Agriculture's carbon emissions rising fast

The agriculture sector has produced the second biggest increase in Australia's greenhouse gas emissions in the last ten years, government figures show.

The National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, released by Federal Climate Change Minister, Penny Wong, shows agriculture emissions increased by 3.8 per cent.

Farming is now the second biggest polluting sector, overtaking transport, and is now making 15.6 per cent of the country's emissions.

Livestock emissions, which make up 70 per cent of agriculture emissions, declined by nearly 5 per cent. This was mostly because of a 48 per cent fall in sheep numbers, though beef cattle numbers rose 14 per cent.

But emissions from rice cultivation, crop residue burning, savanna burning and farm soils increased by 30 per cent in the last ten years. This was mostly because of a 74 per cent increase in savanna burning emissions and a 13 per cent increase in agricultural soil emissions.