Offsets required to reduce the carbon balance of sheep and beef farms through carbon sequestration in trees and soils

Abstract

The sustainability of farming is important to ensure that natural resources remain available into the future. Ruminant livestock production generates more greenhouse gas emissions than other types of agricultural production and most livestock mitigation options to date have a modest greenhouse gas reduction potential (20 DSE/ha) has yet to be studied in Australia. The challenge is to sequester enough carbon to offset the higher level of emissions that these higher stocked farms produce. This study calculated the carbon balance of wool, prime lamb and beef enterprises using a range of stocking rates (6-22 DSE/ha) and levels of tree cover in two agroecological zones. Emissions from livestock, ..