Growing food and fiber is no longer enough for farmers in the era of global warming. This week our local Landcare group is hosting a workshop on environmental accounting where farmers learn to measure their 'natural capital' such as native vegetation, fauna and soil. Right now they are being flooded with offers to sell carbon and biodiversity credits, often with the aim of providing compensation to other industries. I can plant a paddock of trees here so you can emit emissions. It's a far cry from 10 years ago, when emissions-intensive industries including energy, transport and agriculture railed against any change to business as usual. One of the big missed opportunities in the decade-long climate wars was the chance for agriculture to break away from the fossil fuel industry. While agriculture will need to continue to reduce emissions to stay in the game, the advantage farmers have over the coal and gas industry is simply that they produce food. There are fewer alternatives to large-scale land-based food, regardless of the new lab-meat and high-rise farming businesses. By dragging its feet on accepting climate science, agriculture has left itself open to being lumped in with fossil fuels as an industry holding back needed change. It currently appears to play a large role in providing offsets, although many smart operators are wary of selling carbon. The bottom line is that if fossil fuel companies and other industries demand large amounts of compensation, it will have a significant impact on farmland. So are you growing food, carbon or both? (Gabrielle Chan)