14 Nov 2024
Article by Eamonn Lanagan
Farmers are very good at farming and governments are very good at regulating. Over the last few years there has been a lot of talk about carbon emissions, carbon accounting, reporting and market access. Although the vast majority of farmers have yet to be directly affected, there is still the lingering concern for many, knowing that they will need to act one day.
For all the efficiencies gained in farming practices over the last 10-20 years, there has been more than enough compliance to use the time freed up. Just a few time consuming examples are ISCC certifications, truck audits, work health and safety, and not to mention the reporting burden of the Tax Office. Adding Carbon Reporting to this mix just adds to time taken away from the core business.
Carbon reporting requirements are already in place for large businesses and large consumers of energy or producers of greenhouse emissions. The National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting scheme requires significant producers of emissions or consumers of energy (25 kt of greenhouse gases or consumption of 100 TJ of energy) to report annually on their consumption and emissions. Furthermore, large entities as defined in the Corporations Act (which by 1 July 2027 will include companies with two out of three of: consolidated revenue $50m, gross assets $25m or 100 employees) will need to include disclosures in financial statements regarding emissions, governance, strategy, risk management and targets.
While the above are unlikely to require family farming businesses to report directly (unless the thresholds change), many of the businesses in their supply chain will be reporting and will require details of the farm’s emissions or energy consumption (Scope 3 reporting) to satisfy their own requirements.
This reporting shadow is concerning for many farm businesses, but there is nothing to fear, when the time comes to report, we, along with your farm consultant, are ready to assist.
At Byfields we now have a system to calculate your farm’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions when the need arises to report. The tool is an add-on to farm benchmarking and is based on the University of Melbourne's Greenhouse Accounting Frameworks. Who better to help you with the numbers than your accountant? When the time comes, we can assist you with the reporting you need.
Contact a Byfields Director at any of our offices to discuss further.