"It might not seem that emissions from one tractor could do a lot, but per hectare it emits 1100 kilos of carbon," Mr Linklater says.

Adapting methods developed by Canadian farmer Gary Lewis, of BioAgtive Technologies, Mr Linklater spent $20,000 customising equipment that cools the tractor's fumes to 30 degrees then expels them into the soil as gas fertiliser when he sows his crop.

His trials, which are being replicated in Canada, Britain and South Africa, are gaining global attention and are now the focus of scientific research. ''When I heard about it, I listened and the science of it seemed to make sense, but with fertiliser costs at about $1200 to $1500 a tonne, the economics of it got me into gear,'' Mr Linklater says.

At today's prices it would have cost him $500,000 in phosphorous and nitrogen fertilisers to prepare 3900 hectares for planting. But in the two years since he and his sons began trialling the new technique, no fertiliser has been applied. The saving is enough to wipe a healthy chunk off the debt that he, like many drought-stricken farmers, has racked up through years of meagre rain and below-break-even wheat prices.

Political debate continues over inclusion of agriculture in Australia's emissions trading scheme, but Mr Linklater says farmers have nothing to fear from such a scheme. ''It's coming anyway, regardless of what happens in Australia. Governments around the world are moving ahead with carbon taxes and we will all have to pay.''