A $20,000 incentive has been put on the table to encourage farmers to achieve a 20 tonne increase in soil carbon.
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The national cash prize was announced by AgriProve, an Australian soil carbon farming developer, at the National Carbon Farming Conference in Albury today.
The AgriProve 20/20 Olsen Prize for Soil Carbon Farming recognises the Olsen family who were issued with the first soil carbon credits under the Emissions Reduction Fund in March this year.
AgriProve managing director Matthew Warnken said building soil carbon with regenerative agriculture enables farmers to "improve the productivity and resilience of their farm while earning income from carbon credits and improving their profitability".
Mainstreaming regenerative agriculture will have a material impact on reversing global warming," he said.
"But to get there we need to move fast. Thats why, we are offering a $20,000 prize as an incentive for action."
The prize is designed to drive innovation in regenerative agriculture, encourage farmers to register projects under the ERF and build an evidence base for soil carbon farming.
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Niels Olsen is a Victorian farmer and inventor of the SoilKee Renovator who initially developed the technology to regenerate degraded land.
He now markets the technology to farmers and contractors helping them to maximise their soil carbon and agricultural productivity.
Mr Olsen said he is "honoured" AgriProve has set a challenge to encourage farmers to match his achievements.
The testing weve done shows it is possible to achieve 20 tonnes dry matter yield per hectare and a 20 tonne increase in soil carbon sequestration in a year," he said.
The $20,000 will go to the next farmer who can achieve this under an ERF project.
AgriProve has secured $150 million to pay farmers for building soil carbon over 10 years.