Extract from ABC News
ABC News HomepageMost farming achievements – fat cattle, healthy crops and good returns – are seen above the ground.
But by digging into the soil, the Mackenzie family says they are seeing all that boom while also balancing out their emissions.
The family has been running cattle in the Hunter and Gloucester regions of New South Wales since the late 1800s, and as the next generation steps up, so has their farm sustainability.
Macka's Pastoral has now tipped the scales to having more carbon under its eight properties than they are emitting.
"To reach carbon neutrality is a massive achievement. It's a great feeling," fourth-generation director Robert Mackenzie said.
The project is part of the livestock sector's push to reduce emissions as Australia works to shrink its carbon footprint.
Sheep and cattle are among the biggest contributors to Australian agriculture's emissions, but the livestock sector has not shied away from playing its part.
In 2017, industry group Meat and Livestock Australia (MLA) set a goal for the red meat sector to be carbon neutral by 2030.
Since then, Australia has committed to net zero emissions by 2050.
"The agriculture sector is doing the heavy lifting," MLA managing director Jason Strong said.
"Since 2005, which is the baseline year, the livestock sector in Australia has reduced our emissions by 59 per cent; it's only about 10 per cent of the total emissions now."
Uncertainty at first, results now
Mr Mackenzie was intrigued by the carbon-neutral-by-2030 (CN30) goal set by MLA, but said like many producers at the time, he had plenty of questions.
"Does this mean we're going to lock up land? Does this mean we're going to have to plant thousands of trees? How are we going to achieve this?"
After gaining a baseline of his properties' soil and using innovative technology to map the land, Mr Mackenzie found that small tweaks could make a difference.
"We're just focusing on what our forefathers did but just accelerating it a bit," he said.
"Move our stock a bit more, mulch a bit more, aerate when the season is right and implement new pasture and seed."
Agronomist Hayden Hollis has been conducting thousands of tests across the Mackenzies' combined 6,500-hectare holdings and said it was an exciting journey to be part of.
Initial soil tests helped rank the land into categories based on their silt, sand and clay composition, which then guided decisions on variables like pasture types and fertiliser and mulching rates.
The tests are conducted in line with the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) guidelines in which a minimum of 30 centimetres is tested.
Mr Hollis said a "substantial increase" in sequestered carbon was made between 2022 and 2023.
"We saw a 540-kilogram increase of sequestered carbon per hectare, which is a huge gain considering the infancy of the project."
In total, about 9,500 tonnes of carbon has been sequestered, weighing a bit more than a fully loaded coal train.
Drought protection
The amount of stored carbon can fluctuate depending on rainfall.
In a high rainfall year, inputs increase in response to plant growth and in dry seasons carbon inputs drop.
But Mr Mackenzie said they chose tap-rooted pasture species to "lock the carbon deep in the soil".
He was confident it would help protect the farms during the next inevitable dry spell.
"We found that for 1 per cent extra carbon gain in the soil, it's holding 160,000 litres more water in that particular hectare.
"So when it comes to dry times, our grass is still growing; it doesn't drought-proof it, but it just helps us through those dry periods."
He is also producing more pasture than his cattle need.
"In the last six months we've produced 2,100 tonnes extra silage and we've baled that and buried it strategically under the ground to future drought-proof us."
Macka's Pastoral has invested heavily in the genetics of their Black Angus business, setting Australian records when buying a bull in 2021 and with a heifer last year.
While there were some significant up-front costs, Mr Mackenzie said they were now seeing strong returns.
"For example, we put the exact same bulls over the exact same group of cows last year as we did the year before, we rotated those cows through the exact same paddocks, and we've had a 45 kg weight gain average right across those 120 cows and calves."
Can the livestock industry reach CN2030?
Mr Strong said MLA's 2030 goal for the red meat sector was achievable but they were still learning.
"We are absolutely building the plane as we're flying it."
But he said it was important the industry was in control.
"Climate is the most important thing to consumers in the world, we see it driving elections, yet most consumers aren't changing their purchase behaviour as a result of that, they see the responsibility sitting with somebody else.
"There are no consumers picketing meat cases saying, 'Give me carbon-neutral beef', but we know at some point that's going to change.
"The best thing we can be doing is being in front of that, and when somebody does ask us that question, we can say, 'It's OK, we already have it'."
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