P.PSH.2016 - Development of carbon management eLearning modules

Summary

In partnership with Greenham, MLA developed a series of four eLearning modules to provide livestock producers with foundational information about carbon on-farm and enable them to take steps to better understand their own situation and make informed decisions.

The project resulted in the development of four separate modules:
1. Module 1 Carbon 101
2. Module 2 Carbon in action
3. Module 3 Measuring your own emissions
4. Module 4 Carbon sense.

Objectives

The objectives of the project were to produce four separate, but linked carbon accounting and GHG emissions/carbon 101 eLearning modules, to provide basic education about on-farm carbon management for producers to make informed management decisions within their businesses.
• Module 1 (Carbon 101) provides foundational information on GHG emissions, understanding GHG gases relevant to agriculture, including the carbon cycle, and gives producers an understanding of the language of carbon.
• Module 2 (Carbon in Action) provides an overview of how to use the Quick Start Carbon Calculator to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from your farming operations. It also gives an estimate of how much pasture growth and tree planting would be necessary to balance the emissions on your farm. The tool will help you understand the key concepts around livestock emissions before using the MLA Carbon Calculator to conduct more detailed emissions estimates.
• Module 3 (Measuring your own emissions) offers a series of short instructional videos for using the SB-GAF tool, allowing producers to undertake their own carbon account.
• Module 4 (Carbon Sense) helps producers to identify opportunities for improvement in the context of their business, by providing high level overviews of the opportunities and relevant case studies.

Key findings

All objectives of this project were achieved.

Benefits to industry

This project has resulted in a series of four eLearning modules which are available for anyone to use, free of charge. These modules are an excellent start in the learning journey for producers wanting to understand the language around carbon, what data is needed for a carbon account and how to undertake SB-GAF and steps that can be taken on farm to reduce emissions.

MLA action

The eLearning modules have been made available to the general public via MyMLA ‘The Toolbox’.

Future research

There is no future research required in the short term.