Economic Perspective 11 September 2026
The Latest Trending Economic News Curated for You by Balmoral Group Australia
Hello Dear Readers,
Resilient on-farm use of energy and natural resources is a key factor in Australia's food security and environmental sustainability, given that more than half of our country's land is used for agriculture and around 90% of our fresh food is grown locally. Carbon projects through the ACCU Scheme create new revenue streams for landholders, and new analysis reveals the most common methods and delivery models amongst projects - I've attached a figure from the report, showing that less specialised methods are more prevalent. Floodplain harvesting may soon face reform in NSW, with a new audit from the Inspector-General of Water Compliance, while DAFF funding reveals government priorities for drought resilience, including natural capital, business recovery, AI use, and agroforestry. Lastly, a discussion piece regarding on-farm solar panels and batteries follows the recent lifting of the solar subsidy cap from 100 kilowatts to one megawatt, potentially cutting installation costs by 20%.
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Happy reading and have a lovely weekend!
First Comprehensive Analysis of Australia's Carbon Farming Services Industry
Australia's carbon market, the ACCU Scheme, currently supports more than 2,800 registered carbon projects. New research reveals the traits of carbon service providers who manage projects on behalf of land owners: a) the market is concentrated, with the top four providers involved in 725 of surveyed projects; b) commercial models offered by providers are increasingly diverse, including revenue-sharing, fee-for-service, and hybrid structures; c) landholder demand for direct project ownership is growing, indicated by rising proportion of landholder-as-proponent models; and d) investment from domestic and international institutions is growing. Access the report here.
Calls for NSW to halt floodplain harvesting after regulator reveals legal uncertainty
The NSW Inspector-General of Water Compliance is launching an audit into floodplain harvesting after a parliamentary hearing revealed that the NSW Natural Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) has been facing difficulty applying regulatory controls in court. This has resulted in withdrawn and dismissed prosecutions against operators for alleged water offenses due to problems with evidence. Some are calling for an embargo on all flood-plain harvesting until regulations can be reliably enforced. Read more here.
Backing Australia’s next generation of drought resilience leaders
DAFF has awarded five research scholarships under the Drought Resilience Scholarship Program supporting projects that strengthen agricultural drought resilience. Project topics span livestock business recovery, the benefits of natural capital assets to farmers, balancing crop production with conservation outcomes, potential AI uses in dairy operations, and agroforestry practices. Read more here.
Farmers can now produce more of their own energy than ever – but will they?
Renewables are being increasingly encouraged on-farm, such as rooftop solar panels and "agrivoltaics" deployed on unproductive fields or to provide shade for grazing livestock. The cap on government solar subsidy was lifted from 100 kilowatts to one megawatt in August, potentially reducing installation costs by 20%. While diesel is still required on-farm (currently supplying around 84% of Aussie farm energy) with electric tractors and heavy machinery still in development, hybrid models using batteries, solar and backup generators can allow farms to operate as self-sufficient microgrids. Read more here.
Distribution of Carbon Farming Methodology
New research from Mills Oakley finds that the most common methods used in Australia Carbon Credit Unit (ACCU) projects are new soil carbon, environmental plantings, and Human Induced Regeneration (HIR*), followed by savanna burning, plantation forestry and beef herd management. This likely reflects the ubiquitous potential for soil and vegetation regeneration on held land, whereas the latter three methods are industry- or habitat-specific (savannas, forestry and beef cattle).
* HIR involves letting habitat grow back naturally, rather than actively planting trees.
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