How an Australian beef farm won - and lost - its carbon neutral status

The farm has been a beacon of hope for the red meat industry, which is under pressure to show that sustainable farming is possible.

A livestock farm in Australia that won plaudits for being carbon neutral is no longer able to offset its emissions.

Jigsaw Farms in south-western Victoria was well ahead of the curve at countering the hefty climate impact of cattle farming, boasting its carbon neutral status as early as 2011.

But a new report tracking the family farm’s climate impact suggests it tipped into the red in 2017, and has since been emitting more greenhouse gas emissions than it can sequester.

Mark Wootton and Eve Kantor’s farm, 250 km west of Melbourne, hosts a fine wool merino operation with around 20,000 ewes and 550 cattle.

Their story shows the intractable challenges in dealing with meat’s methane and land-use problems.