Dig it: miners find life's a gas dov-.

n on the farm
Coal and coal seam gas producers are buying up land - and to the surprise of rural communities are proving dab hands at farming, write Dan Hall, Perry Williams and Matthew Granston.
Chinchilla peanut grower Ronald Thompson admits he faced some scepticism from fellow farmers when he tookup a new job showing that
controversial coal seam gas extraction and agriculture could peacefully cocxist in QueenslandHis family farmnear.Roma was one of the fist to be consulted when major oil and gas player Origin Energy openedits Spring Gully CSG plant in November 2005. Sixyears on, he's being paidby Origin to demonstrate that landowners andgas developers oan live side by side. Thompson is employed by Origin to run its sideline cattle and crops business on western Queensland farmland dotted with gas wells. He says having localfarmers working withthegiant gas producer has heed smooth relations between the two industries 'oTherewere some questions when you would meet locals down at the pub. Butthe generalresponse has been at least they [the gas companies] have someone onthere who knows what they are doing," he says.

Jim Randelt the generalmanager of New Hope's Acland coal operations, also oversees Acland
Pastoraf

*Wele had the cattle for several

cattle business.

years and we're doing a trialto see how the cattle are gaining weight," he
says.

The company sold 983 head of 201 I and bought 2375 hea4 and posted an annual turnover of

stockin

S3.6million
AngloSwiss miner )trata, the world's largest exporter of thermal coat has also emerged as an unlikely major player inAustralia's cattle industry. Its wholly owned subsidiary, Colinta Holdings, mInages a whopping 42,000 head of cattle across its zinc; copper and coal mines in the Northern Territory, Queensland and NSW. Queensland-based Agforce president Brent Finlay forecasts continuedmovement of miners into agricultural production as
Ronald Thompson gets to work on Orlgin's deronsation

fm

near Ghinctilh in Queenslan

Photo: MICIIAEJoY

andlucerne crops alongside CSG wells. The farming investments he to

restore the industry's tarnished

Gas to gran
Energy companies which also farm
Lancl area

reputation among rural landholders, who have lobbied to have tough restrictions imposed on coal and coal sem gas companies operating near strategic agricultural regions.
"We often get challenged over whether coal seam gas can co+xist

Crops Tomatoes, capsicums,

Main source of revenue

Coal-seam gas Coal Oil and gas
Power,

companies buy up more land, buoyed by strong commodity prices and rampant Asian demand'I don't think people understand how big this boomis andhow big it's going to get," he says. -There is def,rnitely potential for . more exprlsioninto agriculture by

miners."
He welcomes miners whichhave become more involved in agriculture and says they are now an important part of the commun and landscape.

16 hectares of greenhouses

cucumbers
Grain

Ttc
33,000 hectares

Cattle
Wheat, sorghum,

"Giventhe size of their land

tenures

withagriculture

number of resourc companies, including CSG

Originis one of

actually a really good example,"

andthis is

1l,000
says hectares

Dart Energy's Australian chief

executive officer, Robbert de Weijer.

mungbeans, chickpeas and lucerne crops Cattle, grain

coal-seam
gas Coal

developers Santos and

Dart Energy

andcoalproducers New Hope C-orp

and Shenhua, whichhave become sifrcant investors in agricultural enterprises as theymove to develop some of the nation's largest resource projects. Dart announced last month it was pondering an equity stake in a $65 million glasshouse project that would initially grow tomatoes, capsicums and cucumbers. It follows simila moves across the industry to invest in ventues aimed at improving agricultural yields on properties acquired for coalmines and coal seam gas extraction Origin Energy owns about I1,000 hectares of farmland near Chinchilla which it uses to gtow wheat, sorghum, mung beans, chickpeas

"Not only canit co-exist, it can actually enhance food production" Dart plans to construct a coal seamgas production pilot at Fullerton C-ove, north of Newcastle, and has secured land access ageements with landowners. Dutchgroup Dalsem Horticultural hojects is
investigatiqg a potential glasshouse project in the area, and the groups have established Maria's Farm Veggies, ajoint venture to pursue tle
glasshouse venture.

llew
Hope

Darling
Downs, Qld

6,600
hectares

land - if that was left out of agricultural production that would have a fair flowon effect."
Shenhua Watermark C-oat which owns close to 15,000 hectares of fam land ortside Gunnedahin NSW, has employed a property manager and re-licensed land not usd on longterm ara.ngements to allow sixof the orinal landholders to continue farming. Shenhua's project director,
Joe

they manage a faibit of

SOURCE:

flMl{Cl[ REVI[]/

Dart has paid $5.2 million for a 20 per cent equity interest inthe
project, which will include a I 6hectare glasshouse, a propagation area of four kilometres and an
8 megawatt power

and has 900 head of cattle on one

property.

*Iladitional mining generally

requires the outright purchase

planl

lan{ displacing agriculture

of

Clayton, says all Shenhuaowned

Up to l0 of its coal seam gas wells will fuel the power plant over a
decade.

altogether," Santos chief exeoutive David Knox said last montb- "CSG is different We can operate side by side

land is being used productively for

agriculture.

*The farmers continue to farm

withfarmers diversi$ing into

'The water thatwe are producing willbe teated and used in the
glasshouse and the cabon dioxide from the power plaat will be used to make the plants grow fast," de Vy'eijer
says.

Other enerry companies involried in the controversial gas extraction

process are also

new agricultural territory. Major CSGdeveloper Santos owns 33,000 hectares at Roma ad Wallumbilla, both in Queensland

- andwe do." Furthet sofb, in Queensland's Dading Dovrns, coalproducer New Hope C-orp's farming subsidiary, Acland Pastoral C-o, has grazing on 3800 hectares of lan4 withanother 1000 hestares under crop and 1800 hectaes fallow.

sheep and cattle along with some cropping,'he says. "We do not charge them a highlease andthey keep their onrn proflrts. "When we stat mining, well take

backsome landfrom a licence holder, mine it, rehabilitate it and then give
the

landbackto the

licnsee." +