The Australian government’s plan for a Clean Energy Future contains a number of measures aimed at supporting farmers and land managers to provide emissions offsets. The plan consists of a mix of market-based and directly funded actions, covering some of the territory put forward by the Coalition, but on a much larger scale. Farming and [...]

Improve Soil Health Soil health is defined by its ability to perform essential ecosystem functions such as: nutrient cycling, water filtration, and habitat provision for plants and animals. Some properties that determine soil health include texture, depth, density, water infiltration and holding capacity, amount of organic matter, nutrient holding capacity (CEC) and respiration. Every one [...]

The Federal Government’s carbon farming initiative was passed in the lower house last week with the support of independent MPs Andrew Wilkie, Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and the Greens’ Adam Bandt. The government says the carbon farming initiative will reward farmers for storing carbon through land management practices, like improving soils and planting trees. Mick [...]

RESEARCH suggests that building soil carbon is not as simple as many think, writes KATE DOWLER Farmers hoping to cash in on soil carbon could be heading for disappointment. Research evidence is building that shows that storing and building significant or saleable amounts of soil carbon may not be practical in all soils, climates and [...]

“The soil is the fragile membrane that goes right throughout the world and yet we ignore it, we abuse it and we are rarely conscious of it.” Peter Seggers has dug deep to create one of the nation’s first carbon neutral farms, as RACHAEL MISSTEAR reports.