As part of its ongoing commitment to regional Australia, Commonwealth Bank (CBA) has today announced its sponsorship of leading ag-research and change program, Farming for the Future (FftF), to assist producers with quantifying the benefits and value contributed by natural capital on farms to the overall performance of Australian livestock operations.
Natural capital, such as tree plantings, remnant native vegetation, riparian areas and productive pasture and croplands, has a critical role to play in supporting the financial prosperity, resilience and sustainability of the agricultural sector. FftF is working with farmers to create national-scale evidence that connects natural capital management to business performance, enabling producers to plan more strategically for the future.
CBA’s Executive General Manager Environmental and Social Alex Matthews said: “Research, evidence and tools are critical to solving business and climate-related challenges for producers, which is why we are excited to sponsor Farming for the Future to showcase the win-win contribution of natural capital for livestock farming businesses and the environment. CBA is seeking to provide practical support to our customers and Australian farmers as they consider opportunities to invest in natural capital.”
“Australian farmers are leading the way in implementing practices which improve productivity and profitability. Farming for the Future is demonstrating the positive correlations between improving natural capital and on-farm productivity, and through this CBA funded project, together we will seek to understand the benefits of such investments to enhance farmers’ resilience and returns,” added Matthews.
This support will see CBA and FftF launch a project to enable farmers, their accountants and advisors to quantify the value of natural capital such as trees to livestock operations. The project will leverage FftF’s existing dataset as well as research developed in collaboration with La Trobe University and CSIRO.
Farming for the Future Program Director Dr Sue Ogilvy commented on CBA’s sponsorship: “The findings from our pilot phase of research show that at a whole of farm level, trees and other forms of natural capital can be linked to better farm business outcomes.”
“In addition to their carbon and biodiversity value, trees on farmland deliver important ecosystem services in support of livestock production, especially shade and shelter and habitat for pest predators. However, methods for an individual farm to quantify this value in either physical or monetary terms have to date not been available,” Dr Oglivy said.
“CBA’s support is an important contribution to help Farming for the Future attain its vision of combatting climate change and biodiversity loss, while simultaneously improving production and farm business performance.”
For over 110 years, CBA has proudly served regional and rural communities right across the country and are committed to supporting farmers through the development of targeted tools and services to deliver sustainable and profitable solutions.
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