The trial is providing Nutrien’s hands-on, on-farm nutrient management practices and technology, with Cargill’s access to grain market customers, to work with farmers who are interested in decarbonising the canola supply chain.
Nutrien head of commercial sustainability Dave Stanko says the pilot is focused on demonstrating a capacity to reduce emissions from canola production while maintaining or increasing yield and profitability.
“Working with the whole ag value chain allows us to better understand how emerging sustainability drivers will impact our customers,” Dave says.
“This collaboration with Cargill will allow our growers to explore opportunities for short-term market premiums and longer-term access solutions.”
Nutrien’s north-east sustainability field manager Charles Starkings says this stage of the trial involves 10 canola growers in southern NSW.
“At least 1000ha of canola will be planted through April and harvested around November this year as part of the project,” he says.
“Right now we are working closely with the participating growers and completing an emissions baseline of their current canola operations.
“From there we will be putting a plan in place to use different sustainable products and change practices, and then we’ll complete another emissions baseline to verify the change.
“We are targeting a 20-25 per cent reduction in emissions in this work.”
Cargill Asia Pacific environmental markets lead Ben Fargher says the aim is to link producers with sustainability opportunities in the market.
“Our purchasing customers are demanding de-carbonisation, it is an important space that just continues to grow across the market,” he says.
“Our grower customers have already done a lot of this sustainability work already, much of it through necessity in managing our variable climate.
“So, the next step is supporting them to access new potential market opportunities.
“We are pleased to be working with Nutrien on this initial pilot with a shared vision of reducing environmental impact and improving economic outcomes for farmers.”
