Australian farms are susceptible to climate extremes, such as rainfall variability, drought, floods and fires. As custodians of some of the world’s most unique flora and fauna, farmers play a crucial role in maintaining the ecological environment.
Ensuring environmental sustainability in agriculture involves reducing GHG emissions throughout the production lifecycle, preserving on-farm natural capital, protecting, maintaining and improving our soil, land and water assets, using finite resources responsibly and promoting recycling where possible.
The Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework (AASF) embraces the theme of environmental stewardship through five principles. These principles aim to demonstrate sustainable agricultural practices, covering GHG and air, soil and landscapes, biodiversity, water and materials and resources.
Importantly, the principles and criteria under the AASF are intentionally kept at a high level, allowing for flexibility across different commodities, geographic regions, and production systems.
