A FERP is a strategic planning document to support the alignment of enterprise goals with emissions reduction.

A FERP details the timeframe and land area associated with implementation of emission reduction activities, and the expected impact on emissions reduction.

A FERP may be developed and used as an addendum to a current Farm Business Plan. A FERP is an important part of defining and communicating the emission reduction projects and plans and if seeking a loan, supports the borrowing request.

Planning should consider the impact of implementation on existing enterprise goals, operations, and risks.

Two Stage Approach to developing a FERP

Stage 1: Preliminary Evaluation

A preliminary estimate of emissions reduction benefits (t CO2e/year) from planned activities. This estimate can be based on indicative calculations associated with the eligible activities within the CEFC Towards Net Zero Pathfinder.

Stage 2: FERP

Building on the preliminary evaluation, a FERP includes four distinct elements, including: 

1. Goals: outline of your farming enterprise’s production, natural assets, business and emissions reduction goals in alignment with your Farm Business Plan.
2. Current state: a current GHG Baseline for your enterprise and summary of emission reduction considerations. 
3. Current plan: table of planned emission reduction activities, and implementation considerations.
4. Five year forecast: Anticipated emissions reduction outcomes resulting from implementation of the emission reduction activities. Using recognised accounting tools/services, this section should estimate emissions reduction within your enterprise context over the next 5 years. Alongside continued monitoring, this will allow you to evaluate the effectiveness of activities. An important consideration at this stage is which combinations of activities work well together. We call this activity stacking and indicate synergistic combinations here.

Download the FERP template

Both Microsoft Word and PDF versions available below: