WAFarmers warns Woodside against ‘sterilising’ farming land for carbon credits

WAFarmers president John Hassell has accused Woodside of locking up vast tracts of productive agricultural land “for the next 100 years” as the energy giant continues its controversial strategy of buying family-owned properties for carbon farming. In a letter penned to Woodside Energy CEO Meg O’Neill, Mr Hassell laid bare fears for the future of family farms and regional communities if huge swathes of agricultural land were snapped up as a means to offset Woodside’s emissions. Woodside has been an active buyer in the Australian rural property market. Most recently, the company purchased four sheep and cattle farms — covering more than 4300ha — in New South Wales in early 2024. Mr Hassell said he understood there were currently 10 WA farms owned by Woodside that were competing against neighbouring families for land. He called this practice a “deeply disturbing move”. “There is no real farming involved as Woodside is planting trees to claim carbon credits and then locking that land up for the next 100 years, making it unlikely that this land will ever be cleared for farming again,” he said. Mr Hassell admitted farmers could empathise with Woodside because both the agriculture and energy sectors faced similar issues around governmental pressures to reduce carbon emissions. “However, what the agricultural sector is not doing is calling for another primary industry sector — the energy sector — to do more than its fair share of the heavy lifting by shutting down future production opportunities,” he said. “Unfortunately, Woodside has seen the opportunity to do exactly that by buying up farmland and shutting down the production of food for what can only be a short-term solution to a long-term problem.” Mr Hassell said Woodside’s carbon farming model will “doom” the Wheatbelt. “It is a model that solves a small part of the energy sector’s carbon problem for a short period of time at the expense of the agricultural sector,” he said. “It is a model that does not pass the common-sense test.” Mr Hassell called on Woodside to recognise this current situation as a “zero-sum game”. “On behalf of the 4000 farmers that make up the Wheatbelt of Western Australia, we urge Woodside and the Australian Energy Producers to think very carefully about sterilising Australian farmland to address their carbon problem,” he said. “If the agricultural sector ends up at loggerheads with the energy sector, with both calling for the other to do more than their fair share to meet the Government’s net-zero targets, then we both lose. “We (farming and energy) are both in the primary industry game, and we need each other — we are natural allies — but the path Woodside is embarking on is doomed to end in a bitter public fight.” Mr Hassell ended his letter with a stark warning for the energy giant. “All Western Australian farmers will be watching to see if this is the end of the beginning of Woodside’s purchase of family farms, or the beginning of the end of the Australian farm.” Mr Hassell will meet with Woodside representatives in September. In a statement to Countryman, a Woodside spokesperson said the company believed carbon farming and traditional farming “can co-exist”. “Carbon farming can help to diversify farm incomes and leverage generations of land management knowledge,” they said. “Woodside has had a carbon business since 2018... We have worked together with farmers to integrate agricultural activities and create commercial opportunities. “For example, we have retained areas for grazing, lease backed portions of more productive land, and subdivided and sold-off property to preserve farming activity.” The spokesperson said Woodside had contracted farmers for maintenance and land management, and engaged Indigenous groups to support planting operations. “Additionally, we believe that our projects support increased biodiversity which may lead to better environmental conditions for farming,” they said.