Australia’s primary producers are already at the forefront of managing land, water and climate risk.
Farmers live with the realities of a changing environment every day.
But they also understand that achieving net zero is not as simple as setting a target and walking away.
At Primary Producers SA, we strongly support practical, evidence-based approaches to emissions reduction.
But these must be delivered through partnership, not prescription.
Climate policy must strengthen – not undermine – the capacity of farmers to produce food and fibre for a growing world.
The debate over how agriculture contributes to Australia’s net-zero goal is often oversimplified. Some commentators argue for sector-specific emissions targets, even at a regional scale, but this is not government policy, nor should it be.
Both the federal and South Australian governments have rejected the idea of binding agricultural targets, recognising that such an approach risks distorting markets, reducing productivity and threatening food security.
As then Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt stated during Senate Estimates in early 2024: “We are not proposing to introduce an emissions reduction target specifically for the agriculture sector … The ag sector, like all sectors within the economy, has a role to play in meeting our economy-wide emissions reduction targets.”
This principle is fundamental.
Agriculture must be part of the solution, but in a way that reflects the diversity, complexity and economic significance of the sector.
Targets imposed in isolation risk unintended consequences for rural communities, regional economies and the nation’s food security.
This is why PPSA welcomes the federal government’s Agriculture and Land Sectoral Decarbonisation Plan, which provides a balanced, nationally consistent framework for progress.
Importantly, the plan does not set an emissions reduction target for agriculture, but instead outlines how the land sector can play an increasingly important role in Australia’s economy-wide transition to net zero.
The plan identifies practical pathways for success: investment in research and development; support for new technologies, such as feed additives and enhanced fertilisers; on-farm electrification; and extension services to help producers participate in emerging carbon markets.
These are the kinds of initiatives that de- liver genuine environmental and economic outcomes.
As the nation moves toward a low-emissions future, it is vital that agriculture remains at the table not as a target, but as a partner.
Australia’s farmers are solution-seekers by nature.
With the right policy settings, these farmers can continue to lead the way in sustainable production, innovation and land stewardship.
The path to net zero must be economy-wide, evidence-based and driven by partnership.
Anything less than this risks trading our nation’s productive capacity for political symbolism.
This is a price no one can afford.
This column was written by PPSA Chair Professor Simon Maddocks and originally appeared in the 30 October 2025 edition of Stock Journal.
