“The NFF has this exactly right," Greg Brown, president of the Cattle Council of Australia, says in a statement on Friday.

"The United States, Canada and countries across Europe will not be covering agriculture’s direct emissions under a cap and trade system.

“So a CPRS will deteriorate Australia’s capacity to produce food.

"Recent figures from the Australian ABARE indicated that the value of farm production in the beef industry could decline by between 13 and 22 per cent if agriculture is covered under the CPRS.

“These findings provide yet another example of why the CPRS is not an appropriate mechanism for beef producers to manage emissions.

"For an industry that exports two-thirds of its production to more than 100 countries worldwide, with an export value of $4.9 billion pa, then unquestionably our export competitiveness would be disadvantaged under the proposed CPRS.

“The Federal Government has already committed funding toward research efforts around soil carbon storage and reducing methane emissions.

"Cattle Council welcomes this commitment, however, more needs to be done.

“Both research initiatives serve to feed into the design of appropriate policies for beef producers in accounting for greenhouse emissions while improving productivity and profitability.

"The Government has recognised the importance of the beef sector in being part of the solution to managing global affects of greenhouse emissions, without compromising our sector’s profitability."