L.SFP.1000 - Grant agreemnt for the Smart Farming Partnerships grant
Did you know that producers are looking for an intuitive way to demonstrate sustainable on farm practices to the supply chain? The Environmental Credentials platform looks to fill that gap and is centered around five sustainability themes.
| Project start date: | 17 March 2020 |
| Project end date: | 30 May 2024 |
| Publication date: | 26 November 2024 |
| Project status: | Completed |
| Livestock species: | Grain-fed Cattle, Grass-fed Cattle, Sheep, Goat, Lamb |
| Relevant regions: | National |
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Summary
The project will deliver a national, opt-in system for demonstrating minimum land management and sustainability credentials as a model for expansion to a larger suite of sustainability credentials. This project will develop and pilot a national framework aligned to the ABSF for demonstration of environmental sustainability credentials for the Australian beef industry and an aligned online monitoring, benchmarking and verification tool. This was fully funded by the federal government through the Smart Farming Partnerships grant and lead by a consortium made up of MLA, WWF Australia and UQ.
Objectives
To produce a platform that allows producers to demonstrate sustainable on-farm practices and practice change over time to the supply chain.
Key findings
There is a growing demand for sustainability data but not all services currently available to producers is accessible with some being cost prohibitive. This platform looks to fill that gap. With mandatory sustainable reporting coming into effect, the need to demonstrate sustainable practices on farm is ever increasing.
Benefits to industry
This has enabled the building of a web interface of the GAF tools as well as the development of the Environmental Credential platform. This platform provides producers an easy and affordable way to demonstrate their sustainable practices on farm with the supply chain. The platform is focused around carbon balance, drought resilience, biodiversity stewardship, ground cover and tree cover which rank highly on the ABSF materiality assessment.
MLA action
MLA should continue to maintain and update the platform as new information and technology becomes available.
Future research
Further development of the platform will be needed to meet the changing needs of the industry, improvements to remote sensing of biodiversity in particular will be necessary to ensure accuracy and third party verified data sources.
More information
| Project manager: | Margaret Jewell |
| Contact email: | reports@mla.com.au |
