Farmers slam Minister’s ‘birds and insects’ can do what WA growers ‘paid chemical companies to do’ spiel

WA Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan is under fire after she urged farmers to give up to 20 per cent of their cropping land to plant trees and said insects could do what growers had “paid chemical companies to do” for years. Ms MacTiernan said the State’s $10 billion agriculture industry needed to stop worshipping the “false god” of crop yield. She urged farmers to consider “giving up” 20 per cent of their cropping land to plant trees, a move she said would not impact their bottom line but would bolster “sustainability and profitability”. Ms MacTiernan also labelled the State Government’s new $15 million Carbon Farming and Land Restoration Program — designed to “supercharge” the number of grain growers involved in carbon farming projects — a “Trojan horse” designed to get farmers to think about sustainability. “We’re using carbon credits as a Trojan horse,” she said. “Our goal is to make farming more sustainable and profitable — profitability rather than yield. “We need to look at how can we utilise the biological system and get the birds and insects doing the job we’ve been paying chemical companies to do,” Ms MacTiernan said. WAFarmers chief executive Trevor Whittington slammed the comments as “completely out of touch” and passing the buck. “It’s staggering to think she is advocating for farmers to do more for climate change but doesn’t talk about shutting down coal or gas,” he said. Mr Whittington said growers had not been told what would happen after entering into a 25-year carbon farming project and once soil carbon had reached its limit. More than 70 regeneration projects are under way in the State’s rangelands, but the State this year set its sights on grain-growing areas. Carbon farming in the Wheatbelt has drawn mixed reviews, with industry figures questioning the viability of the practice as both land and grain prices soar. In a bid to “de-risk and incentivise” growers, the State Government has pledged to pre-purchase a portion of carbon credits through the Carbon Farming and Land Restoration Program. Seven vegetation projects and three soil projects are already under way through the program’s first funding allocation, with seven received for a second allocation for low-rainfall areas. Pastoralists and Graziers Association of WA president Tony Seabrook said there was “enormous potential” for planting trees but said the minister’s comments about insects were misguided. Ms MacTiernan said the State Government wanted to “actively engage” with growers to investigate the potential of carbon-farming projects. “We are well aware that for many farmers this a very new area,” she said. “Our fundamental driver is that we want to help farmers manage their carbon footprint, we want to harness the multiple benefits that can come from strategic tree planting. “The exciting thing is most of — not all, but most of — our farmers are doing exceptionally well financially at the moment.” “We can see them having the mental freedom to go out and start looking at these new ideas.”