Mudgee came alive with like minds on 16 and 17 November 2007 when the Carbon Farming Expo and Conference came to town. The conference attracted over 300 participants from New Zealand and every Australian state except Tasmania. The level of interest and enthusiasm was palpable, and was well-nourished by an interesting array of speakers from sectors such as research, private enterprise, farming and Catchment Management Authorities.
The core theme for the conference was that carbon farming is the 'new agriculture' and was being created by the leaders in carbon farming. According to Dr Christine Jones, Founder of Carbon for Life Incorporated, appropriately managed farmlands could effectively 'mop up' most of the excess carbon being emitted to the atmosphere. Land managers are finding that a combination of methods are producing best results, and include grazing management, low/no tillage, pasture cropping, biological farming, biodynamics, composting, biochar, mulching, Keyline Planning, Natural Sequence Farming and many others.
To recognise the contribution of farmers who are leading the way in 'carbon farming', the first annual 'Carbon Cocky of the Year' competition was conducted. Nominations were submitted from numerous catchments across NSW, with local farmer Martin Royds winning the 'Carbon Cocky - East of the Divide' section. Martin's innovative and progressive farming has resulted in excellent learning opportunities for our region's farmers, with many land management related field days having been run on his property "Jillamatong", at Braidwood.
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