Australian Farm Institute 2019 Roundtable Session: History and future of ecosystem services Facilitator: AFI Executive Director Richard Heath Guest speaker: Mick Keogh, Deputy Chair of Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Presentation summary: Mick Keogh told the AFI Roundtable that Government attempts to establish markets that pay farmers to protect the environment fall short of what’s needed to achieve good outcomes. He said increasing market-based incentives and minimising regulation have the potential to generate significant environmental benefits and help drought-proof farm inco ..read more

A landholder’s guide to participate in soil carbon farming in Australia In this episode we interview the authors of our latest occasional paper which looks at the benefits and costs to landholders of participating in soil carbon farming. AFI Executive Director, Richard Heath chats with guests Professors Robert White, Brian Davidson and Richard Eckard. Download the paper here, or copy and paste the following link into your web browser https://www.farminstitute.org.au/publication/a-landholders-guide-to-participate-in-soil-carbon-farming-in-australia ..read more

In this podcast, AFI’s Richard Heath is joined by the authors of a discussion paper the AFI has published on the rising opportunity cost of water for a chat on how this issue impacts the southern Murray-Darling Basin. Host: Richard Heath, Executive Director, AFI Guests: Dr Leigh Vial - Primary producer, Director of SunRice, Adjunct Fellow at the University of Queensland, and a former Head of the International Rice Research Institute's Experiment Station (Philippines). Andrew Bomm - Independent consultant, Progressive Agriculture To download the episode visit - www.farminstitute.org.au ..read more

Australian Farm Institute 2019 Roundtable Session: Opportunities to build natural capital Facilitator: AFI General Manager, Katie McRobert Guest speaker: Dr. Stuart Whitten, Economist at CSIRO Land & Water Presentation summary: Dr Whitten discussed natural capital market design at the AFI Roundtable, noting that reasons we are interested in markets are: · Placing positive incentives on desired outcomes · Flexibility in individual responses · Encouraging cheapest effective change In combination these can drive innovation and the “gains from trade” that create new and better ways to secure t ..read more

Australian Farm Institute 2019 Roundtable Session: Opportunities to build natural capital Facilitator: AFI General Manager, Katie McRobert Guest speaker: Tim Beshara, Federal Policy Director of The Wilderness Society Presentation summary: Tim’s role with The Wilderness Society is to engage with parliament and industry around biodiversity law reform. Tim has a background in environmental restoration and invasive species management and has extensive experience of how environmental policy is made including the role of ministers, political parties, ENGO groups, parliament and the press gallery. At ..read more

Australian Farm Institute 2019 Roundtable Session: Opportunities to build natural capital Facilitator: AFI General Manager, Katie McRobert Guest speaker: Dr. Manu Saunders, Ecologist at University of New England Presentation summary: Ecosystem services already play an invisible role in Australian agriculture, Dr Saunders told the AFI Roundtable. Production on many farms benefits from wild pollinators, natural enemies, healthy soil and native vegetation. The challenge, she said, is to find better ways to manage landscapes to sustain and value those ecosystems services, not deplete their supply ..read more

Australian Farm Institute 2019 Roundtable Session: What support is needed to progress implementation of ecosystem services? Facilitator: AFI Chair, Andrew Spencer Guest speaker: Jock Whittle, Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) & CEO Paraway Pastoral Company Presentation summary: Ag has a role to play in a low carbon future, Jock Whittle told the AFI Roundtable, and must find ways to halve emissions by 2050 yet increase food calorie production by 60% in the same period. Measurement is a challenge the industry needs to address, and MIRA are working with CSIRO to develop an emiss ..read more

Australian Farm Institute 2019 Roundtable Session: What support is needed to progress implementation of ecosystem services? Facilitator: AFI Chair, Andrew Spencer Guest speaker: Prof. Richard Eckard, Director of Primary Industries Climate Challenges Centre Presentation summary: Prof. Eckard noted that funding and pricing ecosystem services is not a new discussion, and the supply chain needs good indicators of sustainability. He also noted that of the 100 largest global economies, 31 are countries and 69 are companies – perhaps market forces are now more influential than government policy. In a ..read more

Australian Farm Institute 2019 Roundtable Session: What support is needed to progress implementation of ecosystem services? Facilitator: AFI Chair, Andrew Spencer Guest speaker: John Woods, Chair of Grains Research Development Corporation Presentation summary: John Woods discussed the ongoing work of ensuring future sustainability for the Australian grains industry, with a focus on nitrogen use, market access, natural capital and farm business health. Click or copy/paste link below for Roundtable slide decks and speech transcripts farminstitute.org.au/news-and-events/ART_2019/Roundtable-2019-s ..read more

Australian Farm Institute 2019 Roundtable Session: History and future of ecosystem services Facilitator: AFI Executive Director Richard Heath Guest speaker: Dr. John Hewson, Chair of Business Council for Sustainable Development Australia Presentation summary: Former Liberal leader John Hewson delivered a scathing rebuke of the Government's climate change policy at the Roundtable, saying "we don't have a sense of urgency to achieve these emission reduction targets". Dr Hewson argued that regenerative agriculture can offset future emissions and supported plans for a HECS-style scheme that would ..read more