OFCA Newsletter - April 2026
Dear all,
In this April issue of our On-farm Carbon Advice newsletter, we review the Trangie Demonstration Day, preview upcoming events on the North Coast and in the Hawkesbury, have a callout to Grain and Cotton growers and provide details of our next Webinar. We have also included some links to useful resources.
In this issue we share some upcoming events and activities from the team including an update on how the Trangie Agricultural Research Station livestock methane reduction and feed supplement demonstrations are progressing.
Low Emissions Livestock Demonstration Field Day at Trangie
On 20 March, NSW DPIRD’s On-farm Carbon Advice team and the Farms of the Future team delivered a Low Emissions Livestock Demonstration field day at the Trangie Agriculture Research Centre.
Thirty farmers, industry representatives, school students and researchers came together to hear insights about:
- On-farm greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions especially around extensive livestock,
- Demonstrations on how technology, such as livestock weighing and active ear tags can support farmers in data capture and decision-making including understanding dashboards for animal management, and how decisions impact emissions,
- The use of dietary supplements to potentially reduce enteric methane,
- How Agtech, including virtual fencing, can help farmers in the future.
Upcoming events
North Coast Farming Forum: climate adaptive agriculture
When: Thursday 7 – Friday 8 May
Where: Banyula Farm, Clunes
Cost: $25 per person (includes both days and catering)
The event will be MCed by Costa Georgiadis and keynote speakers include:
- Dr Anika Molesworth, farmer, scientist and storyteller
- Richard Heath, CEO of the Zero Net Emissions Agriculture CRC
- Dr Susan Orgill, Chief Scientist at Impact Ag Australia.
The program includes:
- On‑farm field trips at Banyula Farm, showcasing landscape repair and rehydration projects, integrated orchard management, and environmental plantings
- Targeted livestock and horticulture sessions with practical, localised climate risk management actions
- Carbon and environmental markets—explained simply, including what they mean for your farm, Agtech fundamentals workshop & demonstrations via the Farms of the Future Mobile Learning Centre
- Clare Edwards from the On-farm Carbon Advice team will present on Farm Carbon Measurement and Management demonstration field trip and will deliver a short presentation on carbon farming.
👉 View the detailed program and register:
https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/local-land-services/events/north-coast-farming-forum
Farming on the fringe: Healthy Landscapes, Food and Communities
When: Friday 15 May 8:30am – 4:30 pm
Where: Ted McCabe Function Centre at Hawkesbury Race Club, Clarendon
Cost: $50 per person ($75 for two (includes lunch, morning and afternoon tea)
This one-day event will be delivered by Greater Sydney Local Land Services. The topics for this event will explore opportunities for natural capital, carbon farming, soil health and environmental markets and practical strategies for selling produce straight to consumers. The event will be MCed by Chris Bath and keynote speakers include Rachel Ward and Robert Pekin. The day will also include a mini trade show. There will be several expert presentations on natural capital and local landholders will share their experience and knowledge of managing natural resources and conservation together with improving farm productivity and profitability.
👉 View program information and register here:
https://events.humanitix.com/farming-on-the-fringe-clarednon-may-2026
Opportunities for farmers
Calling Grain or Cotton Growers to demonstrate emissions reduction practices
NSW DPIRD is looking to collaborate with commercial grain growers and cotton growers to assess the impact of greenhouse gas emissions reduction practices.
If you're producing grains or cotton in NSW and are implementing (or intend to implement) practices that cut greenhouse gas emissions, we invite you to register your interest to participate in the Low Emissions Intensity Farming Systems (LEIFS) initiative using the link below.
👉 Find out more: See the LEIFS website or 📧 leifs@dpird.nsw.gov.au
Why be involved?
By participating in the LEIFS initiative, you will:
- Demonstrate, on your farm, evidence-based strategies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, without sacrificing productivity. The project demonstration period is 1 or 3 years, depending on the strategy, between 2026 and 2029.
- Receive an estimate of the emissions intensity (emissions per tonne of product) of crops grown on your demonstration site.
- Receive an annual payment of $5,000 for each eligible strategy implemented for providing NSW DPIRD with access to your data. NSW DPIRD will use your quantitative data to calculate the emissions intensity of crops grown on your demonstration site. We're also interested in your feedback on your experience of implementing the strategies, which will be used to better understand the pros and cons of implementing emissions reduction strategies.
- Have the opportunity to share your knowledge and learn from other growers by participating in group discussions and field day events (with the option to host a field day at your farm).
- Gain insight into the technology that NSW DPIRD will develop to streamline the process to calculate emissions and, if desired, transfer emissions data to the supply chain.
Webinar Series
Join us for the final installment in our webinar series which will cover key insights from the On-farm Carbon Advice Project which started in 2022 and will come to end in June 2026. The aim of the project was to empower farmers with the knowledge to make informed decisions regarding their on-farm emissions and explore effective mitigation strategies.
📆 When: Wednesday, 20 May 2026
⏰ 1:00pm – 2:00pm
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/4cvK6cs
On this website, you will find recordings of all previous webinars covering a range of topics including;
- Soil carbon, its limits and opportunities,
- Pasture species mixes aimed to reduce emissions,
- Sheep and beef genetics for lower enteric methane emissions,
- Technology to monitor feed supplement intake,
- Nitrogen use efficiency,
- Biological nitrogen fixation and novel fertilisers,
- Biochar, what is it and opportunities for agriculture.
Online resources
Making cent$ of carbon and emissions on-farm
Recently, Agriculture Victoria published a new edition of the ‘Making cents$ of carbon and emissions on-farm' booklet. It is a well written publication aimed to provide information on management options that lower on-farm emissions and may also reduce operating costs and improve profits along the way. The booklet includes a check list to help readers navigate how to manage carbon and emissions on farms. Sections in the booklet include; understanding your emissions footprint and emissions intensity, how to collect data and record it and information on embedded or purchased emissions. It specifically looks at the farm’s energy, livestock, fertiliser, effluent and manure management emissions. It also covers sections on trees and healthy soils. Lastly, it pulls the whole farm business management together and summaries options on how farms can prepare for the future.
👉 access a copy of the booklet here: https://agriculture.vic.gov.au/climate-and-weather/understanding-carbon-and-emissions/making-cents-of-carbon-and-emissions-on-farm/Making-Cents-of-Carbon.pdf
Energy – Increasing efficiency, renewable energy and emissions reduction
If fuel and energy are top of your mind, the following website, https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/dpi/climate/energy/clean-energy, has a series of practical resources to support farmers in taking small low cost actions to improve fuel efficiency and potential ways to assist managing rising input costs. There are some great practical tips and general factsheets especially around tractor energy efficiency. There is also a great resource of information on bioenergy including; biodiesel, renewable diesel, bioethanol, biogas and biomass.
The Carbon Farming Community of Practice (CommPrac) is your trusted hub and knowledge bank for current information and resources on carbon farming and on-farm emissions management in NSW, providing regular newsletters and engaging webinars.
Thank you for being part of the Carbon Farming Community of Practice. Together, we are building a low-emissions future for NSW agriculture.
Kind regards,
The On-Farm Carbon Advice Team