When I give tours around Leap Farm I tell visitors that while every property is different, they all have to achieve three things in order to operate: financial sustainability, environmental sustainability and a good work-life balance.

Environmental sustainability can be difficult for many producers because they're already working at the thinnest end of the financial wedge.

That's because as Australians, we're used to consuming excellent local produce at very cheap prices.

For farmers, this means that it's very hard to be green when you're in the red.

I firmly believe that farmers need new pathways to environmental sustainability that also reward them financially, as well as benefiting their farms.

Take Tassie, for example. So many farmers here are already doing the right thing and carrying huge stocks of carbon in their soils and tree stands.

But how many know it? And how can they be recognised for this work financially through instruments like the federal government's Emissions Reduction Fund if they haven't been supported and encouraged to measure and enhance their carbon capture?

Leap Farm is now climate positive. My 108 hectares with 35 plus cows and 300 goats now sequesters three times as much carbon as it emits.

That's been achieved through multiple strategies such as keeping 100 per cent pasture cover where possible, maintaining a medium stocking density, erecting fencing to protect tree stands and create shelterbelts, and using solar energy for dairying and cheesemaking.

There are many paths to a climate positive status and we need to start a discussion about it.

Farmers for Climate Action is doing just that - and it's helping producers learn how to farm sustainably and profitably in a changing climate.

Along with the Tasmanian Farmers & Graziers Association, the organisation is holding a day-long conference this week in Launceston and I encourage producers to attend - everyone is welcome - to hear speakers in climate science and solutions, soils, pastures and economics.

If farmers could be encouraged to measure their carbon stocks, and make a few changes to enhance their sequestering, they could tap into the financial and environmental benefits that will be on offer in the future.

It's the least we deserve given that us farmers have been providing free environmental goods and services for a long time now.

Iain Field and wife Kate run Leap Farm in Copping, Tasmania.