Agriculture is set to play a "critical role" in achieving Victoria's 2035 climate targets according to an independent report tabled in parliament this week.
The report recommends that the sector - which contributes 19 per cent of the state's total emissions - to rapidly "prepare Victoria's beef and dairy sectors for immediate large-scale deployment of methane reduction technologies"
It also said more than 80 per cent of feedlot beef and dairy cattle, and around a third of pasture-fed beef, will need to be treated with these technologies by 2035.
The chair of the independent expert panel Martijn Wilder said the target meant accelerations across many sectors
"Victoria's ambitious and achievable 2035 emissions reduction target takes into account the advice of the Independent Expert Panel and ensures Victoria remains aligned with the Paris Agreement goals, while accelerating clean investment in Victoria's economy," he said.
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Climate Action Minister Lily D'Ambrosio formalised the target in parliament on Tuesday, and said a number of initiatives aimed at farmers and the transport industry will be forthcoming.
"We are planting millions of trees to store carbon and we are helping our farmers to reduce their emissions, both of which are protecting our environment and protecting of course our vital agricultural exports," she said.
Ms D'Ambrosio said Victoria had been decarbonising at the fastest rate in the country, having already cut the state's emissions by 32.3 per cent below 2005 levels and that the State Electricity Commission (SEC) would be a key driver in reducing emissions into the future.
But in a parliament debate later on Tuesday, Liberal Member for Polwarth Richard Riordan argued against the re-establishing the SEC.
"It is this government that has just in the last eight years flogged off the Melbourne port, which has been hugely detrimental to much of the agricultural export from certainly my part of the world," he said.
