When carbon reporting becomes an opportunity: Ruminati at AgTech24 in Emerald

Central Queensland has never been short on agricultural ambition, and AgTech24 in Emerald last week reflected that. Hosted by the Central Highlands Development Corporation, the event brought together producers, advisors and innovators to work through what the next chapter of agriculture in the region actually looks like.

Will Onus spoke on the Carbon Tech Fusion panel, alongside Claire Mahony from Austa Co, Rhys Heffernan from Carbonaught, Ben Hayes from Zero Net Emissions Agriculture CRC, and Josh Peart from the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. The timing was pointed: Australia's new emissions reporting laws have shifted the conversation for many producers from "should I be thinking about this?" to "what do I actually need to do?"

The panel's position was consistent: compliance is the floor, not the ceiling. Producers who engage with emissions data seriously - tracking inputs, understanding where emissions come from, building a baseline over time - end up with something genuinely useful for managing their business, separate from any reporting obligation. Emissions intensity, the relationship between how much a business produces and how much it emits to produce it, is a proxy for efficiency that has real commercial relevance. Supply chains and financiers are increasingly looking at it that way too.

For producers in the Central Highlands managing diverse enterprises across cropping, grazing and mixed systems, the tools available have improved significantly. The challenge now is less about whether the technology exists and more about making sure it's practical enough to actually get used.

A genuinely good event in a part of the world that tends to get on with things. Thanks to CHDC for having us, we'll be back!