Page 9 - Australian Pork Newspaper

Global climate talks and their meaning
Environmental Policy
‘phase down’ in the pact. There is some concern that the actions taken failed to turn things around, but at the end of the two weeks signifi- cant progress was made
AHDB explores impact of UK-Australia FTA
IN its latest Horizon re- port, Britain’s Agricul- ture and Horticulture Development Board as- sesses the potential im- pact of a new trade deal with Australia – the first negotiated from scratch.
through the speculation and provide evidence- based analysis on the op- portunities and risks for our industry.”
the form of higher value cuts for the food service sector, the report states.
The new report of- fers in-depth analysis of Australian agricultural production and trade and assesses its potential competitiveness in the UK marketplace.
The forecasted expan- sion of the Australian cattle herd represents a risk to the UK market.
It also outlines possible opportunities for UK agri-food products in the Australian market.
This is due in part to more lucrative opportu- nities and market expan- sion close to the UK.
As Australia is a net importer of cheese, a UK-Australia trade deal offers opportunity for UK exporters when prices are favourable.
The report is aimed at farmers, growers, policymakers and other agri-food stakeholders, as they plan for the fu- ture.
The report does how- ever highlight several risks.
AHDB head of stra- tegic insight David Swales said, “Trade deals always cause a great deal of debate, with predictions of either un- told benefits or devas- tating impacts.”
For the lamb sector, the model used makes the assumption that Aus- tralia prefers to trade with China.
However, the model does consider Australian weather, which can create market fluctua- tions in terms of supply and demand.
“We wanted to cut
However, if Australia were to lose their corner in that market, product could emerge in the global market, which could undercut the do- mestic market in the UK.
“Farmers and producers need to prepare for this period of change, which is occurring against the backdrop of our own structural change in farm policy, to enable the UK to compete in a more global setting,” Mr Swales said.
Due to the size and scale of Australian agri- culture, there is limited scope for UK producers to compete at the com- modity level.
If this happens, de- mand and therefore do- mestic prices are likely to be impacted.
The report’s authors believe markets will re- main unchanged in the short term.
Despite extreme weather variation in Australia, an oversup- plied market could lead to further imports than the model predicts.
As the report points out, the UK has a highly developed, high-income market, which only in- creases its attractiveness as a destination for Aus- tralian lamb.
“Australia might be the first new trade deal the UK negotiated but it certainly won’t be the last.”
Australian beef im- ports are likely to be in
LAST month marked what was hoped to be a turning point for cli- mate change.
percent by 2030.
The pork industry al-
The 2021 United Na- tions Climate Change Conference – also re- ferred to as COP26 – was held over two weeks in November, with an urgent focus on ‘keeping 1.5C alive’.
ready has a commitment to low emissions – ad- dressing methane which is generated when ma- nure is managed using effluent ponds, stock- piling or composting.
In other words, lim- iting global warming to 1.5C to stay well below 2C.
far more economically viable for producers across a range of scales.
Depending on manure management, methane currently makes up be- tween 40-75 percent of emissions for a conven- tional piggery, 20 perv- cent for deep litter and 6 percent for outdoor free range systems.
This goal is not new.
As an example, the Australian spot price for carbon credits was $36.75 on November 16 while the European Union spot price was $97.88 ($63.27 Euro) on November 12.
It formed part of the Paris Agreement six years ago at COP21 how- ever, the world is falling short on its promises.
in particular areas.
There are already op- portunities for pork pro- ducers to access carbon credits for methane de- struction through the Emissions Reduction Fund Animal Effluent Method.
A report by the UN revealed that continuing with current pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions would result in a catastrophic 2.7C temperature rise by the end of the century.
Deforestation
The latest Glasgow Climate Pact signed by participating nations, acknowledges that ex- isting Nationally Deter- mined Contributions – which outline roadmaps of action – are not suf- ficient to keep the goal of 1.5C alive.
Methane is a green- house gas that warms the atmosphere up to 80 times more than the same amount of carbon dioxide.
The Emissions Reduc- tion Fund has released a new biomethane method for public consultation, closing November 30.
Countries will be re- quired update their NDCs for COP27, which will be held in Egypt next year.
New carbon trading rules may create an op- portunity for Australian generated credits to be traded internationally.
During COP26, over 100 countries – not including Australia – signed the Global Methane Pledge to re- duce methane by 30
Despite this conclu- sion, the wording around fossil fuels was softened from ‘phase out’ to
By trading credits at international prices, adopting technology such as biogas would be
by KIRSTY COOPER
Over 100 countries, including Australia, signed up to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030.
Methane
While this commit- ment is not expected to have significant impact on Australian agricul- ture, it may have an im- pact on the price of soy in the future due to its association with forest clearing in South Amer- ican countries.
The US and EU an- nounced the Global Methane Pledge before COP26 started.
Last week the design phase of a new tool – the ADAdvisor – was re- leased to support assess- ment of initial economic feasibility of biogas creation and collection – anaerobic digestion.
Carbon trading
The focus of the pledge is reducing emissions from natural gas mining and processing, however agriculture is also a key source of methane glob- ally.
To find out more about the options available on farm such as solid sepa- ration, covered ponds and biodigesters, con- tact Kirsty Cooper at kirsty.cooper@australi anpork.com.au or call 0437 177 527.
Bossini
horizontal feedmixer 6m3 – 14m3, from $41,800
Slurry Tanker, 3,500 - 40,000 litres Very high capacity vacuum pump Steering axles
Rear hydraulic linkage
All prices are inclusive of GST
OzValue AG Queensland
103 River Road, Kingaroy P. 07 4162 2100
ILGI
CELIKEL
vertical feedmixer 6m3 – 20m3, from $40,700
UNVERFERTH
grain chaser bin 30 tonnes - $132,000
GTS
grader 4.2m blade
ILGI
disc tillers 2.5m – 6m from $17,600
STUART RIVER
hay rakes, V rakes, inline rakes and rotary rakes from $1,705
ILGI
Megastar offsets 20 - 64 pl
from $15,180
CELIKEL
land levellers
4m – 6m, from $11,000 (laser options also available)
Carl Rackemann
State Manager
OzValue AG Queensland
www.porknews.com.au
Australian Pork Newspaper, December 2021 – Page 9