The carbon footprint tool, HortCarbonInfo, can be used to estimate the carbon footprint of a horticultural farm, as well as learn about greenhouse gas emissions and ways to reduce them.

State Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI) senior principal horticulturist Peter Deuter said while horticulture contributed only slightly to climate change, the calculator would help promote industry awareness.

“Greenhouse gas emissions from horticulture are very low, accounting for less than one per cent of all greenhouse gas emissions in Australia, compared with 16pc of emissions from all of agriculture," he said.

"However, there are opportunities to reduce these emissions further, and gain additional advantages of reduced costs as well.

"This is where the carbon footprint tool comes in as the first step towards reducing emissions."

Mr Deuter said the tool, in the form of a spreadsheet, was very easy to use.

"Grower’s input data into the calculator’s database in the fields of boundary (for example, a whole farm’s emissions over one year), electricity and fuel, fertiliser use, crops and area planted, waste and refrigeration.

"From here, click the ‘calculate carbon footprint’ button and the tool will calculate the amount of greenhouse gas emissions based on your farm’s consumption.

"Additional information is also provided to assist in understanding greenhouse gas emissions, how these might be reduced or mitigated, and some of the uncertainties associated with measuring (estimating) and reducing emissions."

HortCarbonInfo was created as part of the project 'Improving the Capacity of Queensland Intensive Agriculture to Manage Climate Change', funded by the Department of Agriculture, Farming and Forestry, through the Queensland Farmers Federation and Growcom.

* The calculator, as well as other tools, can be found under ‘Horticulture Carbon Footprinting Tools’ on the Horticulture Australia website.