Proceedings of the 2 nd Joint Australia and New Zealand Forum on Non - CO 2 Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Agriculture 20 – 21 st October 2003

Are nitrous oxide and methane emissions sensitive to changes in atmospheric CO 2 concentration? – R. Nitrous oxide and methane emission from sugar cane and mangrove communities in coastal Queensland – Diane Allen …………………………………………………………. C13 METHODS The Kyabram gas flux experimental facility – O. NITROUS OXIDE Background study into greenhouse gas emissions from the grains industry – Daniel Rodriguiez et al. Enhancing NCAS capability to quantify and simulate the effects of biophysical and biochemical regulators on nitrous oxide emission from soil – Weijin Wang et al.......E6 Nitrous oxide emissions from New Zealand dairy-and sheep-grazed pastures – Surinder Saggar et al. Why do some cattle produce more methane than predicted and others less? – J. Goopy........ F4 Does elimination of rumen protozoa provide 'low hanging fruit' for countries seeking to reduce enteric methane emissions for livestock? – The effect of monensin on methane emissions from identical twin dairy cows fed pasture – D. The effect of level of feeding and forage quality on methane emissions by wether lambs Methane production from farmed red deer grazing perennial ryegrass pasture (Lolium perenne), chicory (Cichorium intybus), or plantain (Plantago lanceolata) Foreword Greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture are part of the overall system that produces food for mankind. Hence it is necessary to ensure that policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gases from agriculture do not impose inappropriate and unacceptable costs to the industry. The major challenge for the agriculture sector is to identify where these major sources originate within the production system and to develop processes and technologies that lead to their abatement. Estimating emissions from agriculture is a difficult task and current estimates have a large margin of uncertainty due to the paucity of data available from soil and animal sources, and the inherent variability of biological systems. Estimates of agriculture's contribution to greenhouse emissions have been made using very generalised data inputs from a few isolated experiments. On this basis the estimated contribution of greenhouse gases from the agriculture sector is quite substantial to the national audits for both Australia and New Zealand. For example, it is estimated that about one third of Australia's total emissions and about half of New Zealand's total emissions are derived from the land sector. This joint Australia – New Zealand Forum on non-CO 2 emissions from agriculture provided an important building block for innovative and progressive thinking on the measurement, potential for abatement and policy development for …