeholders, this data looks at both vegetation loss and gain across regions. This has
been an incredibly complicated exercise and while the Framework reports at a national level, this can be very
misleading if the regional context is not considered. For this reason the Framework has outlined trends across
the 56 NRM regions on the website.
A key challenge at looking at national data and trends in Australian vegetation is the constant movement between
vegetation classes, especially in northern regions. For example, a decrease in forest can be a decrease in
density or a loss in forest. Current technology does not allow for distinction between the two. For this reason,
below is a class for ‘woody’ which combines both forest and woodlands. Due to the continual two-way transition
between forest and woodland, the loss and gains in sub-categories won’t always equal the total woody change.
Looking at ground cover trends at a national level without agreed regional thresholds is misleading and not overly
useful. As such over the next 12 months the Framework will work with NRM regions to establish regional
baselines and enable reporting in future of the percentage of regions achieving ground cover threshold levels.

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Ground cover levels are highly dynamic and vary across the landscape. These levels also vary considerably
depending on seasonal conditions.
View a comprehensive regional breakdown of ground cover levels.

Snapshot of activity
MLA’s environmental sustainability and feedbase programs both create opportunities for producers to efficiently
and effectively manage soil health, weeds, invasive animals, water, methane emissions, biodiversity and climate
variability. This includes researching, designing and demonstrating new grazing systems that manage ground
cover, encourage retention of desirable species, new species (grasses, legumes), exploring climate adaptation
actions, and plants suited to hotter and drier future climates. Some of the major initiatives to tackle this key
priority include:
Weed and pest management programs
Pest animals (rabbits, kangaroos and pigs) and weeds impact on feedbase production and ecosystems. Work at
a large scale across multiple organisations (public and private) is required for adoption of best management
practices, and in turn the reduction of pest and weed populations.
Collaboration with NRM Regions Australia
There are 56 NRM regional organisations across Australia that act as delivery agents under the regional stream
of the National Landcare Program.
NRM groups have a focus on:
Loss of vegetation
Soil degradation
Pests and weeds
Changes in water and water flows
Changes in fire regimes
Sustainable agriculture. MLA is working with NRM Australia to share satellite data on vegetation trends. The
groups are exploring future opportunities to partner on delivering positive environmental and production
outcomes.
Measuring what matters through real farm data
A project with the ANU Sustainable Farm Institute has been established to demonstrate the practicality of
populating the Framework with environment indicators based on real farm data. This data will test the robustness
of remotely sensed measures through ground-truthing.
Completing this project will enable the trialling of the Framework measures within south-east Australia. If this trial
is successful, the measures will be scaled to a national level. The project will provide recommendations on the
suitability of indicators within the Framework, and propose alternative measures where appropriate.
Best Management Practice programs
A case study on Queensland’s Grazing BMP program was showcased in last year’s report. The program was
initially established to focus on reducing soil and nutrient run-off to the Great Barrier Reef. In 2019, data from this
program was deleted due to a change in legislation that resulted in concerns for landholders’ privacy.
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The previous BMP tool used a practice change approach. There are a number of other approaches being
explored for a national tool to enable producers and beef customers to measure and demonstrate their progress
with beef sustainability. As the tool will be linked to practice change pathways, users will be able to continuously
improve on their performance.

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17/10/2019 Managing climate change risk | Australian Beef Sustainability Framework

Managing climate change risk

Definition: Greenhouse gases are emitted along the beef value chain, including
methane produced through cattle's natural digestion. This priority looks at carbon
dioxide equivalent emitted when raising and processing beef, as well as carbon capture and sequestration.

Indicators

The context
Australia has committed to the global Paris Agreement to pursue efforts to keep global warming below 1.5°C
above pre-industrial levels along with 175 other member states.
More frequent extreme weather events and increasing climate variability have a serious effect on production and
livelihoods. Managing and adapting to these new conditions across all sectors is vital to long-term industry
prosperity.
Like all industries, there is a responsibility to focus on how to minimise sector emissions. The Australian beef and
sheep industries contribute around 10% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and about two-
thirds of these emissions come from cattle.
Methane stemming from cattle’s natural digestion process is the beef industry’s main emission. Ruminant
animals, like cattle, have a unique digestion system that enables them to convert the grasses and shrubs they
consume in mostly non-arable areas into valuable protein and vitamins for human consumption, plus
various non-edible products. In Australia, this means we are able to graze cattle on rangelands and savannahs
where other food production systems like cropping are not viable. The cattle grazing industry facilitates
employment and economic stability in Australia’s vast rural areas.
In addition to methane emitted by cattle, beef production also emits GHGs through:
Meat processing
Loss of soil carbon in overgrazed pastures
Savannah burning conducted to manage woody weeds and promote pasture quality
Clearing of primary forests
Nitrous oxide from manure in feedlots
Application of nitrogen fertilisers to pastures and to grow grain
Upstream inputs such as chemicals and diesel
The beef industry plays a significant part in offsetting national emissions by sequestering carbon in soils and
vegetation.
Agriculture has contributed more to reducing GHG emissions than any other sector in the Australian economy
since 1990.

Industry position
In 2017 the Australian red meat industry set an ambitious target to be carbon neutral by 2030.
The target to be carbon neutral by 2030 (CN30) is a clear message to our global consumers that the Australian
red meat industry is serious about addressing GHG emissions.

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There is a huge opportunity for the Australian industry to make a real difference in mitigating climate change
through increasing carbon storage in the natural landscapes where we operate and reducing emissions, while at
the same time improving productivity and deriving new revenue streams through carbon farming.
CN30 will make a demonstrable contribution to reducing emissions from the Australian agriculture sector. It will
showcase the red meat industry as a global leader in carbon farming innovation, economic development and
environmental stewardship. CN30 will give Australian red meat a marketing edge on the global stage.
The industry supports a transition to a carbon neutral industry and is focused on ensuring the policy support and
incentives are in place to enable adoption of existing technologies and further research to deliver on this
ambitious target.

What is the data telling us?

A new indicator has been added to the 2019 Annual Update to publicly track the industry’s CN30 (Carbon Neutral
by 2030) initiative. Since the baseline year of 2005, the industry has reduced absolute emissions by 55.7% (for
the most recent reporting period of 2016) largely through a focus on improving productivity and vegetation
management practices. This figure was calculated by CSIRO from datasets contained in the
Australian National Inventory Report in the agriculture and land use change categories, relating to beef
production. The most recent available data from 2016 is prior to the industry setting the CN30 target in 2017 but
demonstrates significant GHG emissions reduction is possible. With industry, policy and research focus Australia
can be the first country in the world to have a carbon neutral beef production system.
In order to also track emissions intensity, the Framework reports using Life Cycle Assessments (LCA), which are
regarded as the most useful environmental measures for products. LCAs are a costly and time-consuming
activity and MLA undertakes an update to the LCA every five years. The most recent five-year
period is from 2010-2015 and was completed in 2019. LCAs capture all emissions sources related to beef
production, beyond the scope of the current National Inventory reporting.
The 2019 LCA completed by Wiedemann et al showed an 8.3% decline in GHG emissions intensity in the past
five years (excluding emissions related to land use and land use change) and a 20% reduction over the past 35
years. The data reported in the Framework shows that it now takes 12.6kg of carbon dioxide equivalents to
produce a kilogram of beef pre-processing.
Improvements in efficiency are from a relentless focus on productivity by the industry. For example, in the past
five years, carcase weights have increased 10% driving an increase in beef production per cow joined. Growth
rates in young cattle were estimated to have increased 19% in the past five years principally in response to
higher proportions of cattle fed in feedlots, and a 5% increase in days on feed since 2010, together with improved
performance of the grazing herd.
These figures are based on globally agreed intensity and lifespan measures from the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) which currently calculate methane at 34 times carbon dioxide. There is a current debate
about beef industry’s contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, compared to other emitting industries,
including fossil fuels. For the purpose of this report, current agreed accounting is used.

A snapshot of activity
The CN30 initiative is a significant collaborative effort across industry and the research community. MLA leads
work on research, adoption and commercialisation. The efforts of the red meat industry will contribute
significantly to state and federal government carbon emission reduction targets.
The 2030 target was set following industry-funded research undertaken by CSIRO in 2017 which confirmed that
carbon neutrality was possible in the Australian production system. In addition, the project identified the most
promising pathways to achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.
In response to these research findings, MLA has closely investigated these pathways considering likelihood of
industry adoption, commercialisation opportunities of technology and gaps in research that require further
investment.
The pathways identified were informed by two previous collaborative research programs:
Reducing Emissions from Livestock Research Program (RELRP) that ran between 2009–12 and
developed knowledge and technologies on methane emissions to enable producers to reduce livestock
emissions while maintaining or improving livestock productivity.
National Livestock Methane Program (NLMP), that was undertaken in 2012–16 and built on the outcomes
from the previous RELRP program. Outcomes from this program are featured in the publication More
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meat, milk and wool: less methane.
A CN30 plan has been developed to take the next critical step to ensure the successful implementation of the
technology identified within these earlier programs.
CN30 is not only an emissions-based target. The aim is to unlock $300m a year for the Australian red meat
industry by optimising the carbon cycle to improve drought resilience, farm-gate profitability, and reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. The CN30 initiative builds on decades of legume, animal and economic research that
has underpinned Australia’s red meat production systems. An integrated plan has been developed to implement
carbon farming technologies to increase resource use efficiency for profitable livestock production and reduce
environmental impacts.

Extension & adoption

Some practices are well known and can be implemented now. Improving animal genetics, feedbase management
and herd management can reduce GHG emissions per unit of meat production. Carbon can also be sequestered
into soils using pastures and legumes. Driving adoption of these well-known practices is a critical body of work
and the emphasis is on supported learning approaches and demonstration sites. There is a strong commercial
driver for uptake as these practices lead to the immediate business benefits of improved productivity and open
new revenue streams to producers through the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) and voluntary carbon markets.
Work is underway on how to capture changes made by landholders land feedlots through an evolution of the
National GHG Inventory to improve accuracy as well as the representation of the red meat industry, and enable
progress reporting under the CN30 initiative.
GHG emissions avoidance
Methane production in the rumen can be inhibited by bioactive additives. This is the most promising pathway to
significantly reduce or eliminate methane emissions. MLA is focused on working with existing research partners
such as CSIRO and James Cook University, as well as establishing new partnerships to further develop bioactive
additives, such as Red Asparagopsis seaweed which has been shown to virtually eliminate methane emissions
from livestock. However, key barriers to overcome include developing a consistent and affordable supply and a
delivery mechanism for intensive and extensive animal feeding systems. CSIRO is leading commercialisation
efforts for Red Asparagopsis seaweed.
Storing carbon
Sequestering or storing carbon in vegetation is well understood. In Australia, landholders can be remunerated
through the ERF that now has numerous ways for the beef industry to access the Fund. The beef industry is the
largest beneficiary of the Fund to date with over $1.66b returned to landholders for storing or avoiding carbon
through their operations. Australia now has a soil carbon method that meets the requirements of the Paris
Agreement. The first credits were issued and sold in March 2019. While the ERF methods present an opportunity
for landholders, the measurement and administration requirements
present a significant barrier to entry. An increase in the carbon price may motivate producers to overcome these
barriers. There are many other opportunities for landholders to benefit from storing carbon such as selling carbon
credits through voluntary schemes. Companies, like airlines or miners, buy these credits to offset emissions.
Developing markets
New markets need to be developed to incentivise beef businesses to take further action on carbon. These
incentives need to support carbon reduction as well as natural resource improvement. Government or voluntary
schemes could put a value on the ecosystem services that farmers provide to stimulate even more action. There
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is also an opportunity to sell carbon neutral beef at a premium, however the technology to trace and verify this
across the supply chain needs to be developed.
Integrated management systems
Research outputs will be integrated with farming systems models and decision support tools to evaluate new
management interventions (novel shrubs, legumes, pastures, supplements, mixed farming, cropping, woody
vegetation, forestry) and technologies to optimise productivity and profitability whilst minimising GHG emissions.
Advanced digital technology will be used to link remote sensing to simulation models to measure and monitor
how pasture, soil carbon and water use efficiency respond to changed management. New generation remote
sensing products will increase the understanding and recognition of management-induced improvements in land
condition. Key enabling technology such as blockchain will be explored as a means to underpin carbon projects
on farm, and overcome the cost of carbon credit measurement and validation which is a financial barrier to
participation in the carbon markets under some methods at this point in time.
Offsets
Offsets will be investigated in the short term but ultimately the industry aims to balance carbon in the landscapes
in which it operates. In 2018, some operators have begun to claim carbon neutrality and, in the short term, have
used offsets to achieve this.
Policy
Industry policy groups have been focused on ensuring state and federal policy settings and funding can enable
the industry to deliver on our ambitious 2030 target. RMAC has partnered with Greening Australia, the Australian
Forest Products Association and Farmers for Climate Action to form an advocacy alliance
– Climate Proofing Australia. This new alliance advocates for clear and stable policy underpinned by objective
science-based evidence that aligns with the CN30 pathways and enables large-scale investment in sustainable
development.

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