CSIRO maps investment priorities for more than 80 farm emissions technologies over three horizons

The method behind the horizons is consultation. CSIRO drew on more than 80 experts from rural research and development corporations, state and territorial agricultural agencies, universities and industry, through workshops, interviews and review ^[4]. That count is separate from the more than 80 technologies assessed across red meat and sheep, dairy, cropping, horticulture, pigs and poultry ^[1].

The horizons run from now to 2030, from 2030 to 2035, and beyond 2035 ^[3]. The technologies sit at different stages of maturity, from well-demonstrated biomass digesters to emerging anti-methanogenic livestock vaccines ^[2]. We'd expect the proven options to cluster early and the vaccines late. The phys.org summary does not place any single technology in a horizon or report an abatement figure for one.

The adoption finding is the one to read before treating any ranking as a leaderboard. According to the report, the technical performance of the options alone is a poor predictor of whether farmers adopt them. Uptake depended heavily on cost and return on investment, and also on ease of use, delivery, trusted data and market value ^[6]. A technology that tops a performance table can still sit unused on the farm.

Dr. Michael Battaglia, joint lead author, said: "For producers, reducing emissions cannot be separated from running productive and profitable farming businesses." ^[10]

"There is no single technology that will deliver lower-emissions agriculture across Australia's diverse farming systems," said joint lead author Dr. Peat Leith, who leads a team in CSIRO's Agriculture and Food research unit ^[5]. Battaglia said the sector would likely need combinations, or "stacks," of technologies and practices suited to particular farming systems ^[7]. In our view that makes the combination the unit of investment, and a list of 80-plus single technologies can only point toward it.

In the near term the authors expect only modest cuts in emissions. In their account, early work lays the foundations for larger contributions in the medium term by increasing the confidence, capability and coordination needed to scale ^[8]. Measurement is part of that. "Continued development of Australia's monitoring, reporting and verification systems will be important as demand for lower-emissions production grows," Battaglia said ^[9]. He added: "Building on work already underway can make it easier for farmers to demonstrate emissions outcomes and access markets that value them." ^[12]

The report sits alongside efforts already in progress at the rural R&D corporations, in state governments and the Australian government, in industry bodies and at the Zero Net Emissions Agriculture Cooperative Research Center ^[11].