national regenerative agriculture day 2020

Today is a big day. It is the annual National Regenerative Agriculture Day, and the National Climate Emergency Summit starts in Melbourne. It’s also Valentine’s Day.

There is a great deal of devotion in the hearts of those who understand the benefits of regenerative practices, but they are still in the minority. According to this article, PM Scott Morrison has said his policies on reducing emissions would ensure what he called a "vibrant and viable economy, as well as a vibrant and sustainable environment." However, the need for change is getting more urgent, and the news about turmoil in Canberra is getting greater. Since earlier this week, there has been new uncertainty about what Australian new climate change policies might entail. There is now talk of adopting a net-zero emissions target by 2050, which according to this article, has little substance to show how it will achieve the grand claims. Some interesting comments have also been made…

Net-Zero Emissions on what? What are the climate change policy definitions?

NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro recently broke the ranks and lifted the lid on the somewhat ‘out of view’ dynamics behind changing climate policy. He reportedly said that his government’s climate policy of zero emissions by 2050 could “mean the end of agriculture” and mining in NSW. He told Sky News on Thursday the 13th of February that he disagreed with how Environment Minister Matt Kean was “selling” climate policy messages. “He talks about net zero emission targets by 2050, yet that would mean the end of agriculture … what does that do to regional and rural communities, that is the end of mining,” Barilaro said.

Climate change and greenhouse gas emissions are currently a hot topic, and it is challenging to deny that our environment is not experiencing great change, see the Q&A - Bushfire Special debate. What is less clear is; what would changed climate policy look like? There has been many discussions about how communities might cope with switching from reliance on coal jobs, to renewables, see Q&A - Climate Solutions. Based on the discussions, it seems quite achievable for communities to do the conversion in harmony, but that may not a desirable outcome for those with investment in the unnatural emissions category...

A Different Perspective on Emissions definitions:

Unnatural emissions that is man-made:

coal burning
natural gas (which is largely methane), which often escapes in large volumes where it is extracted from deep earth
mining for the minerals that results in the making of synthetic fertilisers used in agriculture

Natural emissions that is part of natural cycles:

carbon released from living plants and the soil through bushfires
methane and other gasses produced by ruminants like cattle

A clear divide in emission types is possible

Unnatural emissions and natural emissions can easily depart in different directions if allowed to do so. This is already happening in the USA and New Zealand as regenerative agriculture and biological farming are seeing farmers ditch the chemical fertilisers. Farmers are adopting the growing of a large diversity of plants with cover crops for grazing, and the right set of soil microbes that sequesters carbon and nutrient cycles to create a large biomass of green plants as nutrient-dense animal food. Regenerative farming was one of the top 10 most censored news articles of 2018, and the Australian media has been delivering watered down articles on the topic ever since. Who is actually behind this? Could it be those in the unnatural emissions category?

The recognition that Australia should turn to the wisdom of aboriginal people when it comes to the land management practices and fuel reduction burning, is also very positive. Perhaps Australian policy change might even remove the regulatory obstacles that prevent farmers and others in charge of large areas of land, to manage the land better. Regulatory obstacles and government ignorance played a role in the ferocity of the bushfires, and the release of massive amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, after all.

New industries are attempting to be ‘green’

The content of the Australian government’s 2030 climate change target is currently under review. There is also the Federal government research, the Agrifutures’ Agriculture - a $100b sector by 2030? document, and a National Farmers Federation 2030 roadmap, that dictates the planned direction of agriculture.

New industries that have never existed before are attempting to establish themselves under the sustainable banner. New disruptive technologies are advertised as having economic, environmental, and social benefits. They are often promoted for potential job creation, export potential, and some a potential for fetching a premium price. They may have all the appearance of goodness, but are they really wholesome and benevolent?

Low methane emissions solutions for livestock

New projects have started to investigate the use the antibacterial activity innate in a certain kind of seaweed as a livestock supplement to supposedly reduce livestock methane emissions. However, there is concern that it may be tampering with the microflora of cattle. We have already established that anything that tampers with the delicate microbial balance in the rumen of a dairy cow, could have consequences for the animal’s health, and suitability of that animal to produce raw drinking milk. The natural heat producing bio-digester of a cow has a very distinct purpose; microbial fermentation that processes pasture on the cow’s behalf, and make nutrients available to them. This has to be respected. This paper cautions that the practice of supplementing cattle feed with seaweed may not be a realistic strategy to battle climate change. Read more about it here.

GMOs & Gene Editing

There are many resources on GMOs that show they are not beneficial for mankind or animals. The issue of GM-fed animals speaks to the heart of consumer choice, which is often ignored. As this GMOs & Farm Animals: An overview leaflet shows, reports from farmers suggest GM feed increases problems for the animals, and that switching back to a non-GM feed resolved issues. The natural diet of farm animals is grass and forage, not grains used in the industrial livestock system, which focuses on yield. Grain-based diets can produce serious digestive tract problems for cows, goats and sheep, because their stomachs are best suited to digesting high cellulose plants like grass. We have a duty of care to our farm animals, and also the food safety of animal products.

Other disruptive technologies

The Federal government’s own research show that there are many more disruptive technologies in the pipeline for Australia. Page 24 of the Emerging technologies in agriculture: Consumer perceptions around emerging Agtech document, shows that gene editing, synthetic biology (lab grown meat and milk), and nanomaterials are noted as “potentially high risk” in terms of negative consumer perceptions. Both government and industry are intently aware of the risks, at a time where there is a growing momentum for a return to what consumers perceive as more natural production systems (e.g. smaller scale, without use of large equipment or synthetic outputs).

Australia is dependent on agriculture

Australia depends on agriculture for its prosperity, but at the moment some rural Australian towns also depend on mining businesses for jobs. Over-the-top food safety regulations prevents rural Australians from starting cottage food industries that would fetch a premium, and make rural Australia prosperous again. There is huge potential for a rural revival if artisan foods like raw drinking milk and raw milk cheese were expanded. ABC’s The Drum (13 February) makes it look like some rural towns have nothing else going for them except the dependence on coal. Some of these towns have fertile grasslands around them, where the majority of dairy farms have closed down, because they could not make a living selling milk to the processor. Some of these areas don’t have any dairy farms anymore.

We have a vast resource that can restore rural Australia’s prosperity; grassland that produce real nutrient-dense food, and sequester carbon back into the soil rapidly if done right. However, the odds against it are stacked high. There is some commercial interest/s who seems to prefer that the full potential of Australia’s grasslands remain un-utilised. In addition, vast areas of monoculture ryegrass pasture are still maintained on some Australian dairy farms, often grown with synthetic fertilisers, or even herbicides to kill weeds, that may disrupt soil microbe actions. Science show that plant monocultures don’t encourage a large variety of soil microbes, and because there is less plant and microbial diversity benefits, there are less nutrient-cycling and less carbon sequestration. It is a wasted opportunity…

Disruptive natural disasters

As if the drought and bushfires weren’t enough, parts of New South Wales and SE Queensland have received torrential rainfall. The news showed large-scale flooding of brown water mass. This is the topsoil of the previously dry farmland that is now washing off-farm. The flooded Tweed Shire was declared a natural disaster this week. Also, for the first time this bushfire season, all bushfires are contained, due to the rainfall.

The occurrence of longer dry periods and the flash flooding seen recently, increases the need for more permanent multi-species grasslands with deep roots, to protect the soil, and keep it hydrated and unlikely to burn easily. The plants and soil microbes together also sequester carbon into the soil, and increase food security.

National Regenerative Agriculture Day 2020

Valentines day is the national day when regenerative agriculture is celebrated in Australia. Follow the social media hashtag #heartyourfarmer.

““Take hope, for the earth’s ability to restore and regenerate has been vastly underestimated.””

— A National Regenerative Agriculture Day t-shirt slogan

National Climate Emergency Summit 2020

"The fact is coal has been historically very important to this country, delivered a large part of the wealth we now enjoy," Ian Dunlop told reporters ahead of the summit.

"There comes a point where you can have too much of a good thing.

"We can't keep any longer using coal and have a sustainable, liveable climate, so we have to change."

The annual National Climate Emergency Summit also starts today in Melbourne, see the program here. Follow the social media hashtags #NCESummit2020 and #AustraliaDeclares. In a press conference, former coal industry head and former chair of the Australian Coal Association Ian Dunlop, spoke of the need to avoid ‘societal breakdown’ through a rapid transition which supports ‘more jobs in different industries’.

Main stage and breakout sessions will be recorded and made available in video or podcast format after the event, see their YouTube channel. Key speakers are Peter Garrett, Ian Dunlop, and Michael Mann, who are behind the decarbonising of the economy, watch this 12 minute clip.

The future of Coal?

According to this article, the future of coal has already been decided in boardrooms.

Early last month, secret internal documents detailing ANZ's rapid retreat from coal hit the news. Later, the world's biggest investment house Blackrock, announced it was drastically reducing its exposure to thermal coal. The impacts of climate change are no longer subtle. Yet there is still an internal Coalition war over climate change raging. And even if coal is ditched, there still needs to be a national discussion on soil carbon sequestration, the conservation of soil microbiome, and the creation of more nutrient-dense food systems in Australia. We have a long way to go, and the most important aspects of the climate of change is somewhat under media censorship.