Assessing the economic impact of an emissions trading scheme on agroforestry in Australia’s northern grazing systems

Although agriculture generates a significant portion of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions, it also has the potential to sequester large quantities of emissions through changed land use management such as agroforestry. Whilst there is an extensive amount of agroforestry literature, little has been written on the economic consequences of adopting silvopastoral systems in northern Australia. This paper reports the economic feasibility of adopting complimentary agroforestry systems in the low rainfall region of northern Australia. The analysis incorporates the dynamic tradeoffs between tree and pasture growth, carbon sequestration, cleared regrowth decomposition rates and livestock methane emissions in a bioeconomic model. The results suggest there are financial benefits for landholders who integrate complimentary agroforestry activities into existing grazing operations depending on the rules of the carbon accounting framework used.carbon sequestration, financial analysis, carbon accounting framework, Agroforestry, Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

EverFarm® - Climate adapted perennial-based farming systems for dryland agriculture in southern Australia

AbstractAustralian dryland agriculture will be affected by climate change in a number of ways. First, higher temperatures and changes to rainfall are likely to create greater variability of crop yields and livestock productivity. Second, government policies introduced to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions are likely to influence production costs and commodity prices. Third, global trade patterns are likely to alter as populations increase, and as climate change continues to affect producers and consumers worldwide. This will create both challenges and opportunities for Australian agriculture.Farmers will have to respond to the additional challenge of climate change even when it is compounded by existing long term stresses associated with declining terms of trade, climate variability and existing environmental issues. Investing in new land-use options to combat climate change, with their associated risks, is made more difficult by being set against a backdrop of declining profitability. The opportunity to create transformational change in farming enterprises was tested by combining the multiple components of the potential future perennial‐based dryland farming systems and assessing their expected contribution to climate change adaptation. This project has found that adopting perennial pastures for livestock grazing and tree crops for biomass production, when planted on appropriate soils, can improve profitability when compared to the existing land uses facing a changing climate.  In some farming systems increased cropping is likely to result in improved future farm profits.This work demonstrated that Mallees as a biomass tree crop can be cohesively integrated into existing farming systems with minimal interruption to normal operations of livestock and cropping enterprises. A woody biomass crop can be profitable and diversify revenue risk by enabling farmers to supply biomass and sequester carbon to relevant markets. This work demonstrates suitable designs of a mallee belt planting layout that minimizes costs and maximizes benefits when planted in appropriate agro‐climatic zones and where there are adequate soil conditions. Knowledge developed from this work will help build farmers capacity about climate change adaptation and assist in achieving positive social, environmental and economic outcomes.Please cite this report as:Farquharson, R, Abadi, A, Finlayson, J, Ramilan, T,  Liu, DL, Muhaddin, A, Clark, S, Robertson, S, Mendham, D, Thomas, Q,  McGrath, J 2013 EverFarm® – Climate adapted perennial-based farming systems for dryland agriculture in southern Australia, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast, pp. 159.AbstractAustralian dryland agriculture will be affected by climate change in a number of ways. First, higher temperatures and changes to rainfall are likely to create greater variability of crop yields and livestock productivity. Second, government policies introduced to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions are likely to influence production costs and commodity prices. Third, global trade patterns are likely to alter as populations increase, and as climate change continues to affect producers and consumers worldwide. This will create both challenges and opportunities for Australian agriculture.Farmers will have to respond to the additional challenge of climate change even when it is compounded by existing long term stresses associated with declining terms of trade, climate variability and existing environmental issues. Investing in new land-use options to combat climate change, with their associated risks, is made more difficult by being set against a backdrop of declining profitability. The opportunity to create transformational change in farming enterprises was tested by combining the multiple components of the potential future perennial‐based dryland farming systems and assessing their expected contribution to climate change adaptation. This project has found that adopting perennial pastures for livestock grazing and tree crops for biomass production, when planted on appropriate soils, can improve profitability when compared to the existing land uses facing a changing climate.  In some farming systems increased cropping is likely to result in improved future farm profits.This work demonstrated that Mallees as a biomass tree crop can be cohesively integrated into existing farming systems with minimal interruption to normal operations of livestock and cropping enterprises. A woody biomass crop can be profitable and diversify revenue risk by enabling farmers to supply biomass and sequester carbon to relevant markets. This work demonstrates suitable designs of a mallee belt planting layout that minimizes costs and maximizes benefits when planted in appropriate agro‐climatic zones and where there are adequate soil conditions. Knowledge developed from this work will help build farmers capacity about climate change adaptation and assist in achieving positive social, environmental and economic outcomes

Perception of native grasslands in south-eastern Australia: some implications for landscape aesthetics and other landscape values

Grasslands are considered to be Australia’s most threatened ecosystems, yet relatively little is known about human preferences and attitudes which contribute to continued degradation of these landscapes. In a study conducted in south-eastern Australia, landholders were asked to assess the agricultural, ecological and aesthetic value of native grassland and other rural landscapes. The results confirm suggestions of low regard for treeless landscapes. Landholders’ preferences for native grass on their own property appear most closely related to the perceived aesthetic value of the landscape. This paper discusses the implication of these findings for programs seeking to protect native grasslands on private properties

Dynamics of a salinity-prone agricultural catchment driven by markets, farmers' attitude and climate change

An agent-based simulation model has been developed with CORMAS combining simplified bio-physical processes of land cover, dry-land salinity changes, rainfall, farm profitability and farmer decisions on land uses in a dry-land agricultural catchment (no irrigation). Simulated farmers formulate individual decisions dealing with land use changes based on the combined performance of their past land cover productivity and market returns. The willingness to adapt to market drivers and the ability to maximize returns varies across farmers. In addition, farmers in the model can demonstrate various attitudes towards salinity mitigation as a consequence of experiencing and perceiving salinity on their farm, in the neighborhood or in the entire region. Consequently, farmers can adopt land cover strategies aiming at reducing salinity impact. The simulation results using historical rainfall records reproduces similar trends of crop-pasture ratios, salinity change and farm decline as observed in the last 20 years in the Katanning catchment (Western Australia). Using the model as an explorative tool for future scenarios, the simulation results highlighted the importance of rainfall changes and wide-spread willingness of farmers to combat dry-land salinity. Rainfall changes as a consequence of climate change can lead to prolonged sequences of dry and wet seasons. Adaptation to these sequences by farmers seems to be critical for farm survival in this catchment. (Résumé d'auteur

Productivity tradeoffs and synergies for grazing lands in central Queensland to generate carbon offsets

This paper reports research seeking to understand the economic implications for central Queensland graziers of participating in a carbon trading scheme and to measure the likely participation of graziers in an emissions trading scheme under various market design scenarios. An initial desktop study was undertaken to compare an enterprise which produced only cattle to one which produced cattle and sequestered carbon. The findings from this analysis were used to inform the design of an experimental auction to test alternative carbon trading scenarios. An experimental workshop was conducted at seven locations across central Queensland with a range of beef producers, extension officers and consultants. Participants were presented with a scenario in which they had the choice of maintaining current management practices against altering management practices to reduce beef production and enter into a carbon sequestration contract (CSC). They were asked at what price they would enter into a CSC and how that price and likelihood of participating would change under a range of alternative contract conditions. The results of the experimental auctions found significantly higher than breakeven prices for carbon would be required before landholders would offer land as a carbon offset. Participation rates were influenced by price and also the carbon contract rules. Five rule changes were trialled and all were found to have a significant impact on reducing participation and increasing required payment levels.Farm Management,

Plantation forests and biodiversity conservation

There are five key reasons why biodiversity conservation should be considered a part of plantation management. (1) The plantation estate is large, and balancing various land management values with wood and pulp production is important when extensive areas of land are involved. (2) The locations and management of new plantations will affect the biota that currently exist in such landscapes. (3) Maintaining some elements of biodiversity within plantations can have benefits for stand productivity and the maintenance of key ecosystem processes such as pest control. (4) The retention (or loss) of biota in plantations is relevant to the formulation of ecological standards and the certification of plantations in many parts of the world. (5) Plantation forestry has a narrow and intensive management focus on producing a forest crop for a limited array of purposes. It will not meet future societal demands for a range of outputs from plantations (in addition to wood and pulp supply), and will not be congruent with the principles of ecological sustainability. This paper briefly reviews the biodiversity conservation values of Australian plantation s. It shows that almost all work in Australian plantations, whether conifer or eucalypt, highlights the importance of landscape heterogeneity and stand structural complexity for enhancing biodiversity. Management of plantations to promote landscape heterogeneity and stand structural complexity and enhance the conservation of biodiversity will, in many cases, involve tradeoffs that will affect wood and pulp production. The extent to which this occurs will depend on the objectives of plantation management and how far they extend towards the more complex plantation forestry models that incorporate social and environmental values. We argue that the widespread adoption of plantation forestry that leads to homogenous stands of extensive monocultures will risk re-creating the array of negative environmental outcomes that have been associated with agriculture in many parts of Australia

Dairy wintering systems in southern New Zealand : quantification and modelling of nutrient transfers and losses from contrasting wintering systems : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Soil Science at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Traditional dairy wintering practice in the lower South Island of New Zealand has been to graze brassica crops in situ. This practice has been under increasing scrutiny from local Regional Councils due to the relatively high nitrogen (N) leaching losses from this component of the whole farm system. Alternative wintering options to reduce N leaching losses that are currently available to farmers (such as barns and permanent wintering pads) are high cost and involve a large capital investment. In this work a new wintering system (termed a ‘portable pad’) was developed for use on support blocks (which can be located many kilometres from the milking platform) as an interim measure for reducing N leaching losses that is low cost and low input. This system is designed as a mitigation strategy that is available for use immediately while research investigates more permanent solutions. This system is a hybrid of the traditional crop grazing system and an off-paddock system, where effluent is captured. It makes use of the advantages of each of the original systems utilising the low cost feed source of the brassica crops, grazed in situ, while also utilising the benefits of duration controlled grazing with its associated effluent capture and irrigation at low rates. The aim of the research was to generate whole system N leaching loss values for each of the three farm systems investigated (crop wintering, deep-litter wintering barn, and portable pad). Field and laboratory research was conducted to fill identified knowledge gaps such that system N loss values could be estimated. OVERSEER Nutrient Budget software tool was used in conjunction with measured and modelled (APSIM) data to simulate whole farm N leaching loss values for the three farm systems investigated. Nitrogen leaching losses from the portable pad and barn systems were between 5 and 26 % and between 13 and 26 % lower, respectively, than the crop wintering system

Negotiating the forest - farmland interface in northern Thailand with companion modelling

The debate about the expansion of agriculture in forest areas and the conservation or reforestation of head watersheds is still going on in montane Southeast Asia but in a rapidly changing context. Tremendous change occurred in the highland agrarian systems of northern Thailand during the past decades, leading to new farming practices, an increased diversity of stakeholders concerned by land management issues, and new relationships between villagers and national policies (decentralisation of resource management, shift from forest exploitation to conservation, etc.) and international conventions. In this context, the debate about the true participation of rural people in managing local renewable resources is taking central stage. New conceptual and practical tools to understand rural change in a more distributed, inclusive and interactive way have also emerged. System approaches relying on collaborative modelling are used to facilitate communication, knowledge sharing and the exchange of points of view among different types of stakeholders about a common resource management problem. The iterative and evolving Companion Modelling (ComMod) approach relies on multi-agent systems and makes use of the synergistic effects between role-playing games and computer agent-based models to co-construct simulation tools with stakeholders used in the joint exploration of possible future scenarios of their choice as part of negotiation processes leading to concrete action plans. In the past three years, such a ComMod process has been implemented in the head watershed of Nan province to understand the effects of recent change in forest management on the agrarian system and to mediate a land use conflict between foresters and Hmong herders. A preliminary diagnostic-analysis showed the influence of increased forest conservation efforts on the dynamics of deforestation in the local Hmong agrarian system. These land use dynamics were represented in a spatially explicit computer-assisted role-playing game. This tool was enriched and validated with the herders and foresters during a first set of gaming and simulation sessions aiming at the production of a shared representation of the problem at stake. The debate that followed identified innovative cattle management techniques to be tested and the simulation tool was modified to accommodate them. A second set of collaborative simulations tested the use of these innovations and led to an agreement on a joint experiment between herders and foresters seen as a first concrete step toward the co-management of the local forest -farmland interface. These results are discussed and the relevance of the approach, as well as the strengths and limitations of its main tools are assessed. Finally possible methodological improvements are suggested for collaborative modelling and simulation to better support the emergence of effective decentralized co-management of renewable resources in similar socio-ecological systems. (Résumé d'auteur

Optimising the spatial pattern of landscape revegetation

The spatial pattern of landscape reconstruction makes a substantial difference to environmental outcomes. We develop a spatially explicit bio-economic model that optimises the reconstruction of a heavily cleared landscape through revegetation. The model determines the spatial priorities for revegetation that minimises economic costs subject to achieving particular improvements in habitat for 29 woodland-dependent bird species. The study focuses on the Avoca catchment (330 thousand ha) in North-Central Victoria. Our model incorporates spatial pattern and heterogeneity of existing and reconstructed vegetation types. The revegetation priorities are identified as being: sites in the vicinity of existing remnants, riparian areas, and parts of the landscape with diverse land uses and vegetation types. Optimal reconstruction design is affected by opportunity costs due to the loss of agricultural production and the costs of revegetation. 1 Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy, School of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, 6009 2 Department of Primary Industries, Rutherglen, RMB 1145 Chiltern Valley Rd, Rutherglen, Victoria, 3685 3 North Central Catchment Management Authority, PO Box 18, Huntly, Victoria, 3551landscape reconstruction, biodiversity, optimisation, habitat, Environmental Economics and Policy, Land Economics/Use, Q57,

Defining the original extent and floristic composition of the naturally-treeless grasslands of the Liverpool Plains, North Western Slopes, New South Wales

A study was conducted on the Liverpool Plains (30o 43’–31o 44’S; 149o 40’–150o 41’E), North Western Slopes of NSW, to determine the original boundaries of the naturally-treeless grasslands, to determine reasons for the lack of woody vegetation on these areas, and to assess the status of Austrostipa aristiglumis (Plains Grass), a species that is today commonly dominant on the few remaining remnant grassland areas and is commonly assumed to characterise the original grassland community. The original tree line boundaries were reconstructed using NSW Lands Department survey portion plans and other historical records. The lack of woody vegetation was attributed primarily to a combination of fine-textured soil, climate and topography restricting the availability of water below the grass root zone, with waterlogging and deep soil cracking possibly playing minor roles. Published and anecdotal evidence and landholder experience indicate that the Austrostipa aristiglumis dominated remnants are probably a relatively recent anthropogenic feature, a consequence of post-settlement management practices. The pre-settlement grasslands appear to have been composed of a wide range of grasses, possibly dominated by species such as Themeda avenacea (Native Oatgrass) and Eulalia aurea (Silky Browntop), with a range of forbs occupying the interstitial spaces. Management implications are discussed