Publication Date

12-2025

Publisher

State of Western Australia (Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development)

City

Perth

ISSN

2982-2254

Abstract

This report presents new modelling of the greenhouse gas emissions attributable to Western Australia’s agricultural industries and provides an overview of sequestration at the state level. The report updates the estimates from previous technical reports by the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD). It presents not only emissions from agricultural activities in Western Australia (WA) but also from the production of agricultural inputs and energy use. This broader picture of emissions aligns with frameworks for emissions reporting at the business and product level.

Total on-farm and pre-farm emissions are estimated to have been about 12.6–13.3 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (Mt CO2e) per annum over the period from 2020 to 2023. Emissions originated largely in the grains (4.1–4.8 Mt CO2e per annum), beef (4.1– 4.8 Mt CO2e per annum) and sheep (3.2–3.4 Mt CO2e per annum) industries. The combined emissions of the remaining major industries (dairy, pork, chicken meat, eggs, horticulture) are estimated to have been about 1.2–1.4 Mt CO2e per annum.

Methane from enteric fermentation accounted for more than 40 per cent of estimated total emissions, with some indication that this share may be decreasing over time through lower livestock numbers and increasing grain production. There is also evidence that, as grain yields have increased over time, pre-farm emissions are becoming increasingly important to WA agriculture’s mitigation efforts.

Due to data limitations, it has not been possible to include carbon sequestration in the modelled emissions estimates for the industries. In the future, new methodologies may enable allocation for different industries and could potentially enable the calculation of net emissions and emissions intensities for some industries. While the estimates presented here provide a broad view, farm-level carbon accounting is required to determine the carbon footprint of individual farming systems and products.

Number of Pages

33

Keywords

emissions, GHG emissions, greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural emissions, Western Australian agricultural emissions, Scope 1, Scope 2, Scope 3, Emissions intensity, Insetting, Life cycle analysis, Mitigation, National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Net emissions, Offsetting, Pre-farm, Post-farm, ghg emissions for agriculture, WA, Western Australia, Pork industry, Sheep industry, Beef industry, Dairy industry, Horticulture industry, Grains industry, Egg industry, Chicken meat industry, Pork emissions, Sheep emissions, Beef emissions, Dairy emissions, Horticulture emissions, Grains emissions, Egg emissions, Chicken meat emissions, sequestratin, carbon sequestration, reporting by scop, agricultural industries, agriculture sector emissions profiles

Disciplines

Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment | Environmental Monitoring

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