In recent weeks we’ve been working hard to revamp the benchmarking functionality in the Calculator. Today, we’re pleased to unveil a new beta version available for all of our users. Featuring an interactive graph and all-new metrics, you can now gain even more insight into how your business is performing.
The existing benchmarking function will remain in the Calculator for the time being, while we gather feedback on the new version. You can access the new benchmarking function from the ‘View results’ section of a report.
New Benchmarking Explained
Our new benchmarking feature allows you to see how you compare against data from our Farm Carbon Calculator users going back to 2020. Currently, you can dig into 5 key metrics on the benchmarking page – these are:
Total emissions per hectare (tCO2e/ha)
Total crop yield (tonnes/ha)
Total emissions per tonne crops (tCO2e/tonne)
Total emissions per tonne liveweight sold (tCO2e/tonne)
Total emissions per tonne FPCM (tCO2E/tonne)
Configuring Your Benchmarking Plot
Once you’ve chosen which KPI to look at from the drop-down menu, you can also choose a category to split the plot by. You can do this by farm type, farm size, region and reporting year.
Filtering The Data
Lastly, you can also filter the category, if you want to include or exclude certain data. By default, all categories are included but you can choose which data to focus on via the check boxes.
For example, if you are a small dairy farm in the South West, you may wish to only check boxes for “Dairy”, “Small (<100ha)”, “South West” in order to compare with similar types of farm.
Interpreting Benchmarking Data
In order to make benchmarking data easier to interpret, we used what’s called a ‘log transformation’ to be able to fit the range of data we hold into a simple graph. It is not easy to read the absolute value for a farm from the axis but it gives you a picture of the spread of the data so that you can see how your farm compares to others.
When you have data in your report to be able to calculate one of the key metrics, you will see your report’s value on the chart as a blue dashed line.
Rule of thumb: if your blue dashed line is towards the left hand side of the peak on the chart, you are doing better than most, while if it is to the right hand side of the peak, you may be doing less well for that metric.
What’s Included In Your Benchmarking Data?
The data for the new benchmarking feature comes from our own user-generated reports. This data has been carefully managed so as to exclude – among other things – duplicate values, outliers and test scenarios.
For example, reports for farms that have an area greater than 50,000 hectares, but no emissions or sequestration value, will be excluded from the result set. We will also exclude report names with fewer than 3 characters, or those whose names obviously mark them out as test scenarios.
Once any exclusions have been made, we perform some (minimal) cleansing of the remaining data. We may, for example, infer a ‘region’ value from the farm’s postcode. Or infer a reporting year based on the submission date (where there’s no other information available). Finally, we perform the log transformation explained above, in order to display the information in the most user-friendly way.
While every effort is continually made to validate and verify the underlying data, it’s worth keeping in mind that it will never be completely flawless. Nevertheless, the data is very robust and can help aid in planning and decision-making for your business.
What’s Next?
Our carbon Calculator is regularly updated with new features, emissions factors and general improvements. We will continue this work into 2024, and are excited to see how these changes can enhance carbon reporting for farmers and businesses. We plan to update the farm carbon benchmarking data available annually.
A day to glimpse the future of sustainable nature friendly farming and all the ways in which farmers are already farming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and remove carbon from the atmosphere and store in soils and biomass.
On 21 Sep 2023, our Annual Field Day brought together alumni from the Farm Net Zero project in Cornwall alongside past and current FCT Soil and Carbon Farmer of the Year competitions. And we were grateful to Yeo Valley, Velcourt and First Milk who helped to sponsor the day.
The event was held at Hendred Estates courtesy of Julian Gold and the estate owners. The day dawned bright and sunny unlike the day before when you could have been forgiven for thinking that we were in the eye of a tropical storm!
Our delegates arrived ready for a 10am start and we were off to a flying start with Julian introducing his farm and all the practices he has been finessing for many a year.
Julian acknowledged that the timing of our event was pertinent with the news that Westminster is preparing to “back off” their net zero targets but he was clear that he will be carrying on as normal with his efforts to reduce emissions .
His analogy is of “Maintaining the factory premises”: if you run a factory to produce cars, you have to maintain the factory to be able to keep the cars rolling out. In the same way, farmers need to maintain the natural processes (natural capital) the farm relies on in order to keep being able to produce food (whether or not DEFRA or anyone else are paying!).
Julian highlighted that C sequestration can only get farmers so far in terms of net zero – they need to reduce their emissions and look to innovative practices to be able to keep C in the ground. He commented that as soil carbon levels rise closer to those under the hedges (optimum levels perhaps) his ability to offset emissions with additional carbon storage will be reduced. This is something pioneers in this space will need to consider.
Delegates were then sent on a circuit of the farm to join workshops on best practice grazing, livestock feed self-sufficiency and crop cultivation and diversity.
We have captured the nuggets from the workshop discussions below:
Grazing clinic – chaired by Rob Purdew (FCT)
We heard from Rich Stanbury (Beef and sheep farmer from Exmoor), Andrew Rees (Dairy farmer from Wales) and Tim Williams (FNZ demo farmer).
Rich Stanbury runs a beef and sheep system that previously included arable for feed but he has recently been able to take out all his arable land and move to an entirely home grown forage system with 150 suckler cows and 1100 ewes that are out all year.
He’s taken part in an Innovative Farmer’s Trial using a diverse forage crop mix as a break. They planted a field with kale on one half and a 16 species forage mix on the other half. Within three months, there was a visible difference in soil structure between the forage mix and the kale (that Rich could hardly believe). What’s more the forage mix provides diverse nutrition for the sheep and cattle – in Rich’s words, “the cows don’t just want to eat steak, they want peas and chips which is why the mix is good for livestock”.
Andrew Rees has a dairy herd that is now grass-based. He has transitioned the farm to spring calving and reduced his chemical inputs and artificial N fertiliser from 300 kg N/ha gradually and is on track to avoid all chemical Nitrogen fertiliser use next year. He has done this by focussing on diverse pastures but explained that small actions like bale grazing young stock and using summer forage mixes have been useful stepping stones whilst transitioning the farm.
Tim Williams grew up on sheep and beef farms in New Zealand before moving to manage a dairy unit in NZ. After managing farms in both the UK and back in NZ, he learnt more about rotational grazing using the Kiwitech system . Now he is contract farming in Cornwall helping to showcase a regenerative system for the Farm Net Zero project. The farm was previously arable land which had become severely degraded. Tim has transitioned this to a perennial system which started with the initial introduction of a 30 species mix cover crop and the grazing of a small suckler herd that has been built up with store heifers and pedigree Angus. Tim is aiming for 100 head of cattle but is building the herd gradually. He has been bale grazing for energy to be able to overwinter the calves. He is achieving 1 kg LWG per day for growing cattle on this diverse perennial mix.
What was the moment you knew your new approach was working?
Tim It immediately followed the lowest point. Three years of hard graft and nearly reaching breaking point in Spring 2023 with it being so dry, worrying that there wouldn’t be anything for the cattle to eat, and then the growth taking off and it being amazing.
Rich As a fourth generation on the same farm, the negativity from family and neighbours was difficult. Having lots of knowledge to back up the transition helped. Now, a few years down the line, having no N inputs and having to increase the stocking rate because we’re growing more grass than when we were buying in N, that’s how I know it’s working.
“Farmers don’t like change, but when they see that something is really working, they will eventually make the change themselves .
Wasn’t a 16 species or 30 species cover crop expensive? How did you choose what to sow?
It was possible to reduce the sowing rate of the 16 way mix. Agronomists are not typically interested in advising on seed mixes because what they really want to sell you is N fertiliser
Sunflower, sorghum and millet were successful plants to include in the seed mixture and pump a lot of carbon into the soil which benefits the structure, but he found sorghum didn’t establish well on his farm.
It’s very easy to overspend on mixes and seeds. Plan carefully. You can get an SFI SAM3 (similar to GS4) and stack options to make it pay.
Think of it a different way: they saw a 500g /day liveweight gain in sheep on the 16 way mix and a 30 kg increased liveweight gain over winter on outwintered cattle grazed on the mix compared to housed cattle. So the benefits can outweigh the expense of the seed.
You may not need to resow. You can get the animals to disperse the seed for you (so seed one field and then graze the livestock on that after it’s set seed, then move them to where you want that seed to grow next).
You may not need to sow at all. Permanent pasture left ungrazed or “rested” might be able to be put into GS4 to get a payment with none of the seed cost!
What does a perennial system look like?
You have to be patient. You sow 16 or 30 species and it will seem like some don’t establish. Annuals will come first, that’s normal for succession. It might seem like the perennials have not appeared but they will gradually take over from the annuals. It’s important to have the annuals to cover the soil while the perennials establish and this prevents weeds. It’s succession.
Allowing the pasture to set seed is important as it allows a seed bank to be established (so you don’t have to resow).
Sheep will pick off the best bits and so you keep them moving. Then you can bring in the cattle to pull off the rest.
Crop cultivation and diversity – chaired by Tilly Kimble-Wilde (FCT)
We heard from Tim Parton (Green Farm Collective), Julian Gold (host farm), David Miller(Arable farmer from Hampshire)
Feed self-sufficiency – chaired by Stefan Marks (FCT)
This session focussed on the ways in which farmers could become more self-sufficient in feed production. The session was introduced by Stefan, who explained that feed was a global commodity which is at risk of global price fluctuations, particularly recently, which can cause significant economic challenges on farm. The session explored how growing different crops could help enhance crop rotations, benefit plant and soil biodiversity and how to reduce inputs on-farm (including fertiliser and antibiotic usage).
We heard from Michael Carpenter (Kelvin Cave) and Chris Berry (Devon farmer).
Michael highlighted the importance of making best use of what you can grow on your own farm, or trading with your neighbours, which will not only help profitability but also lower the farm carbon footprint. Discussions ensued about the importance of forage preservation and optimising milk from forage, highlighting the practical things that can be done on-farm to maintain quality including grass species, and numbers of cuts to minimise dry matter losses. Michael also talked about the benefits of crimped cereals, which provides higher dry matter yield per ha, a greater fibre digestibility in the seed coat before it lignifies, and more available protein in the cereal. As protein is a high cost (both economically and in terms of carbon) to the farm, cutting down the cost of protein is a good strategy. The NCS project was discussed which is aiming to provide practical information about how by growing peas and beans we can reduce the cost of protein and achieve economic, environmental and animal performance benefits. For more information on the NCS project please click here. https://farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk/2023/07/19/the-ncs-project-more-info/
Chris Berry farms 450 acres near Exeter, on dry sandy soil. Traditionally the farm was a mixed farm lambing Christmas and Easter, calving in the autumn and spring and growing cereals to feed back to the animals. As Chris came home he was asking a lot of questions about the system and its sustainability for the future. Having come back from New Zealand, Chris decided to change the system to become less reliant on subsidies.
The farm made the switch from lambing 700 ewes indoors and outdoors to one big flock of 7-800 New Zealand highlander ewes, and moved to an Angus breed on the cows to make the most of the forage based genetics. This was the starting point to transitioning the farm. At the beginning they were still using feed and fertiliser to make the system work, but gradually Chris came to the realisation that he also needed to focus on what was below the ground and making the best use of grass.
Previously the farm was growing 100ac res of barley, which was rolled and fed to the cattle alongside a lot of purchased creep. Chris started putting up electric fencing and rotating the stock around the paddocks. He started with lots of small groups and lots of moves, but through engaging with a discussion group and Precision Grazing, the system has now moved to include measuring grass and paddock grazing with existing leys (ryegrasses and clovers).
The system was working well, however there were still challenges in the dry summers, and so herbal leys were introduced to provide forage in June – August. Chris started with a 9 ha field which was sown with chicory, red and white clover, plantain and put 300 lambs on it and they gained 10kg in the month they were there. This was a turning point for Chris as he hadn’t managed to achieve a similar growth rate on creep feed. Since then Chris has got rid of the land which was growing cereals and has put it into herbal leys.
Now he has a much more consistent supply of forage when he needs it to match the stock energy requirements. Chris has managed to reduce antibiotic use on farm by 75%, eliminate 80 tonnes of purchased creep feed, and reduced fertiliser by 33 tonnes, which has saved 156t of CO2e, along with an increased output from the farm from 240 to 280 kg per ha.
Following lunch and a presentation to our FCT retiring Chairman David Gardner we all settled down for the afternoon to focus on ways to reduce fossil fuel energy usage and how best to benefit from the new emerging voluntary markets for carbon, biodiversity net gain and nutrient neutrality.
First out of the blocks was the awards for our new competition Carbon Farmer of the Year.
FCT set up this Competition to recognise and champion farmers, sector organisations and businesses who are leading the way in adopting farming practices and developing new technologies to reduce farm emissions whilst optimising output.
We wanted to enable discussions on carbon emissions and sinks on farms to be framed in a very practical way to help everyone to increase their understanding and provide ideas for change.
Our judges were Adam Twine – our founder and long term advocate of climate friendly farming practices and mixed farmer from Wiltshire, David Cope, head of Sustainability at the Duchy of Cornwall and Emily Norton, farmer and chair of the Soil Association Exchange Advisory Group.
Our four finalists were Anthony Ellis from Pensipple Farm, Cornwall, Craig Livingstone from Lockerley Estates, Hampshire, Doug Christie from Durie Farms, Fife and Thomas Gent from Oakley Farm, Cambridgeshire.
Carbon Farmer of the Year 2023 Winners
Doug Christie emerged as our winner. Doug has a mixed farm incorporating an arable enterprise and an organic beef herd alongside woodland. He has been incorporating conservation agriculture practices increasingly since 1999 and was very much a pioneer of climate friendly farming when it was far from fashionable. He realised long ago that reducing emission heavy inputs would reduce his farm footprint. He has been doing that whilst working to improve soil health to enable crop yields to be optimised. Doug is an advocate for increasing natural capital and biodiversity on the farm which he believes underpins the farm’s resilience and truly sustainable food production. Testament to this focus on biodiversity is that Doug ceased using insecticides over 20 years ago.
FCT will be holding a farm walk at Durie Farms on the 21st November to showcase what Doug is doing.
This was followed by a session to consider some of the opportunities for farmers to benefit from the new and emerging markets for carbon and biodiversity net gain as well as nutrient neutrality. Our speakers included Rob Shepherd, chair of the Environmental Farmers Group, Daniel Wynn, Head of Nature Based Solutions at Kent Wildlife Trust and Julian Gold from Hendred Estate and Nick Down from Velcourt Farms. Rob spoke about the work of the Environmental Framers Group (EFG) as a farmer controlled business to enable its members to jointly benefit nutrient neutrality payment schemes across their area of activity which is currently central southern England but is expanding fast with over 1.5% ofEngalnd’s farmed area signed up for membership.
Dan Wynn shared information on Wilder Carbon, a Kent Wildlife Trust subsidiary which is working with land owners and managers to draw down carbon payments from the development of Nature Based Solution creation on land. Dan talked delegates through the process and talked about the pitfalls which are present in this landscape at the moment and how best to avoid them which crucially involves working with partners with integrity and being very clear about the agreements you are entering into as they are often very long term and will come with significant delivery requirements as well as robust monitoring and verification.
Following Dan’s presentations two farmers, Julian Gold and Nick Down gave their perspectives on these markets. Julian from the point of view of having entered some land into a BNG agreement last year and now fully appreciating the long term requirements of meeting the agreement requirements and from Nick discussing how customer requirements are driving a focus on supply chain carbon insetting and how farmers can gain power in this space. This topic drove discussion with delegates asking about future market requirements and how this might affect the attractiveness of current schemes available in this space.
Following this session we finished with a very practical session looking at reducing farm reliance on fossil fuel based sources of power.
Three of our speakers in this session have reduced reliance on fossil fuels through the following technologies:
Harvesting biomethane from the farm’s slurry store to power on farm machinery and sell the surplus – Katie and Kevin Hoare from Cornwall
Woodfuel as an alternative heat source – Andy Bradford from Dartmoor Woodfuel
Replacing diesel and heating oil with oats and chip fat – Anthony Ellis from Cornwall
An analysis of alternative non-fossil fuel sources – David Gardner reviewed the future potential for power derived from solar and wind versus hydrogen with the conclusion that the invention of solid state batteries will give a significant advantage to electric motors powered by batteries or the grid due to their superior power translation into available power at the point of requirement.
We will be uploading slides from these sessions onto our website in due course so that you can look in detail at their presentations.
Why did Farm Carbon Toolkit create this competition?
Farm Carbon Toolkit (FCT) set up the Carbon Farmer of the Year Competition to recognise and champion farmers, sector organisations and businesses who are leading the way in adopting farming practices and developing new technologies to reduce farm emissions whilst optimising output.
We wanted to enable discussions on carbon emissions and sinks on farms to be framed in a very practical way to help everyone to increase their understanding and provide ideas for change.
We are clear that we all face the imperative to reach net zero by 2050 and for farmers that means identifying where all possible reductions in greenhouse gas emissions can be made alongside removing carbon where possible into soils and woody biomass.
Through this competition we were seeking businesses who are implementing effective mitigation practices and adopting new technologies which are helpful and provide inspiration for others to emulate.
The judging process
Having opened the competition for entries we were delighted to see so many high-quality entries flooding in from all over the country. We assembled a team of judges who we felt would be able to look at all aspects of our entrants’ applications:
Adam Twine – our founder and long-term advocate of climate friendly farming practices and mixed farmer from Wiltshire,
David Cope, head of Sustainability at the Duchy of Cornwall and
Emily Norton, farmer, and chair of the Soil Association Exchange Advisory Group.
We interrogated all the entries to select our four finalists – Anthony Ellis from Pensipple Farm, Cornwall, Craig Livingstone from Lockerley Estates, Hampshire, Doug Christie from Durie Farms, Fife and Thomas Gent from Oakley Farm, Cambridgeshire.
Our judges visited all four farms to see for themselves the practices of the businesses, the ethos of the entrants and the impact on emissions, sequestration, and farmland biodiversity. It was clear that all our finalists were committed to making rapid and significant changes to their businesses to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This made the final decision to choose our first winner difficult.
Our 2023 winner
Ultimately, we agreed that Doug Christie of Durie Farms, Fife should be our 2023 winner. Doug has a mixed farm with beef cattle and arable cropping and is organic for the grassland and livestock. He has been incorporating conservation agriculture practices increasingly since 1999 and was very much a pioneer of and advocate for climate friendly farming when it was far from fashionable. Doug initially focused on soil health and by doing this soon realised that it also provided a platform by which emission heavy inputs were reduced with a corresponding reduction in his carbon footprint while also enhancing natural capital services such as biodiversity, water quality, reduced diffuse pollution, water infiltration as well as overall farm resilience, a tall order while attempting to optimise sustainable output.Testament to this focus on biodiversity is that Doug ceased using insecticides over 20 years ago.
Doug Christie being awarded Carbon Farmer of the Year 2023 at FCT’s Annual Field Day
We asked all our entrants to tell us about the key practice changes they have made to help them to reduce emissions and remove carbon. Doug’s list was extensive including direct drilling of arable crops; multi species cover crops preceding spring crops; more diverse crop rotation including the production of pulses and legumes; introduction of companion and intercropping more than six years ago; keeping soil covered at all times, maximising use of living roots throughout the year and avoiding any activity on fields when ground conditions are adverse. This has allowed Doug to sell his subsoiler years ago.
Since 2009, use of granular urea has reduced by over 30%, due partly to the increased area of legumes grown. On the arable rotation output has slightly reduced but net margins are up.
On the livestock side Doug practises adaptive multi paddock grazing with diverse leys which underpins soil fertility; this, in turn, has led to reducing the winter housing period for cattle and minimising use of supplementary feeding. A welcome impact of changing housing management has been a significant reduction in both costs and emissions from a reduced need to move feed and bedding around in the winter and reduced emissions associated with producing winter forages and constantly reseeding.
While he is a firm believer that the five principles of soil health will ultimately deliver he also makes use of technologies such as yield mapping, NDVI and to identify areas to prioritise for nature and is a great believer in monitoring input use and soil health . Records of organic matter (LOI) on a field basis go back to 2006. OM levels rose by a modest 0.5% (from 2006 to 2016) but have not carried out the same statistical analysis from 2016 to present yet. This needs to be seen against a high starting point, taking into consideration the soil type (mainly sandy loam).
He has monitored fuel usage for farm activities for the past five years and has comprehensive soil analysis information going back for well over two decades. This information has then been used to guide future farm management.
Key measures to reduce use of fuel and energy at Durie Farms primarily focus on reducing the need for power, through for example reduced on farm feed mill and mixing as feed use has declined and reduced lighting for housed livestock, use of a stripper header, keeping tyre pressures optimum; reducing total tractor hours / year, low tractor HP / axle weights as well as changing overall farm systems to reduce the need for the use of machinery and equipment. Data on fuel usage going back to 2018 indicates that fuel usage for the cattle enterprise has reduced by 24% during this period with the arable enterprise fuel use, stubble to stubble and including cover crops averaging 12.21 litres/tonne or 53 litres / ha, before fuel for drying crops which has fluctuated from 5 – 20 litres / tonne (including fuel for generator to power the drier) fluctuations mainly due to moisture of crops at harvest.
Doug is continually trying new ideas, with pasture cropping a new initiative he has ‘frustratingly’ tried this year.
Going forward there is a list of things he is looking at to reduce emissions further and store more carbon on the farm, for example developing agroforestry on the permanent grassland to provide benefits for livestock and introducing diverse leys into the arable rotation to enable further reductions in fossil fuel fertiliser usage whilst enhancing soil carbon levels. Dug has calculated that this will reduce reliance still further on chemical N Fertilisers (50% reduction on current levels). For this change Doug will need to balance available forage with cattle requirements.
As a mixed farm, the largest source of emissions are the beef cattle on the farm, despite all the very positive practices in place on the farm. However, looking more holistically, the benefits of the cattle in providing manures and extensive use of legumes to replace chemical fertilisers and supporting enhanced biodiversity contributes to effective ecosystem services which in turn supports a pesticide free system. They are the kingpin to a more circular farming system.
Effective communication and networking
Durie Farms network is extensive, ranging from BASE UK; working closely with local research institutions with on farm trials; involvement with the local AHDB strategic farm alongside hosting visits from Government and other groups on farm.
FCT will be holding a farm walk at Doug’s farm on the 21st November as part of Countryside COP week. More details will be published over the coming week.
FCT Long term ambition for the Carbon Farmer of the Year
In the long term, the Farm Carbon Toolkit is aiming to create a network of alumni who are changing their management practices to better manage emission and carbon storage on farmland who will inspire others through activity, practical demonstrations, and advocacy for changing management practices.
Lizzy Parker and Jonathan Smith (Farm Carbon Calculator) answer questions from growers, processors, estate managers and retailers on the new supply chain carbon footprinting tools available from the Farm Carbon Calculator, during a showcase at Houghton Hall, Norfolk
Press release: 29th September 2023
New tools to footprint farm products along supply chains
Growers, processors and retailers met at Houghton Hall in Norfolk on 8th September 2023 for a showcase of new tools for carbon footprinting of whole supply chains that ultimately allow retailers to track their detailed scope 3 emissions.
These new tools are the latest improvements to the Farm Carbon Calculator, one of the industry’s most popular carbon calculators, which enables farmers and growers to measure and understand the carbon footprint of their business.
Lizzy Parker, Carbon Calculator Manager said:
“We have developed software that, with very little change to the way farmers use the existing Calculator, permits users to produce a product footprint from their whole farm footprint and then pass that information through to their customers. Within the tool, and using the same methodologies, the customer (for example a processor like RB Organic) can aggregate those product footprints from all their growers and add on their own business’ emissions to produce their own product footprint, which can in turn be passed further along the chain.”
Jonathan Smith (Farm Carbon Calculator) discusses management practices that can reduce the carbon footprint of carrot production with RB Organic suppliers and growers on the RB Organic managed land, Houghton Estate, Norfolk.
In the race for farmers and growers to reach net zero carbon and beyond, the Farm Carbon Calculator is focussed on providing the best tools to enable them to measure and manage carbon in their businesses. Working with RB Organic, part of Burgess Farms and their organic carrot supply chain, has enabled the team at the Farm Carbon Calculator to develop the tools with the input of a range of growers, suppliers and logistics companies, as well as the retailer, so that the process works for everyone involved.
Melissa Goodman, Head of Group Compliance at Burgess Farms, said:
“Identifying our Scope 3 emissions in our supply chain will help us advance on our net zero journey. Developing additional tools that can provide a greater insight into emissions will not only deliver substantial benefits to our business but for the environment too in tackling climate change”.
One key development to enable UK supply chain footprinting has been to research and build an International version of the existing Calculator that can feed into the same carbon reports. Most food products on UK supermarket shelves have dynamic supply chains that rely on imports for parts of the year. Agronomists in Italy, working with RB Organic’s Italian carrot growers, supported the appropriation of the Calculator so that the tool can now provide both language translation and regional data for Italy, crucial for the footprinting of this fresh produce supply chain.
Chris Negus, General Farm Manager for RB Organic, leads a tour of the organic carrot production on land at the Houghton estate, Norfolk and describes how management practices feed into the company’s carbon footprint in the long term.
The tools are currently in beta testing with existing supply chain partners of the Farm Carbon Calculator and any organisation wishing to use them can contact the team at calculator@farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk for more information.
The development of these tools for the Farm Carbon Calculator and the footprinting of RB Organic’s carrot supply chain has received funding through the Innovation Connections programme, which is a Tesco WWF partnership initiative.
Paul Marsh, Climate Change Specialist at WWF, said:
“The clock is ticking when it comes to taking action to address the climate and nature crises. Driving down harmful greenhouse gas emissions from the agriculture and land use sector is vital if we are to avert climate catastrophe. We welcome efforts to improve the tools available to UK farmers to measure, monitor, and mitigate emissions over time, and enable the flow of carbon data across supply chains. This can play a key role in supporting the sector to drive down its climate impacts, as part of a shift towards a sustainable food system.”
ENDS
Notes for editors
The Farm Carbon Calculator is owned and managed by Farm Carbon Toolkit, a Community Interest Company dedicated to helping farmers and growers understand and reduce their carbon emissions for the past 13 years.
The scorching September sunshine in Wiltshire at the Agroforestry Show was a good reminder of just how important trees are to us humans and to livestock, providing shade, a different microclimate and more water cycling. Hosts Helen Browning and Ben Raskin showed the extensive field scale alley cropping that intercrops trees, crops and livestock. As Helen said “ever since planting these trees the whole field has felt more alive”.
The trees are not only providing benefits in hot weather, but also reducing wind speed, increasing biodiversity and habitat, sequestering carbon and slowing down water in the landscape. But furthermore they are providing extra income opportunities for farmers and growers – such as fruit, timber, woodchip, nuts, and sticks for the future, along with potential ELMS payments.
The event was very much about spreading and sharing knowledge and insight, with a wide range of presentations and discussions. So much discussion was clearly being had amongst people with an interest in agroforestry in a way that only these sorts of events in person can really do. Businesses displaying at the event were as diverse as fruit tree nurseries, wood processing, banks, advisory, nature charities and many more; an indication of just how wide a range of people have an interest in the growth and continued success of agroforestry.
At FCT we had many discussions with attendees about carbon footprinting, and especially carbon sequestration in soils and perennial crops. We believe the Calculator and Advisory work we do really compliments the aims of agroforestry and look forward to more discussions on this subject with farmers and growers in the future.
One of the actions we will certainly take away is to deepen our understanding of the carbon sequestration benefits of Agroforestry systems, and to reflect that in terms of options in the Farm Carbon Calculator.
Regular users will have noticed that we have been gradually adding a host of new and upgraded functionality to our Calculator, offering better user experience, and more carbon footprinting opportunities for farmers and the food supply chain. This is an industry-leading carbon calculator that further establishes itself as a major tool to help the food and farming sector calculate, understand and reduce its carbon footprint.
Existing users can now:
Compare up to 5 reports in detail
Compare reports along a timeline and track progress toward a net zero target
View enhanced visuals for live results to get a better overview of their report
Export all input data as well as carbon emissions (as a .json)
Comparisons
You can now compare up to five reports at once, side by side. This could be from your own farm, or as part of a Group that you belong to. Compare across a range of farms you have access to or look into how your own footprint is changing year on year. Comparisons include overall carbon balance, a range of Key Performance Indicators (e.g. carbon balance per hectare, or per tonne), and right down into the detail of each part of the business.
Progress to Net Zero
We’ve also expanded comparisons to add progress against a target into the Calculator. This means you can track your carbon balance progress toward Net Zero over a given time period.
Visual Insights
We know that deriving insight from your data is hugely important, so we’ve taken the opportunity to upgrade the visuals inside the Calculator, giving you better overview of the detail of your report. You’ll now see interactive ‘sunburst’ charts on our results pages, where you can drill down into detail at each level, but also give a much clearer overview of which parts of your business are creating the biggest emissions.
Data
Exporting data from the Calculator has become easier. JSON exports of your Carbon Report mean that you can now access the data you have inputted into the calculator as an export. Further options to integrate your carbon report with other platforms are coming early 2024.
Next steps
We are constantly improving both the data and processes underpinning carbon reports, as well as making the tool easy to use. Expect a further upgrade in 2024, when we showcase the next round of development. We are responsive to the needs of users, and the trajectory of the sector so that carbon footprinting your farm and food business can become ever smoother and more meaningful, helping us all to decarbonise as rapidly as possible.
There are also useful FAQs and a ‘how to’ video on the Calculator homepage. You can also login to access your reports here, or set up a new account if you’re new to the Calculator https://calculator.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk/
Need more from the Calculator? We can support product footprinting of supply chains involving farms through the use of new functionality currently undergoing beta testing. Contact calculator@farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk if you would like to explore the options with us.
Our very own Becky Willson features on the Cornish Mutual podcast Farming Focus.
‘Farming Focus’ – the new farming podcast for Cornish Mutual Members and the wider farming community was recently launched.
Farming Focus aims to bring its listeners the latest on what really matters to farmers. Featuring industry experts and farming professionals, it expects to kickstart conversations across the South West and give farmers the knowledge and solutions to face today’s demands in agriculture.
The first 10-episode series of the fortnightly podcast will focus on resilience with host and Cornish Farmer Peter Green chatting to guests about how South West farming businesses can be resilient for the future. They’ll explore everything from soil to rural crime, policy to future markets and farm safety to animal disease.
Becky Willson features in episode 6 – How can South West farmers reduce emissions and be more climate resilient?
Continuing their series on resilience, this episode looks at climate resilience. Becky explains why farmers are in the unique position of being able to reduce emissions while increasing carbon capture with Wadebridge farmer Mike Roberts explaining the gains he’s seeing from the changes he’s made. Mike Roberts is one of the Farm Net Zerodemo farmers, find out more here.
Mike went from using over three artic loads of fertiliser a year to none in his pursuit of climate resilience. Hear how he’s done it in Episode 6 where he discusses the practical ways farmers can ‘stack up the gains’ to achieve resilience and balance.
We are excited to announce our plans for this year’s Farm Carbon Toolkit Annual Field Day, this year to be held at the Hendred Estate, Wantage, on the 21st September.
This event is a day for farmers, sharing their experiences for improving performance and resilience in a challenging environment. During the day we will showcase all the ways in which farmers are already changing farming practice to respond to the need to reduce emissions and build on farm carbon within their businesses. We will share our insights from supporting farmers to reduce GHG emissions and remove carbon into soils and biomass, involving key elements of the transition to a nature friendly decarbonisation of agriculture.
Here you’ll get an idea of the shape of the day and the major topics and themes to be covered. It’s set to be a useful day, with lots of take home ideas, and space for discussions and questions.
Our fantastic selection of speakers will share key insights into areas where emission reductions can be made and farm resilience built.
During the day we will have the following sessions:
Grazing clinic
Crop cultivation and diversity
Feed: Self-sufficiency
Benefiting from private markets for carbon and biodiversity
Fuel and energy
The day will also include a breakout ‘calculator clinic’, the Carbon Farmer of the Year awards (a new competition which we launched this year), and an opportunity to see the Six Inches of Soil trailer.
Speaker bios
Grazing clinic
Andrew Rees
Andrew Rees owns and operates a grass based spring calving dairy farm with his family in Pembrokeshire. In recent years he has taken a more soil centric approach to running the farm with the introduction of more diversity into grazing leys, significantly reducing chemical fertiliser inputs and changing grazing practices.
Soil Farmer of the year runner-up in 2022, Andrew is aiming to produce nutrient dense food regeneratively within the capabilities of the farm ecosystem. Andrew aims to reduce the farm’s risk to matters outside of its control such as escalating input costs and extreme weather events. He’s not not afraid to try new things, examples this year include rearing replacement heifers on nurse cows, bokashi composting and 18 species grazing cover crop mixes.
@AndrewMoorfarm
James Daniel
James has experience across a wide range of soil types, enterprises and business structures bringing a thorough understanding of pasture-based livestock systems to all work from business planning to regenerative farming system design.
Founding Precision Grazing in 2016 he works across the UK helping farmers to implement and manage effective livestock grazing systems leading to a reduction in costs, lower carbon footprint, improved productivity and profit.
Tim Williams farms 400 acres over three properties, the central operation being a contract farming operation on Erth Barton farm (part of the Antony Estate in SE Cornwall), where over the last three years he has transitioned 300 acres of ex-conventional arable into a no-input, regenerative, livestock based system, running a 65 cow suckler herd supplemented with bought in stores.
The zero-input system relies on complex herbal leys, rotational grazing and biological inputs such as compost teas and extracts. His time between farm management, advisory work and educational workshops. Tim and his wife have recently set up ‘Mamm’, a field to table cafe on Crocadon Farm and he also grows heritage grains marketed directly as flour to local bakeries.
David grew up in Essex and left school in 1975 at the age of 16. He worked on the same farm with his father and completed a City and Guilds day release course at Writtle College. David then moved up to a foreman’s job on a neighbouring farm., and in 1998 he moved to Hampshire to take a Manager’s post which then evolved into the joint venture of Wheatsheaf Farming in 2002. In 2004 David was awarded a Nuffield Farming Scholarship and travelled to Australia, New Zealand, Sweden and Hungary studying labour recruitment, training and retention.
In 2010, after 35 years of chemical dominated crop production, soil and biology has become the centre of his attention with solutions being sought from places other than just bags and cans.
In 2021 Wheatsheaf Farming became the Strategic Farm South for the AHDB with the objective of looking at practices and principles to continue the journey into regenerative agriculture beyond cover crops and no till.
@fowell103
Feed- Self-sufficiency
Michael Carpenter
Originally from Somerset, where he worked in dairy and beef farming, Michael went on to study agriculture at Harper Adams before embarking on a career across a broad base of the livestock industry, beginning with Genus Breeding, and later switching to the feed industry and National Beef Association. Throughout, hes increasingly questioned whether the feed industry was working in the farmer’s best interests, paving the way for him to join Kelvin Cave Ltd, 18 years ago. Today, he is technical director for this feed and forage preservation company, which is a driving force behind the innovative preservation of home-grown feeds.
Against the might of the feed industry, he has helped encourage farmers to ditch bought-in compounds whenever possible and maximise the nutrient value of what they grow on farm, cutting costs of production and promoting farm-to-farm trading of home-preserved feeds. With a particular interest in UK-grown proteins, he is taking the lead role for Kelvin Cave Ltd in the NCS project (Nitrogen Efficient Plants for Climate Smart Arable Cropping Systems).
Tim Parton
Tim Parton is a Farm Manager in South Staffordshire in the UK farming 300 ha. Tim farms in a biological way maximizing the value of nutrition to get the best out of the crops. He does not use insecticides, seed treatments, growth regulators or fungicides, as when the plant is balanced the need for synthetic inputs drops away. Tim has won many awards including Soil Farmer of the Year 2017, Arable Innovator of the Year 2019, Sustainable Farmer of the Year 2019 and Innovation Farmer of the Year 2020.
Benefiting from private markets for carbon and biodiversity
Nick Down
Nick Down is the Farms Manager for Yattendon Estates & Head of Sustainability for Velcourt Ltd. After graduating from the University of Plymouth and following a year working overseas, Nick has been managing farms in the North Wessex Downs for the last sixteen years, having grown up on a dairy farm in Mid Devon. Currently managing the farming business of the Yattendon Estate, Nick is overseeing the transition to a more sustainable farming system, incorporating more space for nature and enhancing carbon sequestration under an ambitious environmental delivery program. The farm business now forms part of the LEAF demonstration farm network, one of 42 farms across the UK showcasing best practice through an integrated farm management approach.
Nick is a member of the Upper Pang Farmer Cluster working collaboratively with 8 local farmers and land owners, aiming to bring environmental delivery at a landscape scale, and is also a member of the Berkshire Local Nature Partnership. Nick also acts as the Head of Environmental Sustainability for Velcourt who manage 57,000 hectares of farmland, for 120 clients across the UK. This role is encompassing the areas of environmental land management and countryside stewardship, net zero strategy, natural capital and ecosystem service markets.
The Bradford family have been farming a Duchy of Cornwall estate since 1969. Their prime activity is beef farming with a South Devon suckler herd and emphasis on managing the wildlife rich landscape as they aim to diversify into sustainable tourism in an ethical and environmentally conscious fashion. They have an open access policy, welcoming visitors to enjoy the rich biodiversity around the farm.
Diversification began in 1975 with a Farmhouse Tearooms, and further diversification in the 1980’s which included conversion of traditional farm buildings into accommodation and conference facilities.
In 2005 during a study trip to Switzerland Andy realised the potential of biomass as a source of renewable energy and on this trip thoughts turned to how well this model would suit the Dartmoor region. Dartmoor Wood-Fuel Co-operative was established in 2009 by a group of like-minded Dartmoor residents. Initially they supplied six boilers from a variety of businesses including a hotel, a tourist attraction and local farms. Now co-operative membership has grown to over 45 sites around the region, processing over 4000 tons of biomass annually.
Anthony is a farmer and independent agronomist from Cornwall. He farms with his father and runs a mixed sheep and arable system on 200 acres, where they seek to integrate the sheep and arable enterprises as much as possible with cover crops, herbal leys and cereal grazing, in order to minimise inputs and improve soil health as much a s possible.
They direct market their lamb to the local community and beyond, and are involved in a project to add value to their wool by working directly with the fashion and textile industry. As an independent agronomist and consultant, Anthony works with farmers looking to adapt to more regenerative farming systems.
@anthonyellis79, Facebook: Pensipple Farm – Solar Powered Lamb
David Gardner
David Gardner is now mostly retired. He spent most of his career in farm management with the Co-operative farms. At the end of his career he spent 6 years at the RASE where he developed the Innovation for Agriculture initiative with 15 other Agricultural Societies.
At home he has had a wind turbine and a heat pump for over ten years and has super insulated the house. He drives an electric car and is about to install solar PV on the roof, heat storage for both hot water and heating along with diverters to maximise his use of his own energy.
He has a keen interest in all aspects of sustainability and has a particular interest in analysing the big picture – ‘How are we going to run a more sustainable Society for 9 billion people within the constraints associated with our limited resources?’
NOTE: This is an external press release, not written by FCT, to read the full post with all notes to editors please head to the University of Cumbria website here.
For the first time, farmers, land managers and advisors can study part-time, higher education short courses to help them respond to changes in upland farming and environmental land management.
In a unique partnership between the University of Cumbria and the farming and land management sector, six accredited modules will begin running from September 2023.
The first three cover Mapping Environmental Assets, Farm Business Opportunities and Upland Farming for Net Zero. They will be followed by Collaborative Practice in the Uplands, Trees on Farms and Fells, and Improving Efficiency and Productivity
“We’ve developed the modules, in conjunction with the farming and conservation sectors, at a critical time for upland land managers and farmers. It’s about skilling up to best respond to rapid changes in farming policy, funding and upland environmental land management and comes when food and energy security, and climate change, are in clear focus for society and communities around the world.
“The modules cover a breadth of key topics. Two are a result of development with Land App and the Farm Carbon Toolkit, and based on their user-friendly technology to make mapping and carbon auditing easier.”
As part of its Towards 2030 strategy, the University of Cumbria works with employers and partners in existing and emerging areas to develop provision that helps to address regional and sector higher-level skills needs.
The new suite of modules will be delivered by the university’s Institute of Science and Environment, led by tutors with current experience in the sector. They can be studied individually, or as a set, and are aimed at people working in, or seeking to work in, upland farming, land management or advisory services.
Different to a standard university course, each module involves 24 hours of tuition across eight weeks, using a combination of workshops, online evening lectures and farm visits. There is additional independent study, to help people to put their learning into practice, leading to accreditation.”
It means the courses are offered at a reduced cost of £500, with some free, sponsored, places available too.
The Foundation for Common Land’s Our Upland Commons project is proud to be sponsoring 12 free places on the first unique course.
Over eight weeks, and through part-time study, group and site visits, participants on the Farm Business Opportunities module can develop skills in financial planning, environmentally sustainable farming and farm diversification.
The sponsored places have been made possible thanks to £3million from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a project to secure the future of upland commons. Led by the Foundation for Common Land, ‘Our Common Cause: Our Upland Commons’, is supported by 25 organisations and involves 12 English commons. Grants have also come from Esmée Fairbairn, Garfield Weston Foundations.
Farmers working with scientists to achieve the best from pulse crops and reduce their carbon emissions. Led by farmers, backed by science
FCT is part of a consortium of project contributors and would like to share more information on the project aims and how it will run. Please note this blog takes its content from the NCS brochure linked to at the bottom of this page.
NCS at a Glance
What is it about?
The NCS project is a new £5.9M farmer-led research programme, set to revolutionise on-farm carbon footprints by delivering more than half of the GHG emissions reduction target for UK agriculture.
What are the project aims?
The main aim is to enable UK agriculture to bring about a reduction of 1.5Mt CO2e per annum or 54% of the maximum potential for the industry.
The ambitions of the project are to increase pulse and legume cropping in arable rotations to 20% across the UK and to develop and test new feed rations. This will help livestock farmers to substitute up to 50% of imported soya meal used in feed with more climate-friendly home-grown pulses and legumes.
These twin aims will be steered by science and proven by real farm enterprises, with significant benefits for both crop and livestock productivity, including cost savings of over £1bn/ year.
Who is running the project?
The project partners comprise a consortium of UK companies, research institutes and farmer networks, led by PGRO and including Farm Carbon Toolkit.
Who is it for?
Anyone and everyone concerned with reducing carbon emissions on farm and those interested in the potential for peas and beans to help them achieve that. From boots in the field, to scientists in the lab, this project will bring together the entire supply chain to seek sustainable long-term solutions to climate change.
Can I be involved?
Absolutely. As part of the project, a new ‘PulsePEP’ (Performance Enhancing Platform) community will be established – a platform and knowledge exchange hub, led by ADAS, for farmers who are striving to achieve the best from pulse crops and reduce their carbon emissions.
From this community, a group of ‘Pulse Pioneers’ will be selected to host paid-for trials on their own farms. These trials will test novel concepts, ideas, products, rations and sensors designed to help farmers reduce GHG emissions.
Project overview
STEP 1: Gathering the data
Led by the James Hutton Institute, the first stage of the research will involve data athering to draw insight across the scope of the project, which will lead to the UK’s first comprehensive life-cycle assessment of arable cropping systems.
Also included will be data from the core group of 200 farmers within the PulsePEP community who will receive tailored assistance from Farm Carbon Toolkit to establish their farm carbon footprint baseline and whose GHG emissions will be tracked throughout the project.
STEP 2: Capturing data
Led by ADAS, the next stage will involve capturing data from historic information and new on-farm trials to test the hypothesis that increased pulse cropping can substantially reduce carbon emissions from agriculture. Some of the technology used to do this will include PBL Technology’s new in-soil nutrient sensors.
STEP 3: Analysing soil resilience
This part of the project aims to identify and quantify the resilience of soil GHG emissions under climate change. It will also provide baseline and historical contexts for management and legume inclusion on GHG emissions, carbon footprint, environmental impact, and economic returns. This will be used to evaluate the relative GHG emissions, soil health and nitrogen benefits of legumes in rotations.
STEP 4: Feeding trials
Led by McArthur Agriculture, feeding trials will be carried out to better understand the end use of pulses and legumes in animal feeds.
Farm-based heat treatment, de-hulling of beans, whole crop forage optimisation and a score of other innovative techniques will be deployed in both scientific and commercial trials.
STEP 5: Practical application
At the end of the project, the data will be pooled together to establish the best scenarios for delivering the optimum environment and financial result on investment for farmers.
It also aims to establish the carbon cost-benefit analysis of transitioning to increased production of legumes and pulses in the UK, alongside changes in livestock diets in favour of home-grown legumes and pulses and away from soyabean meal.
This will ensure the project has impact, delivers resilience to the whole of UK agriculture and that it stays on track for its ambitious net zero goals.
About NCS
Nitrogen Efficient Plants for Climate Smart Arable Cropping Systems (NCS) is a four-year £5.9M research programme involving 200 UK farms and 17 partners. The NCS Project is funded by the Farming Futures R&D Fund: Climate smart farming, part of Defra’s Farming Innovation Programme. Defra are working in partnership with Innovate UK who are delivering the programme.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. This includes analytics cookies to understand website traffic and how users interact with our website. We do not use any advertising cookies.
You may accept or refuse our use of cookies, or learn more at the link provided.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
Recent Comments