PROFESSOR Richard Eckard is to deliver the prestigious Peter Schroder Memorial Lecture at Sheepvention on Monday, August 5.

Professor Eckard is one of the world’s leading authorities on Carbon Farming and Carbon sequestration in soils and plantations.

His lecture, Carbon neutral livestock production - Who’s asking and is it possible? - will be at a ticket-only breakfast event at the Hamilton Showgrounds.

Convenor of the Peter Schroder Memorial Lecture, retired Penshurst farmer David Jenkin and his son Jonathan Jenkin joined forces to secure Professor Eckard’s appearance at this year’s expo.

David Jenkin told The Spectator that there was a focus amongst the Sheepvention committee and supporters to increase the “…farmer education aspects of the event, which is important.”

A lecture by such a leading light certainly fulfils that objective.

When not running the Jenkins’ property ‘Banemore’, Jonathan is working on a PhD with Melbourne University’s Professor Bill Malcolm on the effects of climate change adjustments on farm management economics in Australia and getting significant input from Richard Eckard.

He told The Spectator, “I am using Richard as a sounding board for what’s up to date. It’s a great link into what’s going on”.

Richard Eckard’s contribution to the understanding of the interaction of climate change and the development of strategies for agriculture is remarkable.

Amongst other appointments, he is Professor of Carbon Farming at the University of Melbourne and National program leader in the Carbon Research Centre for Net Zero Agriculture.

Besides these, he developed the first carbon accounting tools in Australia in 2001, these tools now form a national agreed standard in Australia for on-farm carbon accounting.

He has advised the Victorian, Australian, New Zealand, Ireland, UK and EU governments as well as both the International Livestock Research Institute and the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation.

The list goes on, but what makes Professor Eckard different?

It might not be drawing too long a bow to suggest that most of the reports on academic findings repeat a similar message.

This is that, firstly, the objective of ‘Net Zero’ remains an indisputable mandate and that all available means must be employed to achieve that goal.

Unfortunately, and like so many other things in this irritating world, things are not quite that simple.

In the case of “decarbonisation” there remain questions around physical and economic feasibility.

This is where Professor Eckard’s work differs.

He addresses the matter from a number of perspectives and is not afraid of findings which do not fit in with the current mantra.

He has raised doubts about the achievability of Net Zero in agriculture where greenhouse gas emissions include methane from bovine flatulence as well as the emission on nitrous oxide (laughing gas) from fertiliser manufacture and in-field seepage.

Eckard has also questioned carbon sequestration in soils and has posited that rainfall (or lack thereof) can affect soil carbon storage.

Thus, farmers who enter into schemes to sell soil-based ACCUs (Australian Carbon Credit Units) and have these registered on title are at a significant risk of finding their property with a hefty financial encumbrance.

In a similar vein, the Professor has drawn attention to the planting of pine trees purely for carbon sequestration with no plan to harvest them for timber.

He has pointed out that this appears to ignore the fact that the plantation will eventually senesce, die and release the carbon which it once stored.

On top of this, he has said that plantation monocultures are inconsistent with improved biodiversity which is a critical component of a robust rural environment.

In short, Richard Eckard analyses scientifically, impartially and, on occasion, controversially.

This lecture is important.

Tickets to the breakfast lecture are available from the Sheepvention website:- www.hamiltonshowgrounds.com.au

The Peter Schroder Memorial lecture is sponsored by the Schroder Family Bequest, Rabobank, Vickery Brothers, Kelly’s AGnVet of Penshurst and the Grasslands Society of Southern Australia.