Lower rates of agricultural land clearing have contributed to a 78 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas from the red meat sector according to a new report from Australia's national science agency, CSIRO.
Based on the latest 2021 data from the Australian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, net greenhouse gas emissions from the sector were 31 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
The yearly snapshot released by Meat and Livestock Australia shows emissions from beef, sheep and goats dropped 40 per cent on the previous year and 78 per cent from 2005 levels.
"These figures show tremendous progress towards CN30," Meat and Livestock's Julia Waite told AAP.
CN30 is the red meat industry's target of being carbon neutral by 2030.
“Low rates of clearing and greater volumes of regrowth have contributed to a larger pool of carbon on land associated with livestock management,” Ms Waite said.
“The contribution from land use change was particularly significant between 2020 and 2021 due to high rainfall ... and conditions favourable for vegetation growth."
Methane emissions from livestock, have also dropped since 2005 with lower animal numbers, particularly in the national sheep flock, which had decreased from 100.7 to 71.4 million heads.
But the reduction in direct emissions by the sector are lower than they should be, sitting at around 10 per cent.
"We recognise there is a wider expectation around direct emissions," she said.
And there is a warning that progress will slow down.
"The reduction due to sequestration won't increase as strongly year on year," Ms Waite said.
While conservationists warn that deforestation is still happening at a higher rate than in any other developed country.
"Australia has had extraordinarily high levels of deforestation over the years," Australian Conservation Foundation's Nathaniel Pelle said.
"It is really welcome that they (deforestation rates) are no longer as high as they were in 2005, and that is a good effort from the beef industry, but Australia still has among the highest rates of deforestation in the world," the nature campaigner said.
With 80 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions from the red meat sector produced by methane, the MLA is looking to genetics, as well as feed additives like lick blocks to reduce the gas.
The University of Melbourne's Richard Eckard said the difficult times are ahead in trying to eliminate methane.
"The hard bit is still to come," Professor Eckard, who has advised governments on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across agriculture, said.
"The easy wins have been taken, the easy wins are land use change and soil carbon."
And Prof Eckard warned there is still a lack of technology available for farmers seeking to reduce their emissions.
"If you're a farmer on the ground, they're not ready just yet," he said.
Further detail on the industry’s progress in reducing emissions, will be published in the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework Annual update, to be launched at Beef Australia in Rockhampton next week.
