Sustainability & the Environment
PenAgri understands and embraces the responsibility that owners and operators of agricultural land have in preserving the planet for future generations.
PenAgri’s sustainability goal is to make a positive environmental contribution, leave the land in a better state than it was found, and contribute to global food security. Minimising emissions, implementing sustainable farming practices to protect and improve soils and natural ecosystems, maximizing productivity, and integrating carbon offset or renewable energy ventures where possible are all levers that can be pulled to affect these goals.
PenAgri’s agricultural operations primarily produce grain and lie within the vast Western Australian “wheatbelt” that spans 25 million hectares. Grains are a global food staple highly effective for feeding the most at the lowest possible environmental cost. Grain is one of the lowest emission sources of protein in the world, 6-18x less than red meat, ~4x less than dairy and 35% – 65% less than other protein sources such as farmed fish, pork, poultry and eggs. Additionally, grains use comparatively less land than any other protein apart from farmed fish; 14-116x less than red meat & cheese, and 2x – 5x less than other protein sources such as farmed fish, pork, poultry, milk and eggs.
However, the responsibility doesn’t end there. PenAgri believes that Western Australian agricultural landowners are uniquely positioned to have a lasting impact in the global pursuit of decarbonisation by contributing to the production of clean energy and helping offset emissions that can’t or won’t be eliminated. Due to its geographic advantages, Western Australian farmland is highly amenable to:
- Renewable Energy Development
Including solar and wind, supported by large-scale battery storage, enabling delivery of clean energy to the South-West Interconnected System (SWIS) and to power stand-alone projects alike. - Soil & Tree Carbon Farming
Tracts of comparatively lower value farmland are well suited to soil & tree carbon projects on a stand-alone basis or integrated with existing broadacre cropping or livestock operations, ensuring land is allocated to its best use and improving total productivity.
PenAgri is well-versed in carbon farming methodologies, the regulatory framework, and carbon credit markets and can identify and assess suitable integrated carbon farming opportunities to operate side-by-side with existing broadacre operations, not only as a means for delivering positive environmental impact, but also providing an additional source of income for investors.
Three current or previously owned PenAgri properties are now being developed for carbon farming or clean energy production, and in 2024 PenAgri successfully registered its first carbon offset project with the Clean Energy Regulator. It has also extensively explored renewable energy opportunities on its properties in both the Mingenew and Merredin regions.