Strategies for productivity, profitability, and greenhouse gas mitigation - a Western Australian perspective

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

10-2024

Conference Title

Agronomy Australia Conference 2024: Adaptive Agronomy for a Resilient Future

Place of Publication

Albany

Keywords

Greenhouse gas emissions, mitigation, profitability, productivity, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide

Disciplines

Agricultural Economics | Agronomy and Crop Sciences | Other Environmental Sciences | Sustainability

Abstract

This paper presents new estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from six of Western Australia’s (WA) agricultural industries, including pre-farm emissions from the manufacture of inputs such as fertilisers, chemicals and purchased feed. Total on-farm and pre-farm emissions are estimated to have been about 14.5– 15.2 megatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (Mt CO2e) per annum (p.a.) from 2019-20 to 2021-22. Emissions originated largely in the beef (5.3–5.6 Mt CO2e p.a.), grains (4.4–5.1 Mt CO2e p.a.) and sheep (3.8–4.0 Mt CO2e p.a.) industries. Methane from enteric fermentation accounted for about 45 % of estimated total emissions, with some indication that this share may be decreasing over time through lower livestock numbers and increasing grain production. As grain yields increase, pre-farm emissions will be increasingly important to the WA agriculture sector’s mitigation efforts. WA studies suggest that strategies exist that can improve the efficiency and profitability of agricultural businesses while delivering mitigation co-benefits.

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