Publication Date

30-12-2020

Abstract

As part of the Western Australian Government’s commitment to emissions reduction and the sustainable mitigation of climate change, the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) identified that the Katanning Research Facility (KRF) is a significant greenhouse gas (GHG) emitter and that the site provides an opportunity to improve our understanding of emissions arising from agriculture, particularly livestock production. This report presents a baseline organisational carbon footprint assessment and a sustainable emissions reduction strategy with the goal of achieving carbon neutrality for the research facility by 2030.

KRF, with its intensive animal facilities and commercial farm setup, is the DPIRD’s primary facility for sheep research. It is located 5km east of Katanning on the Nyabing Road in the Great Southern Region of Western Australia. The KRF farm comprises 2100ha, of which 1700 ha is arable land (suitable for cropping and grazing) and 400 ha is non-arable land that is mainly natural vegetation with saline-affected gullies and some areas of tree planting.

The KRF research team will modify land use at the farm to meet the modelled scenario of zero net carbon emissions by 2030. The team will monitor changes to validate predictions, and the KRF farm will become a demonstration farm to illustrate the impact of mitigation methodologies in real time and in practice.

Keywords

carbon neutral, carbon footprint, strategy, emissions reduction, Katanning, Western Australia

Disciplines

Agriculture | Climate | Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Environmental Monitoring

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