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Carbon Farming Outreach Program

Empowering landholders to plan for their carbon future

Our Carbon Farming Outreach Program is here to assist Victorian farmers to understand their emissions and the benefits of carbon farming. When carefully planned, carbon farming can have the added benefits of increasing productivity, biodiversity, resilience to drought and can provide additional income sources. At the same time, carbon farming can reduce emissions on farms and absorb greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere.

Working together with Agriculture Victoria and the ten regional Catchment Management Authorities, this program is delivering training in local areas tailored to audiences. As we move towards a low carbon future, this training provides an opportunity to learn more about carbon farming. It also provides resources summarising the best available information to address the needs of land managers and support ongoing learning.

This free training covers:

  • the benefits of carbon farming
  • how to identify and understand your emissions
  • how to begin carbon activities that suit your land and goals
  • navigating carbon credit markets 
  • opportunities to earn carbon credits and income

Upcoming training opportunities

Events to help landholders understand carbon farming are rolling out across the state until 2026. The calendar below is colour-coded by region to help you find training events in your area.

Resources

Carbon and Low Emissions Farming Glossary (Aug 2025)

Find the definitions for technical terms used when discussing sustainable agriculture and low emissions farming.

Fact sheet: Digging into soil carbon

Learn more about carbon and soil.

Fact sheet: Understanding carbon farming

Introduction to carbon farming activities.

Fact sheet: Understanding your emissions

Introduction to calculating on-farm emissions.

Webinar: Understanding Carbon Farming (Nov 2024)

This webinar is the first in a series as a part of our Carbon Farming Outreach Program.

Webinar: Digging into Soil Carbon (May 2025)

In this webinar, we brought together Dr Cassandra Schefe (AgriSci Pty Ltd) and Soils for Life experts to answer your questions around soil health.

Webinar - Talking Trees (Jul 2025)

This webinar brought together farmers and experts from the Otway Agroforestry Network and Agriculture Victoria, to talk about their experience planting and protecting trees on farm.

Webinar - Calculating on-farm emissions (Jul 2025)

In this webinar, learn more about understanding your on-farm emissions from agronomist Cam Nicholson, as well as farmers Kerri Robson and Julian Carroll.

Webinar - Planning for your farm's future (Sept 2025)

In this webinar, join AgVic's Alison Kelly and Victorian farmers Joel Chambers and Angela Higgins, to learn about actions being taken across the state to lower on-farm emissions while remaining productive and profitable.

Webinar - Funding Trees and Biodiversity (Nov 2025)

For this webinar, join Graeme Anderson, Krista Patterson-Majoor, Laura Grubb and Ric Oldham, to learn about different options to fund sustainability on your farm and the power sustainable and low emission products have on the market.

 

Can't find an event near you? Register here to get updates on training opportunities in your region as they are announced.

Webinars

November 2024

This webinar is the first in a series as a part of our Carbon Farming Outreach Program. Working together with Agriculture Victoria and the ten regional Catchment Management Authorities, the program is working to assist Victorian farmers to understand their emissions and the benefits of carbon farming. This program is the first of its kind and together we’re working to deliver more than 130 tailored training events to the needs of local audiences across the state. This webinar includes insights from Cam Nicholson and Ag Vic experts Graeme Anderson and Anja George. You can watch a recording of the webinar on YouTube.


July 2025

Trees do a lot more than just take root. Trees on farms improve biodiversity, enhance soils, and sequester carbon all while improving farm productivity and health. In this webinar, featuring farmers and experts from Ag Vic, learn more about how trees can benefit your farm while being used to generate additional revenue through agroforestry, carbon farming, or biodiversity markets. Watch a recording of the webinar on our YouTube channel. 

https://youtu.be/OOLL88jOrjo


September 2025

Creating sustainable, profitable farms doesn’t happen overnight. It takes years of planning. This webinar features AgVic expert Alison Kelly, to answer the question "now what?" and share actions being taken across the state to lower on-farm emissions while remaining productive and profitable. Alison is joined by Victorian farmers Joel Chambers and Angela Higgins, who talk through the actions they’re taking now and plan to take in the future, to adapt and thrive. Watch the webinar now on our YouTube channel.


December 2025

Nature-based markets for carbon and biodiversity are opening opportunities for profitable and sustainable farming, but these markets are just one factor to consider when thinking about your farm’s future in the wider landscape. Two landcare networks have been considering their landscape futures for the Heytesbury district and Kiewa-Wodonga districts. Learn how the New Future’s process has helped them explore a range of partnerships, pools of capital and local leadership to help plan and shape the future of their landscapes. Join experts and landcarers to explore the opportunities the future could hold for low emissions or sustainable food and fiber on farm and across landscapes. Watch the webinar now on our YouTube channel.

May 2025

There’s a lot to dig into with soils so this webinar looks at the science of healthy soils, how to best use soil tests and practical examples of how you can build soil carbon to increase productivity and drought resilience. Complementing our Carbon Farming Outreach Program, this is the first of five webinars in 2025, designed to look deeper at carbon farming and how it can complement your on-farm goals for sustainable farming now and into the future. This is part of an ongoing series of events, including free, sector relevant local training – see what’s available near via the calendar above. You can watch a recording of the webinar on YouTube.


July 2025

Nationally and internationally, governments and companies are making net zero commitments, driving demand for low emissions agricultural products. Understanding your on-farm emissions can help you access emerging markets, understand on-farm opportunities and increase your productivity, all while improving the environment. Calculating your on-farm emissions is the first step in considering how your farm can be sustainable in years to come. Watch the webinar on our YouTube channel now.


November 2025

Trees and biodiversity can increase your on-farm productivity, but it’s not free to put trees in the ground. Carbon and biodiversity markets are opening up new possibilities for planting and protecting our native environments. This webinar looks at different options to fund sustainability on your farm. Watch the webinar on our YouTube channel now.


February 2026

Healthy dams and wetlands can increase on-farm productivity, biodiversity, livestock health and water security. When properly managed, they can also store carbon from our atmosphere, known as teal carbon. This webinar brought together experts and landcarers to explore why you should give a damn about your farm dams. Watch the webinar on our YouTube channel now.

Community of Practice for landcare professionals

We’ve organised a Community of Practice (CoP) to upskill facilitators and other landcare professionals on carbon and low emissions farming. These lunchtime sessions with experts are designed to build your understanding of carbon and biodiversity markets and help answer your questions, so you can better support landholders. As a Community of Practice, the sessions can be shaped to your learning needs and will have time for your questions and ample discussion.

The CoP will run over five, 60-minute online sessions, held on Wednesdays at 1pm. The sessions will be held from November 2025 to March 2026 and will cover:

  • 26 November 2025: Understanding trees on farms and biodiversity
  • 10 December 2025: Soil health and productivity
  • 11 February 2026: Using carbon calculators
  • 4 March 2026: Funding carbon and biodiversity – Supply chains, grants and reporting
  • 25 March 2026: Sustainable futures – Blue carbon, landscape rehydration and resilient farming

These topics have been chosen to answer questions and address the feedback we’ve been receiving through the program, but each session will have plenty of time for discussion with opportunities to shape each topic, so it’s most relevant to those attending.

We have 60 spots available, with eligible participants able to receive $120 per session, totalling to a $600 attendance payment for attending all five sessions. If you’re unable to attend on any of the dates above, you can catch up with the recordings.

If you are a Victorian landcare professional interested in joining the Community of Practice, please fill out the Expression of Interest (EOI) here.

Frequently asked questions

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What is carbon farming?

Carbon farming is a term for human actions that lead to the storage of carbon in the natural environment. As emissions continue to rise it’s becoming more important than ever that we sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Plants absorb carbon through photosynthesis, this is the cleanest and most readily available way to remove greenhouse gases from our atmosphere. This has led many companies to start looking for ways to offset their own emissions through carbon credits earned through carbon farming. Carbon farming activities can include:
  • Planting or protecting native vegetation or engaging in agroforestry
  • Using soil to store carbon through strategic tillage, pasture management and changes to fertilising
  • Reducing livestock emissions through changes to grazing management, the management of effluent or reducing methane through diet changes
  • Allowing vegetation and organisms in the ocean to absorb ‘blue carbon’ which can be done by restoring wetlands, saltmarsh, seagrass or mangroves
  • First Nations traditional ecological practices such as cultural burnings
As your carbon project continues, ongoing monitoring allows you to earn carbon credits for every ton of carbon dioxide (or its equivalent e.g. methane from cows) not emitted or removed from the atmosphere.

What are carbon credits?

Australian carbon credit units (ACCU) are the value given to one ton of carbon dioxide (or its equivalent e.g. methane from livestock) from certified carbon farming projects. As many companies move towards net zero emission targets these credits are becoming incredibly sought after and are sold through the Carbon Market. This is one of the longest continual carbon markets in the world and is supported by the Clean Energy Regulator. This works much the same as a regular stock market with the value of carbon credits rising or falling based on supply and demand. 

More information

For more information on this project, please contact Program Coordinator Tahnee Burgess.

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 03 9043 1947

Delivered with funding support from the Commonwealth of Australia through the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water under the Carbon Farming Outreach Program.

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Contact us:

Landcare Victoria Inc.
Suite 1, Level 4, 24-28 Collins Street
Melbourne VIC 3000

[email protected]
Phone: (03) 9034 1940

Post: PO Box 509, Flinders Lane VIC 8009

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ABN 69 561 995 226
INC A0011936S

We pay our respect to the Traditional Owners of the lands in Victoria. We take inspiration from the legacy of Victorian Aboriginal people, who have produced food, while caring for the ecological systems that life depends upon, for tens of thousands of years.

© Landcare Victoria Inc.