Those questions will be addressed at the 2008 Carbon Farming Expo and Conference to be in Orange, NSW, starting today, where a range of experts will present views ranging from cautious to confident on the potential for soil carbon as a tradeable commodity.

Organised by Carbon Coalition convenors Michael and Louisa Kiely, the two-day event has pulled in a stellar cast of speakers that includes (by satellite) one of the world's leading soil scientists, Dr Rattan Lal, on the necessity of sequestering more carbon into soils.

CSIRO’s Dr Jeff Baldock, Dr Brian Murphy from the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change, and Professor Alex McBratney of the University of Sydney will take various angles on the vexed question of measuring soil carbon, while farmers Scott MacCalman (Warren), Eric Harvey (Geurie) and Andre Leu (Atherton Tablelands) will consider practical solutions to "growing" carbon.

A number of other speakers will look at hands-on examples of soil carbon generation and trading.

Delegates today took part in a half-day pre-conference session called 'Carbon Farming 101', an introduction to the basics of soil carbon creation and trading that answers some fundamental questions about the nature of carbon trading, and how land holders can participate in it.

To tie up any loose ends, the conference includes a roundtable program—three discussion and decision sessions that allow participants to further explore and absorb the ideas raised by the speakers.

"The Garnaut Inquiry Final Report conservatively estimates that Australian soils can sequester 600 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents per year," Mr Kiely said.

"At $20 per tonne, that is a $12 billion incentive for Australian farmers to change their land management and adopt carbon farming.

"That money can save rural communities; it can save family farming; it can save rural landscapes and restore soils.

"And, as Garnaut sees it paid for between 25-50 years, it can help agriculture prepare for and even prosper in the drier, hotter future we are assured is coming."

See this week's The Land for more reports.