Katanning Research Facility on path to be carbon neutral by 2030

A major flock restructure and paddock renovations are under way as part of WA’s premier sheep research facility’s ambitious plan to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030.

It is hoped the trials will help farmers tap into low-carbon or carbon-neutral export markets.

It comes after the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development identified its Katanning Research Facility as a “significant greenhouse gas emitter” and commissioned a report to investigate how its carbon footprint could be reduced.

After Meat and Livestock Australia announced its aim to become carbon neutral by 2030 last year, DPIRD set the same target for the Great Southern facility.

While it does not have the same profitability drivers of a large-scale commercial mixed enterprise farm, it is hoped it will become a “demonstration farm” to showcase options to reduce on-farm emissions for growers and help them tap into low-carbon or carbon-neutral export markets.

The 2100ha farm, which runs about 7000 sheep, is predominantly focused on sheep and wool research, with construction of a $2.8 million State Government-funded “nationally significant” sheep-feed efficiency shed under way.

The department last year engaged a consultant to calculate the facility’s baseline carbon footprint derived from 2018 and 2019 data and develop an emissions-reduction strategy.

“We’ve been through the process since 2006 of researching our emissions on our research stations and we wanted to set ourselves a target of becoming carbon neutral as well,” DPIRD senior development officer Mandy Curnow said.

“(We want) to find out how we do it, where are the gaps, what can we learn to help others through the same process...and to reduce our emissions.”

The facility in 2018 emitted 2406 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per hectare and 2553 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per hectare in 2019, 61 per cent of which stemmed from methane produced by the sheep.

With plans to wind that back to 2500 this year — and down to just 500 in 2024 — the State Government identified six opportunities to reduce emissions.

This included restructuring the facility’s flock to reduce stock numbers, improving pasture legume content, changing pasture species, reducing erosion, manuring and trialling methane-mitigating feedstuffs.

This year, staff at the facility will look to move on unproductive ewes and buy in more maiden ewes, with the aim to reduce the flock by 30 per cent.

It’s about having a more productive flock and making sure every animals counts.

“Turning them off quicker and getting them to breeding weight quicker, which lowers the intensity of emissions and the stocking rate.”

While Ms Curnow said reducing stock was not the advice for farmers, she said ensuring every animal was productive and lowering emission intensity would be useful for those looking to tap into export markets with carbon footprint in mind.

“Even if you haven’t achieved carbon-neutral status, you’ll still be able to access those markets,” Ms Curnow said.

The facility is also growing more cereals, undergoing paddock renovations and staff will begin saltbush and biodiversity plantings later this year.

Another change includes sourcing lupins from outside the facility, instead of growing them on-site, where Ms Curnow said they were getting low yields for high inputs.

She hoped the trials being undertaken would not only reduce emissions, but provide farmers with the opportunity to see what changes had been successful in reducing emissions and how they could apply that.

For farmers interested in reducing their carbon footprint, she said it was “all about the data” and the more they had, the more accurate estimate of their farm carbon account they would get back.