An Australian advocate of carbon farming, says New Zealand farmers should not underestimate the value of increasing the level of carbon in the soil.
Louisa Kiely who farms superfine merinos on 700 hectares of land in New South Wales, told an inaugural soil carbon conference in Napier that soils hold the key to carbon neutrality.
She says higher levels of soil carbon provides farmers with a huge number of benefits, including lower erosion and a greater ability to withstand drought.
Ms Kiely said improving the level of carbon in the soil can take some years, but an added benefit for farmers in Australia was being able to trade carbon credits.
She said a 10% increase over five years can, at current prices, return anywhere between $A770 - almost $A4000 per hectare.
However, Massey University pastoral agriculture Professor Jacqueline Rowarth urged New Zealand farmers to be cautious about trying to make money out of it by trading carbon.
