Corporate Carbon Advisory announced that Matthew Warnken was stepping down as Managing Director at their 10-year anniversary celebration on Friday. He will remain as Chair of Corporate Carbon and will focus on his role as Managing Director of AgriProve – a soil carbon solutions company spun out from Corporate Carbon in 2018 to scale regenerative agriculture.

This year’s annual Carbon Farming Industry Forum will see the emergence of the new Soil Carbon Taskforce under the Carbon Market Institute (CMI) umbrella.

The Soil Carbon Taskforce marks the beginning of a new chapter for the soil carbon industry in which it plays an increasingly important role in Australia’s growing Carbon Market.

“The CMI has supported Carbon Farming with its Carbon Farming Roadmap for the last 4 years” said John Connor, CEO of the CMI. “The advent of this taskforce will enable the Soil Carbon Industry to further evolve and increase their contribution to the Carbon Farming Initiative and assist Australia do its fair share in achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.”

Corporate Carbon and AgriProve welcome the Australian Government's announcement to fast track investment and deployment of new low emissions technologies.

In particular, we support the ongoing funding and support for the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) and Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and the expansion of their mandates to include support for technologies such as soil carbon sequestration, where carbon is removed from the atmosphere and stored in soil, hydrogen, production of low carbon steel and other ways to reduce energy use.

At a time when farmers are facing unprecedented challenges – drought, fires, floods and now COVID-19 – new income streams and improved productivity are welcome. News this week shows that soil carbon farming is delivering on both. Australia’s leading soil carbon project has just been issued with soil carbon credits for the second year in a row under the Australian Governments Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF).

Managing Director of AgriProve Matthew Warnken said, “We have measured an average annual increase in soil carbon of around 10 credits per hectare over two years which demonstrates that soil carbon farming works and can diversify farm income. Soil carbon farming has enormous potential to grow because it improves farm productivity and profitability while helping to reverse global warming.”

Farmers in the Upper Murray are seeking donations to support the recovery of farmland, small rural businesses and communities severely affected by bushfire and floods and they need your help now.

After more than 307, 000 hectares, including large areas of farmland, were razed by the devastating fires this summer, blackened fire-affected pastures have led to a feed shortage, animal health issues and environmental damage throughout the region. Re-seeding has been identified as a critical part of the economic and environmental recovery.Donations to the Re-seed Farms for Recovery Appeal will pay for farmers to buy seed and resow pastures in time for autumn plantings. Seed will be sourced through local seed suppliers who have been working co-operatively to research quality perennial seed supplies and negotiating bulk orders to ensure donated money goes further.

The Need to Re-seed initiative is not prescriptive but for farmers who see this as an opportunity to reset and build the resilience of their soils moving forward it will assist farmers with the uptake of regenerative agriculture methods. The program will provide information and access to seed blends that bolster soil carbon levels which will enhance long-term environmental recovery.