Julian Carroll seeks to gain preferential access to markets for his high-end, high-marbling feedlot Angus steers by identifying their carbon footprint.
Seventeen per cent of the commercial enterprise at Round Hill is planted to native eucalypts that will peak at 20 years.
Mudgegonga cattle producer Julian Carroll has one long-term goal among his targets for measuring carbon emissions within the production process — gaining preferential access to markets for his high-end, high-marbling feedlot Angus steers by identifying their carbon footprint.
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Mr Carroll will be one of the speakers at the Farming Carbon 2023 Conference, which will be hosted at the George Kerferd Hotel in Beechworth on Tuesday, February 28 between 9.30am and 4.30pm.
The conference, which aims to meet a growing need to promote awareness of what carbon farming is all about, is supported by North East Catchment Management Authority.
“The issues around measuring carbon emissions — probably one of the most widely talked about topics in producer networks now — are causing quite a bit of concern and confusion. There is a lack of understanding,” Mr Carroll said.
Mr Carroll is principal of the seedstock enterprise Stellar Livestock and manager of the family’s commercial enterprise Round Hill, which comprises 350 Angus females producing steers for the European Union feedlot market.
He said he was passionate about employing best practice farming systems.
For the past two years he has been calculating the carbon footprint of the commercial enterprise as part of Agriculture Victoria’s Livestock Farm Monitor Project.
“With two years of data now, it’s a challenging picture; our emissions are 10 times the amount of what we have sequestered,” Mr Carroll said.
Angus steers at Round Hill, Mudgegonga.
“Seventeen per cent of the commercial enterprise is planted to native eucalypts but they are all very young, having been planted in a flurry of activity in the past four years.
“They will peak at 20 years and we will see where the net carbon footprint improves significantly and how we compare with other producers in terms of carbon use intensity.”
The Carrolls’ commercial beef enterprise is a pilot farm in another Agriculture Victoria program, the On Farm Emissions Reduction Plan.
After analysing the business with an expert in livestock carbon emissions, they are aiming to optimise the feeding system in their stock containment areas, to increase the rate at which they turn off their young steers.
“If we can bring forward our turn-off dates by two weeks for a B-double truckload of 75 to 78 steers we can reduce net emissions by 1.7 per cent,” Mr Carroll said.
“The project is about improving our performance in autumn and winter when traditionally our growth rates are slow, by investing in more sophisticated feeding infrastructure and getting better efficiency out of our feed, steers will hit the spec sooner, and the reproductive performance of our young females will improve.
“Traditionally we yard wean our calves and hold them in containment until there is good quality feed in the paddocks.
“We will feed chopped silage into concrete feed bunkers rather than onto the ground, and it also sets us up to be feed additive ready for the future.
“When considering emission reduction strategies, I am interested in identifying those that decrease our carbon emissions, improve natural capital and biodiversity, and increase profitability.
