Consumers will soon have assurance that the products they purchase are sustainable, after a new scheme was adopted by a coalition of Riverina land owners.
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Research from the group’s parent company in America has suggested that rotating bunched livestock across a paddock promotes better soil and plant health than concentrating grazing in one area.
“It is actually quite controversial, livestock get blamed for a lot of problems in farming,” said Chris Main, Cootamundra farmer and champion of the Land To Market movement in Australia.
Now that the first tests have been conducted on 20 farms nationwide, it is expected that verified products will hit the market next year.
“It’s about building the history to prove the land health is improving, so now that we’ve done the baseline assessments, we can come back next year and test again,” he said.
Several of the first candidates have been farms in Wagga, Cootamundra, Narrandera and Gundagai.
Mr Main’s own farm passed its assessment in December of last year.
“Each year, the assessors can come back and measure the same indicators,” said Mr Main.
“If there are less bare ground and more perennial plants [for example], then it’s an indication that the soil is getting healthier and the farmer can then access the certification seal.”
Known as the Ecological Outcome Verification, in time the seal will become available on both food and fashion products.
“Some major fashion groups are getting onboard, like the Kering Group who is the parent company of Gucci, Saint Laurent and Alexander McQueen,” said Mr Main.
“So if the seal is on a Gucci handbag, for example, you can buy it knowing that the leather in that handbag has come from a farm that is improving its environmental health every year.”
Products with the ecological label are expected to be dearer than those without the verification.
Mr Main believes the cost difference represents an investment in the future of sustainable farming.
“It could potentially be more expensive, but you’re buying a premium product,” he said.
“You’re using your shopping dollars to make sure what you’re buying is improving the environment.
But Mr Main is also adamant the higher price will go in greater total back to the farm gate.
“Besides, you could make the argument that cheaper food still has a high price, it’s just paid by the environment, not by the consumer,” said Mr Main.
“I know there are people whose only determining factor is the price, for them, we’ll never be able to compete.”