The consistency of farm level greenhouse gas emissions calculators will be improved, following the awarding of a $6.4 million grant from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to AIA.

For Australia’s agricultural industries, the funding ensures up-to-date, consistent on-farm emissions calculations across industry calculators and tools.

The grant specifically enables the incorporation of emissions standards into industry accounting tools and calculators, by providing free access to AIA’s consistently maintained calculation engine and open source code, until June 2028.

AIA CEO, Sam Brown, said that AIA’s cross-commodity calculation engine – the Environmental Accounting Platform (EAP) - will further build on the success of industry collaboration on emissions reporting to date.

“Significant engagement went into the development of the EAP, and this grant acknowledges collaborative efforts to reduce the fragmentation in on-farm GHG emissions calculation approaches that we have seen in other countries.

“The grant will enable the market for emissions calculations in agriculture, by allowing existing providers and those entering the space to easily and securely connect to up-to-date, accurate calculators across 17 commodities," Mr Brown said.

“Producers, mixed enterprises and corporate farming entities will be able to access trusted emissions calculations through providers and tools utilising the EAP engine or code.”

The three-year project will start by making access to the calculation engine and open source code freely available. These will initially be aligned to the Greenhouse Accounting Framework (GAF) Tools for Australian Primary Industries, then transition to the Australian Government’s forthcoming voluntary emissions and reporting standards for agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries, once available.

Mr Brown said the awarding of the grant reinforces the importance of consistent, accurate and accessible environmental accounting tools for Australia's rural industries and the need for collaborative, standardised approaches to support mixed enterprises.

“When designing the EAP, we were able to listen to producers and develop a solution that can evolve to meet their needs, in particular those of mixed farming operations. AIA has already catalysed improvements to beef, sheep and grains calculators, and worked alongside RDCs to bring new commodities into the GAF model and to deploy new research - something we will continue to do.

“As a not-for-profit, AIA welcomes this grant as recognition of our unique cross-sectoral role, and of the efficiencies and productivity gains that can be achieved through effective engagement and collaboration.”

The company will be working closely with its consortium partner, the Zero Net Emissions from Agriculture (ZNE-Ag) CRC, which will provide the science to underpin greenhouse gas accounting against a consistent framework.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Julie Collins MP said trusted greenhouse gas calculations are becoming an essential part of doing business for producers.

“Supporting farmers to calculate their individual on-farm emissions can help them reduce their carbon footprint, save on operating costs, and improve their productivity,” Ms Collins said.

“This will help our farmers to diversify their income streams, and ensure they continue to remain internationally competitive in terms of emissions per unit of production.”

Mr Brown said that AIA will also continue to provide producers with free access to the EAP’s online calculator.

“Advancing Australian agriculture, fisheries and forestry is about not leaving anyone behind. Understanding emissions helps all primary producers to make more informed decisions that benefit both the environment and their bottom line.

“AIA’s calculation engine makes available the latest science and delivers the precision that key production sectors—such as grains and livestock—demand. At the same time, our online calculator supports producers of niche commodities or those without access to third-party accounting tools and calculators.

“The EAP is also proving to be a valuable tool for education and training providers who are helping producers understand their emissions,” he said.

For more information visit www.aiaeap.com or watch the video below.

AIA Environmental Accounting Platform (EAP)

The EAP is a cross-sectoral carbon accounting engine, providing Australian agriculture with a standardised approach to carbon accounting across a wide range of commodities.

It was built with investment from ten of Australia’s rural Research and Development Corporations: Grains Research and Development Corporation, Meat & Livestock Australia, Australian Eggs, Australian Pork Limited, AgriFutures Australia, Cotton Research and Development Corporation, Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, Sugar Research Australia, Wine Australia and the Australian Meat Processor Corporation.

The EAP is supported by a panel of Australia’s leading experts in greenhouse gas accounting, emissions reduction, soil carbon management, lifecycle assessment and climate science. Read about our Technical Advisory Panel

Agricultural Innovation Australia We are a not-for-profit company established by the 15 rural Research and Development Corporations to facilitate joint investment and collaboration in cross-industry agricultural issues of national importance.