Nick Radford shares his experience and lessons learnt at a recent Carbon EDGE workshop
It's been a challenging year on Nick Radford's SA property, but despite dry conditions keeping him busy, the beef producer is keeping one eye firmly on the future.
When it comes to ensuring his business prospers in the long term, Nick is focused on addressing emissions within his operations. He recently attended an MLA Carbon EDGE workshop to learn how.
"I wanted a better understanding of it all, particularly carbon credits and carbon trading," Nick said.
"I felt like I was a bit naïve, but knew it was something I wanted to be across."
At his family enterprise near Penola, SA, keeping up with industry best practice has always been an important consideration.
"We're always trying to find the next thing to do properly and stay ahead of the curve, and carbon is one of the areas which is going to get a lot of traction going forward," he said.
"We wanted to get in early and find out a bit more about the carbon space to maximise the benefit to our business."
Making a move
As he manages the impact of the severely dry year, there's been little time for Nick to focus on implementing any new processes within his business in recent months.
However, when time allows, his priority will be working towards a new benchmark for his business – measuring the carbon emissions on his property.
"Our energy is focused on business survival at the moment, but then we'll look at getting a third party in to measure our emissions," Nick said.
Despite the delay, Nick's carbon journey isn't stagnant.
"Carbon EDGE explained a lot of misconceptions I had about what it would mean for my business – what I learned is that best farming practice aligns with the practices of carbon sequestration," he said.
"It turns out we're already doing a lot of the basics to sequester carbon, so as far as implementation, there's probably not much we're going to change – other than measuring whether it's working."
On-farm changes
Nick has already implemented a range of management practices which put him on the front foot.
"We have a lot of shelterbelts on our farms, a lot of scattered trees, and we lock up some more natural areas, although at the moment they're not measured for carbon sequestration."
After tying together those elements by measuring the impact they're having, Nick is hoping his efforts will work towards a bigger goal.
"In the long term, it would be great to work towards being carbon neutral. We're a cattle-only business, so methane is something we're eager to address.
"Hopefully applying what I learned at Carbon EDGE and continuing what we were already doing will help move us towards carbon neutrality."
Getting a leg up
During the two-day Carbon EDGE workshop, Nick and other producers learned everything from the basic terminology and concepts, to developing a carbon action plan tailored to their individual enterprises.
"The workshop was filled with like-minded and open-minded producers, and to hear everyone else in a candid environment asking the questions that I had was really valuable," Nick said.
"It was a great opportunity to learn more about it among people who knew just as little as me."
MLA's Carbon EDGE workshop, which launched in early 2024, was developed by producers, advisors and industry experts to ensure it was practical and applicable to all producers.
The workshops are aimed at providing the knowledge and skills required as the red meat industry works towards the target of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 (CN30).
Nick said taking the time away from his property to build his skills will be invaluable for his business.
"Like anything new, it will be a slight challenge while we build up our knowledge, but the more you do, the more of a leg up it is.
"When it comes to carbon emissions and a producer's footprint, it's something they need to measure and move forward with to ensure best practice and accountability."
