"This project offers an opportunity for us to do our part in identifying opportunities to slow the pace of climate change. The soil tests performed as part of the project are measuring the carbon in our soils but also measuring other soil factors which may limit crop production so we can identify and ameliorate the problems and hopefully boost production. This is a long-term project so we will have the opportunity to track our soils over time and identify changes in response to different farming practises we might try."
Craig and Fiona Marshall, Bull Plain Farming
As part of their 'Sustainable in a Generation' plan, Mars has been working to improve sustainability, reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and to assist in building resilience in key supply chains. In 2017, Mars designed a program in partnership with the Sustainable Food Lab to provide agronomic support to wheat farmers in Australia to improve farm sustainability while evaluating the potential to reduce and sequester GHG emissions through various management strategies.
While Mars and Kellogg's continue to work on reducing their factory GHG emissions, they have identified that over 50 per cent of their emissions happen upstream from their manufacturing sites, from production and processing – including growing, and milling – as well as transport of materials used in their products.
The cropping sector has recognised that nutrient inputs have increased to maintain yields, due to depletion of soil fertility and organic matter. As a result, improving soil health is one of the top three production issues that farmers say will affect their farm over the next five years.
The Cool Soil Initiative project, which started in 2020, aimed to develop a scientifically credible framework for the food industry to support cropping farmers achieve both sustainable production and reduce GHG emissions.
Using data analysis and digital solutions coupled with research, the focus was to identify innovative agronomic strategies to increase soil health and related function and support their trial and adoption.
The project had to meet global and Australian protocols for emission data capture and sustainability reporting to ensure its relevance and impact. This included delivering a version of the Cool Farm Tool modified for Australian cropping system, aligned to the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory.
The project enabled food businesses to receive comprehensive reports on Scope 3 emissions in their supply chain, which met the needs of their Australian operation and aligned with their global company reporting requirements.
The project has delivered a farmer-centric, scientific credible and robust framework for the food industry to work together pre-competitively to support cropping farmers in the reduction of GHG emissions, through the adoption of innovative farming strategies to increase soil health.
The project has:
January 2024 - Final Report: Cool Soil Initiative
