Tag: crops

The Farm Carbon Calculator Update – October 2024

Posted on October 8, 2024 by - Calculator, News

Farm Carbon Toolkit Team at annual field day - announcing update to Farm Carbon calcualtor

The calculator just got a little bit bigger and better

This October all calculator users will benefit from an incremental update to The Farm Carbon Calculator. We’re always looking and listening for ways to improve the tool – and in accordance with our annual development cycle we’ve added some as quickly as we can in this update.

The changes described below change our transparent methodology, and are listed in detail in an update note – read it

Image showing crops next to a simple calculator

© copyright Farm Carbon Toolkit – AI Generated

What’s new?

Calculated emissions adapt to reflect your crop management decisions

We know there are a wide range of practices around how crops are harvested or managed. Whereas before we relied on averages to calculate emissions here, now you can account for the specific way you manage each crop. The more detail you can enter, the more accurate your footprint will be.

The update applies to all crops – here’s some examples and the new ways the calculator estimates related emissions from these:

For agricultural crops like barley you can now choose from options relating to the amount of crop residue – you will see the following options:

  • Most of the barley straw left in the field
  • Half of the barley straw removed, half left in field (default)
  • Wholecrop or most of the barley straw removed from the field.

For your horticultural crops like potatoes you can also indicate what happened to residues:

  • Most of the crop residues left in field (default)
  • Most of the residues removed after harvest.

For green manures, temporary grasslands and cut forages select from the following:

  • Green manure with all residues left in field after mowing (default)
  • Forage crop with half of the residues foraged in place
  • Cash crop with all residues removed from the field.

Where you don’t have the detail to enter we revert back to a sensible default which suits the crop in question. So don’t worry – we’ve done this so the Calculator remains easy to use and crops can be entered just as before where needed.

Emissions now calculated from fruit crops

Until now the Calculator has accounted for fruit crops so yields can be recorded. Our research has reached a level of detail where we can confidently indicate emissions associated with this fruit yield – whereas before we could only account for sequestration from perennial fruit crops. 

Emissions are now calculated from the growing the fruits alongside detail on their management and their renewal rate where applicable. It is this level of detail that has allowed us to take this step – which we think greatly improves the calculator for fruit farms.

Log in to see emissions for: Blackberries, Blackcurrants, Blueberries, Cranberries, Gooseberries, Raspberries, Redcurrants, Strawberries, Apples, Cherries, Grapes, Hops, Kiwiberries, Nuts, Pears, and Plums.

Better record of the operations and activities on your farm

Accounting for fuel use and farming operations just got even easier. We’ve increased the amount of modelled emissions for different farm operations by working closely with industry professionals. 

If you don’t have all your fuel use figures but you know what farming operations you completed or contracted out, we’re confident you will be able to record this. Choose from 47 different activities like drilling, harvesting, soil preparation, bailing and much more. You’ll know the number of different types of operations needed on your farm – it’s likely that if you do it, we can help estimate emissions from it.

Here’s an example of the options now available under the general category of baling:

  • Running a bale wrapper
  • Baling by the bale – Small rectangular bales
  • Baling by the bale – Round bales
  • Baling by the bale – Heston bales
  • Baling by area ~250 Small rectangular bales per ha
  • Baling by area ~15 Round bales per ha
  • Baling by area ~7.5 Heston bales per ha
  • Baling by area (general).

More detail to capture your unique farm’s purchases and waste

More packaging can now be accounted for in your report. © copyright Farm Carbon Toolkit – AI Generated

We listened to feedback and added more options to help record unique purchases on your farm for your carbon footprint report. All farms are different so you may not see all these changes but here are the main additions:

  • There are more material items accounted for in our already extensive list; things like sheep hurdles; packaging used by dairy producers and in veg boxes; and a range of cleaning products, detergents and disinfectants
  • More items thrown away or disposed of can be simply accounted for by selecting options from our extensive list
  • If you produce your own hay and haylage this can be recorded, alongside silage and straw, feed and bedding. Following our updates to crops on-farm, this detail allows more of what you do to be recorded – though it doesn’t necessarily result in emissions calculations. You’ll find full details of what creates emissions within the calculator as you enter each item, and in our methodology and update note.

Your own feed haylage, silage, and more can be recorded in your report. © copyright Farm Carbon Toolkit – AI Generated

Better visibility of Greenhouse gas type and scope

When a report is downloaded in CSV or JSON formats you will now receive a more detailed split of greenhouse gas for each item on your report, which is also broken down by emissions scope. We’ve been asked for this from farmers and agricultural professionals using the calculator – often those reporting onward emissions to others in the supply chain looking for this detail. 

Your reports won’t change

We know consistent reporting is important to you so we have ensured carbon reports in our system will not automatically change because of this update. This means all your calculated figures will stay the same.

Do note however that if you modify an old report by adding items to it, or if you click ‘recalculate’ then your report will update in the relevant places based on this update. You may want to update it, particularly if you have crops in your report, as you may want to see changes due to the improved accuracies mentioned. 

If you want to preserve your old report but also change or build scenarios from it, you can lock your report so it cannot change and create a copy of any report from your dashboard to begin making alterations. Name these reports so you can easily tell them apart. Talk to us if you are not sure and we can advise you.

When is our next update?

These updates are scheduled to take place at least twice per year with an incremental update in Autumn and a larger annual update in Spring. 

We are here for farmers and users and our updates like this reflect all our priorities. We engage our farmer network and the Farm Carbon Toolkit team in the update process by gathering feedback on how the current version is working alongside suggested improvements. We order the feedback we receive by quality and what is achievable, and plan our next upgrade in accordance with our ongoing schedule.

We’d love to hear from you

Our friendly team can be reached to help answer your questions – talk to us.

Remember there are a range of resources for users of the Calculator and useful FAQs and videos too.

Your Farm Carbon Calculator Team – October 2024

Lizzy Parker – Calculator Manager

James Pitman – Calculator Development Officer

Grace Wardell – Calculator Development Officer

Izzy Garnsey – Data Scientist

Calum Adams – Calculator Data Assistant

Michael Brown – Customer Service Officer

Farm Carbon Toolkit – meet the team

Sustainable crop rotations

Posted on March 21, 2024 by - Insights, News

Looking back at 2023, it can safely be defined as a challenging year with the wettest autumn / winter we have seen for decades. Farmers have not only faced the challenge of maximising yields and optimising soil health, but also battling against the elements to drill crops into the ground. Hoping for a kinder 2024, this blog explores options to build resilience into crop rotations aiming to cultivate a balance between high yields and optimum soil health.

Minimising cultivation

First things first, this blog is not telling you to get rid of the plough. All machinery serves a purpose, it is just about knowing when to intervene. Within systems that have reduced their cultivations or those that have been adopting conservation ploughing (i.e. ploughing one year in three or more), soils tend to be more resilient through improved soil structure. Good soil structure has a matrix of small, medium, and large pore spaces able to retain and drain water as well as provide pockets of air for respiration and gaseous exchange and water for nutrient exchange. When we till the soil, especially when ground conditions are sub-optimum, we run the risk of squashing the pores and causing compaction and soil degradation, reducing water infiltration, increasing anaerobism (lack of oxygen) and building up toxic gases, all contributing to poor soil health and disappointing crop yields.

Carry out a VESS: Visual Evaluation of Soil Structure

It is important to get out there and dig holes; get to know your soil and how it behaves under certain environmental conditions. When you assess the soil structure, look for compaction and note its depth. Can this be remedied by deeper rooting species, or does it require mechanical intervention? Always keep the depth in mind as it’s no good going in too deep or too shallow.

Diversity

Sustainable rotations begin with diversity. A multipronged approach combining arable crops, legumes and cover crops takes full advantage of all the tools we have in the box as arable farmers. Diversity in species above ground matches diversity in species below ground: helping to break pest and disease cycles and improve soil health through provision of various rooting architecture, root exudates and crop residues. The soil is alive and many of the nutrients available to crops and plants come from the activity of soil-dwelling organisms that are busy stabilising, consuming and releasing nutrients for the benefit of the crop. Diversity in crops and roots therefore contribute a rich source of food for soil fauna to feast on, enhancing soil fertility and subsequent crop health and crop yield. 

Where pests and disease more commonly thrive is within monocultures e.g. continuous cereals. We are seeing an increasing reliance on chemicals to control and abate problems within these systems, depleting our soils of beneficials in the process. Similarly, a lack of diversity in roots are only supporting a limited community of microorganisms. This is not sustainable; therefore, we must explore how we can incorporate more species within the rotation. OSR is one of many good examples. It has deep roots and is easily diversified with companions e.g. vetch / buckwheat / berseem clover. Maximising the number of crop species in a rotation will optimise the diversity of organisms below ground.

On farm, an easy way to measure how biologically active our soils are is by monitoring earthworm numbers. Earthworms are at the top of the soil food web and will travel to and reside where there is lots of food; they are also brilliant at breaking down residues and redistributing nutrients throughout the soil profile. How many worms do you count in a spade full of soil? Where are you finding the most? And can those numbers be replicated elsewhere on farm?

Legumes

The blog wouldn’t be complete without talking about legumes. Approximately 78% of the air is nitrogen. If we can harness the power of leguminous plants to fix some of that nitrogen, we can cut costs by reducing the amount of artificial fertiliser whilst also minimising our environmental impact. Consider incorporating peas or beans into the rotation as stand-alone crops, clover as a companion crop or include legumes as part of a cover crop mix. Farmers are often able to reduce the amount of bagged fertiliser used after legumes.

Legumes to build fertility: field beans in an arable rotation

If possible, trial a small reduction across a proportion of the field first and see how your yields fare – you might be pleasantly surprised.

Cover Crops

Utilising cover crops between winter and spring cropping is an excellent approach to building soil health in between cash crops: stabilising soil structure by maintaining living roots in the soil throughout the year, feeding the soil biology and acting as a buffer protecting the soil from adverse weather conditions. 

On top of this, one of the biggest advantages of cover crops is that they are great at scavenging and holding onto residual nutrients left over from the previous crop, reducing losses from leaching. Once destroyed, the nutrients will be released back into the soil, improving nutrient use efficiency, and potentially enabling a reduction in artificial inputs required by the next crop. 

Cover crop mixes should be tailored to your needs and soil type. It’s better to choose species type based on what you are trying to achieve: building fertility, keeping the ground covered, and/or alleviating compaction. 

If possible, conduct trials and aim to include 3 or more species in the mix to capitalise on diversity in both the above-ground biomass for optimised photosynthetic potential (think assortment of leaf shapes to increase surface area from which to harness the sun’s energy), and below-ground biomass through varied rooting structures, depths, shapes and sizes (pumping sugars and carbon into the soil, building soil organic matter and feeding the soil biology).

Livestock Integration

Integrating grazing livestock into your rotation offers an alternative technique to destroying cover crops whilst also adding valuable organic matter to the soil in the form of manure. Including grass and clover leys also gives the ground a break, allowing time for recovery and offers another income stream from grazing or silage / hay making. The benefits of perennial roots in the ground over an extended period, especially if a mix of roots at different depths, will help to improve soil structure and build fertility for future crops.

Grazing livestock returning soil organic matter and building soil health.

Explore the Sustainable Farming Incentive options to see if herbal leys or a 2-year legume fallow could be economically viable.

Monitoring and Adapting

It is important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all approach; be adaptive and tailor options to local environment and conditions. Trial different methods and see which suits your system best.

Regularly monitoring soil health, accounting for all nutrient sources, and keeping an eye on pest and disease prevalence alongside crop performance and weather is crucial to make informed adjustments to rotations as needed.

In summary, farmers are in a unique position in that yes, we produce emissions in the process of producing nutritious food however, we can also build soil health and boost biodiversity simultaneously contributing to offsetting our own emissions and future proofing our farms and landscapes. Implementing a sustainable crop rotation in the UK is not just about growing crops; it’s about promoting a future where productivity and soil health co-exist. By diversifying crops, integrating legumes, embracing cover crops, minimising tillage, incorporating livestock, and tailoring practices to local conditions, it is possible to achieve a resilient and sustainable agricultural landscape supporting local and wider communities for years to come.

Risky Crops

Posted on September 15, 2023 by - Insights

Certain crops (potatoes, sugar beet, maize, field vegetables) within a wider arable rotation pose increased risk of soil loss or degradation. Often described as ‘risky’ these crops may require additional management to ensure that field conditions are favourable and that there is no long-term disruption to soil functionality or structure. 

Aside from the impact upon soil, ‘risky crops’ are often those which have a potentially higher financial burden through the obstacles of production. Rising input costs, labour shortages and ever increasing inflation presents additional challenges to high-risk, high-reward crops. These two elements (soil management and economics) are additionally impacted through the changing climate with record temperatures and rainfall events.

Root crops, maize and field vegetables are often at high risk for soil degradation. The likely drastic requirements for cultivation during seedbed preparation is a vast source of emissions through direct carbon losses from soil alongside the burning of fossil fuels from machinery. Cultivating soils and the subsequent disturbance allows for greater oxidation of the soil profile, therefore promoting the fast metabolism of aerobic species of microorganisms which utilise the ‘active’ pool of soil organic matter for respiration, consequently releasing CO2 as a by-product. Furthermore, cultivation of soil which reduces the stability of the soil structure can also be at risk of direct losses of carbon bound to soil aggregates through processes such as erosion either through wind-blow, run-off or direct soil loss.  Therefore, depending upon a number of factors such as previous cropping, soil type, intensity of cultivation and moisture content, cultivated soil will lose soil organic matter at differing rates. Where land is under continual cultivation, as is much of UK arable land, reducing the frequency, depth and intensity of cultivations will reduce this soil carbon loss alongside providing alternative carbon sources as feedstock for microorganisms when cultivation is required. 

Changing the crop establishment system to reduce the frequency and intensity of cultivations will provide an immediate reduction in farm greenhouse gas emissions. Increasing organic carbon within the soil requires the building of soil organic matter through methods such as diversifying crop rotation, reducing tillage (frequency and depth) and utilising cover cropping to maintain a living root. 

Long-term rotational planning can increase the resilience of soil, using previous and subsequent cropping and management choices to minimise the impact of risky crops. To reduce the ‘risk’ of risky crops soil protection is central. Ensuring that soils are covered throughout the rotation and contain a living root for as high proportion as possible helps guard the soil from physical degradation from climatic events. Therefore, consider growing a cover crop before spring planting to scavenge nutrients over the winter period and condition soils, alongside aiming to re-plant a cover as soon as the risky crop is harvested to avoid long over-winter periods of soil erosion. Maximising the inherent soil structure and functionality throughout the rotation creates a more resilient baseline where the stresses of high cultivation, inputs and exposure to the elements occurs in high risk crops.

In grassland systems herbal leys, diverse swards and a rotational or mob grazing platform provides an excellent starting point for soils before a high-risk crop or to repair potential damage. Likewise a diverse arable rotation which incorporates cover, inter, companion or catch-cropping to protect the soil surface and provide additional rooting architecture will be a huge benefit; tired land, used to high input use, heavy cultivation and monoculture systems will be less resilient to stress (environmental, mechanical etc) than a healthy vibrant soil. 

A healthy soil is likely to provide better economic returns – with processes such as fertility, water infiltration, gas exchange, rooting capacity and nutrient availability all benefited by a well structured, high quality soil. Soil organic matter can often indicate the health of a functional mineral soil, with the higher the percentage content normally suggesting the best quality. Understanding how soil organic matter can be lost during high risk cropping processes (discussed earlier) can help to mitigate and safeguard it within the rotation. Losing soil organic matter continuously depletes the soil fertility and consequently the likely economic potential of that land. 

This blog was written by Emma Adams, one of our Farm Carbon and Soils Advisors, to read about our team head here.

More information:

For further information on species selection of cover crops and the results of the Farm Net Zero trails please see the resources below: