Category: News

Farming, Nature and Resilience: Steve Reed MP Visits Blable Farm

Posted on June 5, 2025 by - Farm Net Zero, News

Steve Reed MP Visits Mike and Sam Roberts at Blable Farm, with FCT Farm Advisor Hannah Jones and James Daniel from Precision Grazing.

Farm Carbon Toolkit (FCT) advisor, Hannah Jones, was delighted to join James Daniel from Precision Grazing and hosts Mike and Sam Roberts at Blable Farm near Wadebridge to welcome Rt Hon Steve Reed MP to the farm today.

The Minister was keen to learn more about innovations that can take place across the agricultural community that can simultaneously improve farm economics, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, sequester carbon in the soil, boost biodiversity, and strengthen business resilience for today’s farmers and future generations. Emphasis was placed on the need to provide transition support for farmers through discussion groups and community networks, such as Lottery-funded Farm Net Zero project.

We discussed the vital role of well-managed integrated ruminant livestock, particularly in pasture-based systems, in building soil health with diverse cropping, alongside practices like minimum tillage, herbal leys, compost application, and grazing strategies such as paddock grazing. 

We also explored the urgent need for UK agriculture and horticulture to adapt to the growing impacts of climate change, alongside rising concerns around long-term food security in the face of environmental and geopolitical instability. We emphasised the importance of reliable public funding to support a fair and economically viable transition to planet-friendly farming, particularly in a market that too often fails to pay farmers a fair price.

The Minister was clearly engaged, asking thoughtful and challenging questions throughout. We’re grateful for the opportunity to speak openly with him and his team.

Farm Net Zero Logo

Using the Farm Carbon Calculator on Britain’s Most Remote Inhabited Island

Posted on June 3, 2025 by - Case Studies, Insights, News

Texel cross Shetland ewe with twin Suffolk lambs on Fair Isle (photo credit: Daniel Stout)

Perched between Orkney and Shetland, Fair Isle is Britain’s most remote inhabited island. A rugged, windswept strip of land where the Atlantic meets the North Sea, it stretches just three miles long and a mile and a half wide. This isolated outcrop is home to a small community of crofters who farm against a backdrop of salt-laced gales and long, stormy winters.

Fair Isle is where Daniel Stout grew up, on his family’s croft. The island’s 768 hectares are divided between communal hill ground to the north and seventeen working crofts to the south. Each croft holds an equal share in the island’s common grazing flock of 340 ewes, which graze across 430 hectares of hill land. Sheep are the lifeblood of the island with no cattle currently being run. All flocks are April lambing with lambs sold at September sales in Shetland’s capital Lerwick. Homegrown silage is also produced to keep croft flocks going through the winter months.

From Crofter to Livestock and Carbon Consultant

The rugged, practical farming environment of Fair Isle along with working for Innovis and SAC Consulting, has laid the foundation for Daniel’s future work. Since founding Stout Livestock Consulting Ltd in 2024, he has helped livestock farmers across Scotland better understand and reduce their carbon emissions.

“I started using carbon calculators in 2019, but it’s in the past couple of years that things have really shifted with audits now part of the Whole Farm Plan,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be just a box-ticking exercise, there’s a lot of value to be had in pulling together data required and reviewing how your enterprises have performed and on what inputs.”

In Scotland, a carbon audit is now one of the five requirements under the Whole Farm Plan, which farmers must complete to access Basic Payment Scheme (BPS) support for which two audits were required in 2025 with all five, if applicable, required in 2028. Funding is through the Preparing for Sustainable Farming (PSF) scheme, offering £500 towards an audit in 2025 meaning it is well worth getting sorted with a carbon audit whilst funding is available. 

Choosing the Right Tool for the Job

Since launching Stout Livestock Consulting Ltd, Daniel has used the Farm Carbon Calculator to carry out detailed carbon audits across a range of livestock systems. One of his most extensive applications of the tool has been on his very own home island of Fair Isle, where he completed 14 audits to help crofters meet the requirements of the Whole Farm Plan.

Flocks range in size with some businesses leasing out their in-bye land to other crofters. The audits revealed exceptionally low emissions from the common grazing flock, made up of hardy, low mature weight Shetland ewes, bred pure. These ewes lamb on the hill, are overwintered without supplementary feed, and rear at 90 percent. Two smaller common grazings on the island achieved a 100 percent rearing rate under the same low-input, hill-based system.

Croft flocks performed exceptionally well. Flocks made up of Texel, Cheviot or Highlander cross Shetland ewes, put to Texel or Suffolk rams, averaged a rearing rate of 164 percent from a total of 386 ewes to the tup (ranging from 154 to 171 percent). Crofts running mainly Shetland ewes put to Texel or Cheviot rams reared at an average of 139 percent from 135 ewes.

Shetland cross ewes with texel lambs on Fair Isle (photo credit: Daniel Stout)

Turning Carbon Audits into Insights

“What stood out was the consistently strong productivity the island’s flocks are achieving,” Daniel says. “When you look at the high rearing rates and kg of lamb weaned per kilo of ewe, with low ewe and lamb mortality and low replacement rates, the carbon footprint per kilo of output is impressively low.”

Beyond the numbers, Daniel sees carbon audits as a tool for farm improvement. “It gets farmers thinking about where their inputs are going and how enterprises are performing, highlighting resource use efficiency and what changes could be made that make both environmental and business sense.” On Fair Isle, this helped identify practical mitigation options such as reducing concentrate use, improving grassland management, and even exploring peatland restoration on the common grazings.

The calculator itself also enables broader consultancy services. Its extensive list of building materials supports accurate modelling of embedded carbon in infrastructure like sheds and steadings. “I’ve used it to create full carbon statements for free range poultry shed planning applications by modelling the embedded carbon of the shed alongside the annual operational emissions of the poultry enterprise and carbon sequestration from tree planting on the unit” Daniel says. 

The tool’s scenario modelling capabilities are another strength. “The copy report function is a useful tool,” he continues. “You can take an existing audit and tweak it to test different scenario ideas—changing feed use, trying woodland creation, adjusting flock/herd structure and different enterprises. It gives clients a clearer sense of what each option means for their emissions.”

Small Island, Big Lessons

From one of the UK’s most remote and weather-beaten farming communities, Daniel Stout has brought a grounded, practical approach to carbon auditing that resonates with livestock producers across the country. His use of the Farm Carbon Toolkit Calculator has not only helped crofters on Fair Isle meet policy requirements but also uncovered the strengths of their traditional systems—highlighting impressive productivity and low emissions in a challenging environment.

Whether for policy compliance, management improvement, or strategic planning, Daniel’s work demonstrates how carbon audits can empower farmers to make smarter, more sustainable choices—even from the edge of the map.

Daniel Stout is an FBAASS accredited consultant and user of The Farm Carbon Calculator with a Professional Licence. Stout Livestock Consulting provides independent livestock and farm business consultancy to farmers and crofters throughout Scotland. To reach Daniel call +44 7833 226884 – [email protected]

If you want to hear about how our tool can help you deliver advice or projects in a similar way get in touch now or email us directly at [email protected]

Craig Blyth-Moore is a sustainability communications professional with over a decade of experience turning complex environmental issues into clear, compelling narratives. He has written extensively on energy efficiency, renewable energy, the energy transition and sustainable logistics, helping organisations communicate their sustainability strategies with credibility and impact. 

Craig holds an MSc in Environmental Sustainability and brings both subject matter expertise and strategic insight to his work. His writing has appeared on leading global platforms including Economist Impact and the World Economic Forum, helping to inform and inspire meaningful climate action.

The Farm Carbon Calculator just got better!

Posted on April 4, 2025 by - Calculator, News

Calculator update thumbnail

As a leading carbon assessment tool, The Farm Carbon Calculator is updated on a regular basis. We do this so you benefit from the most recent science, can access additional features, and have an improved experience completing reports. Read on to find out more.

Key Takeaways

  • Reports ending on or after 01 April 2025 will use the updated emissions factors outlined in What’s Changed 2025
  • Some changes have been backdated to improve all reports from 01 January 2000 onwards – these will only be applied if you recalculate a report or edit an item.
  • To maintain a record of your original report, LOCK and do not edit old reports
  • Instead, make a copy of an old report – this will apply any backdated changes and give you the option to compare to the original report to see what has changed
  • If you are making a new report you will have many more options for adding:
    • Specific sprays (branded herbicides, fungicides etc.) “Inputs > Sprays” section
    • Branded & generic fertilisers “Inputs > Specific fertilisers” section
    • Imported organic fertility sources and the emissions from their application “Crops > Organic fertility sources”
    • Potential sequestration from Agroforestry areas “Sequestration > Agroforestry” section
Photo credit: Rob Purdew – Farm Carbon Toolkit

Our Development Cycle

Every April we release updates to the methodology behind the Calculator as well as tweaks to the ways reports are made. 

This Spring we will update the calculator 3 times; 

  • Our annual comprehensive methodology and functionality update.
  • Improvements to how we calculate livestock emissions.
  • Improvements to our calculations of land-use change emissions.

We’ll focus here on the first of these which will launch on 1 April 2025. Our methodology is the combination and range of formulas which sit behind the calculator and help us calculate emissions on any farm in the UK. We have updated the emissions factors in this methodology, we added new ones, and we have acted on your feedback to improve the way the calculator looks and feels to ensure the system continues to work for you.

Emissions Factors – if you were wondering – are the variables used in the formulas behind your report. They tell us, for example, the emissions produced when fuel is burned, and the emissions produced in manufacturing the fuel in the first place.

Our updated methodology is used for the main calculator at https://calculator.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk, and also by many users of external applications. For example, many farm management systems, banks, and consultants rely on our methodology, as well as multiple white labelled or more specialised calculators across the agricultural industry, and beyond – like the Equine Carbon Calculator.

We’re talking here about thousands of farms creating multiple thousands of reports every year – our team spends the bulk of their time ensuring everything fundamental is right!

We know changes to methodology affect carbon reports, and carbon reports reflect your farm – so you deserve to know a bit about how this is changing. Let’s ask the obvious question first:

Why does the methodology keep changing?

In short, because the underlying sources have changed or updated. The calculator sits on top of thousands of hours of research and experience, coming from within our team over 16 years of development, from agronomists and farmers, from academia, and the research arms of governments and international organisations. The result of this work is the wide range of sources you can see on our references page. 

Emissions factors change 

Every spring, all emissions factors are checked, and in some cases are changed – for our April 2025 methodology that is 3,000 existing factors, and 7,000 new ones! We update some factors to match new versions of existing data sources, such as annual governmental data sets like the UK GHG inventory which details UK industrial emissions. Our factors and data sources also change as new items are added, better sources become available, and in some cases, factors change because sources fall out of use as they become outdated or irrelevant. Overall the methodology relies on 114 references which can be found on our references page, or listed with each item in our data collection sheet, which can be downloaded from our resources page.

Changes to emissions factors also occur because more industries are undertaking more rigorous carbon footprinting so we can get a better estimate of the emissions from producing, transporting and using various products. This work provides us more granular detail on emissions and allows us to give you more options when selecting items in your reports. 

Moreover, as sectors decarbonise, the emissions associated with utilities and commodities change, and thus we need to update emissions factors to reflect this. As an example, this year the emissions associated with the average tariff for electricity have reduced by nearly 10%, due to an increase in the proportion of electricity coming from renewable energy. We therefore want you to see the benefit in your reports as industries decarbonise, so your electricity use this year will be lower than the year before even if the same quantity of energy is used. This should not deter you from making your own efforts to decarbonise, but does allow you to share the benefits of UK progression. 

Emissions calculations undergo review

Sometimes the calculations underlying your report change because of an improved understanding of biological systems or a re-interpretation of the available evidence. In a developing field like agricultural carbon footprinting, working with other organisations to make sense of the available evidence and international guidance within the UK context can help us identify areas where calculations can be improved. This is why we continue to seek pre-competitive collaborations with other companies and research organisations (to find out more about the projects and harmonisation work).

One such calculation that has undergone re-interpretation is the calculation underpinning organic fertility emissions. With a better understanding of the underlying processes, and the components relevant to the equation, we have been able to add more specificity and more options to the organic fertility options. You will now see options for when and where fertility sources are applied, and for manures you will have the ability to select application approaches – meaning emissions mitigation approaches such as deep-injection of slurry are appropriately adjusted. Changes like these allow you to better understand your carbon footprinting journey and allow a more nuanced appraisal of your farming emissions. We are striving to increase the specificity of the calculator, aiming to provide you the user with the opportunity to enter the highest tier of emissions calculation. 

There are 3 tiers of GHG emissions calculations

Tier 1: This tier uses default emissions factors and data from the IPCC for different climatic regions to generate broad estimates. The use of global data and a general approach results in low accuracy.

Tier 2: This method enhances accuracy by using emission factors specific to a country or region and more detailed activity data, such as local energy consumption. This approach is more accurate than Tier 1 because it incorporates factors that are more relevant to the specific conditions of the region.

Tier 3: Uses real-time data, sophisticated models, and system-specific emission factors, and is the most accurate method, using detailed modelling or direct measurements, as well as highly specific data for the particular circumstances of the country or sector.

We are striving for tier 3 where practical in your reports, however, the reality is that most people do not have time to enter the copious data required for accurate calculation at tier 3.

Changes to the calculator

As explored above, an update like this one has introduced many changes, you will see these highlighted in full: 

One example of an item on the calculator that has recently changed is sugar beet crop residues. In 2024, we updated and improved our methodology that accounts for the N2O emissions associated with crop residues decomposing in the field after harvest. This used crop N contents and harvest index ratios from the UK GHG Inventory (1990- 2021 Inv) plugged into the IPCC 2019 refinement crop residue calculation, making it a Tier 2 method. This calculation gave sugar beet a relatively high emissions factor compared to other crops.

This year the UK GHG inventory released a new version (1990 – 2022), which has updated their values for sugar beet. This update by the UK GHG inventory includes adjusting the harvest index, lowering N contents for aboveground and belowground residue and lowering above to below-ground residue ratios; all of which are used for “deriving a country-specific parameter for sugar beet residue emissions”. This has resulted in a 77 – 89% decrease in the April 2025 update depending on the residue management practice. As this is such a large change, which has been updated with better data, we have decided to backdate this emissions factor to ensure drastic changes between years for the same amount of crop residue are not reported. 

Not all changes in the calculator are this drastic, and in the “What’s Changed” document you will see a list of changing emissions factors.

So will my carbon footprint go up or down?

We can’t predict with certainty how annual updates will affect your report because every farm is different, but we know there will be changes. It very much depends on what you do on the farm and the best way to see this will be to copy a report, change the end date and see for yourself. We will see some examples of farm reports below. Changes to how you farm will, in most cases, have a larger and more important monitorable effect than changes to the methodology we talk about here.

In other words – if it is your focus, keep looking for ways to reduce emissions on your farm! Bear in mind that changes to practice can take time to show up in your carbon footprint and may have other impacts, be it environmental (benefitting biodiversity, reducing water use, cleaning soil and air pollution), social (ensuring food security, providing jobs, leaving space to roam, nurturing communities) or financial (boosting profits, building resilience, or ensuring financial security). These impacts may not result in reduced carbon emissions, however at FCT we fully support farmers taking a holistic all-encompassing approach to improving their sustainability. If you would like support or advice on reducing your farm’s footprint as part of the wider context of your farm, our advisors can help.

The rest of this blog will dig into some examples of what might change for some example reports.

Visualising the changes with example reports

We have created example farm reports that compare emissions factors before and after the April update for various farming systems. These reports, which span April 2023 to March 2024 and April 2024 to March 2025, use consistent items and quantities to ensure the thing changing is the emissions factors. It’s crucial to remember that actual farm reports will vary year-to-year due to changes in both practices and purchased materials, not just emissions factors.

As you can see in Figure 1, comparing the same reports across both periods does not result in large differences. Table 1 gives the percentage change in the total carbon emissions (tCO2e) and total carbon balance (which includes carbon removals by sequestration – tCO2e) for each report. On average, reports with the updated emissions factors resulted in a decrease in total carbon emissions and total carbon balance. This will vary depending on what items have been chosen in reports. 

Figure 1. Carbon emissions and sequestration in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) for farm reports for the years 2024 and 2025. These reports represent individual farm examples and do not represent an average of that farming sector.

The dairy report experienced an increase due to livestock feeds being updated with the latest Global Feed LCA Institute source (GFLI). In comparison, the poultry and the beef report experienced a decrease in emissions due to updating this same source, as some feed items have increased, whilst others have decreased.

The large decrease in the carbon balance for the poultry report is due to a combination of emissions factors decreasing e.g. livestock feeds and bedding (-21.58%), materials (-8.86%) and fuels (-5.43%) alongside changes in carbon sequestration factors (-8.75% i.e. an increase in sequestration), resulting in a relatively large decrease in the carbon balance. 

The arable and horticulture report have remained relatively similar with changes below 5%. To see a more detailed breakdown of what changed in these reports and in the calculator, check out our What’s Changed document. 

Report% Change in Emissions% Change in Balance
Arable0.871.11
Beef-10.48-11.65
Dairy3.785.43
Horticulture3.543.91
Poultry-9.16-54.30
Average-2.29-11.10
Table 1. The percentage change in carbon emissions and carbon balance for each report.

It’s not just changes – there are new items too!

Importantly, we also use this update to add in new items that people have requested. In this update you can expect to see: 

  • Over 6000 more specific sprays (branded herbicides, fungicides etc.) 
  • Over 100 more branded & generic fertilisers
  • The ability to search an item in the inputs section to quickly find your item on our system
  • Over 400 new imported organic fertility sources and the emissions from their application in different seasons and with different application methods
  • New options for agroforestry and silvopasture including a range of densities and ages of woodland
  • New options to enter market garden crops on a smaller scale 
  • New options to enter landscaping materials associated with paving and decking

For a full list of what has been added see the “What’s Changed” document, or the data collection sheets, where new Items have been flagged with a star. 

Communicating this change

If you need to communicate this article in a sentence, for example alongside your report within a supply chain, or to accompany a project you are involved in, use this:

The Farm Carbon Calculator has updated its emissions factors in line with the latest data sources – detailed information about what has changed can be found at https://calculator.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk/resources

Further support

Contact Michael Brown at [email protected]

Supporting Innovation in Soil Health: Our Collaboration with LandApp

Posted on March 24, 2025 by - Calculator, News

At the Farm Carbon Toolkit, we’re excited to share news about our recent collaboration with Land App to support the development and launch of their new Soil Survey feature on Land App Mobile.

As part of the Agri-Carbon Kernow project in Cornwall, our team played a role in helping develop and test this tool, which is designed to help farmers and land managers record, report, and review both lab and in-field soil measurements. 

A Collaborative Effort

Working closely with the Land App team, we brought together our expertise in soil health and carbon to create a digital soil sampling solution that meets real-world needs. 

By integrating the robust soil survey methodologies we advocate in our projects into Land App’s platform, we’ve enabled farmers to gain deeper insights into soil health and carbon sequestration potential. The new feature not only helps users assess soil conditions with greater accuracy but also supports more informed decision-making for sustainable land management, as well as the evidence required for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI).

The new Soil Survey feature enhances Land App Mobile’s suite of data collection tools—joining the General Data Collection survey and PTES’ Healthy Hedgerows—to provide reliable insights into soil health, which are essential for informed land management and funding applications.

Why It Matters

  • Digital Efficiency: Easily record and review soil sample data on the go, including the ability to support evidence required for SFI.
  • Sustainable Impact: Empowering better land management decisions through accurate, real-time data.
  • Collaborative Innovation: A tangible outcome of our work in the Agri-Carbon Kernow project, highlighting the benefits of cross-sector collaboration.

We’re proud to have supported Land App in bringing this feature to life and look forward to further innovations and collaborations. This includes using the Land App API to help users seamlessly manage their soil data within each platform.

Thank you to the team at Land App for their partnership—and for the opportunity to help shape tools that support sustainable land management!

Find out more

For further details and to see the Soil Survey feature in action, please refer to the Land App’s guidance.

Reflections on the 7th Carbon Budget from the  Climate Change Committee

Posted on March 19, 2025 by - Insights, News

By Liz Bowles, CEO, Farm Carbon Toolkit

Every five years, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC)1 publishes a statutory report detailing the UK’s ‘carbon budget’ for a future five-year period. The 7th Carbon Budget covers the period 2038-2042. It is a stock-take of UK GHG emissions (current and future) and provides advice to the Government on how and where these emissions will need to be reduced (‘the pathway’) if the UK is to meet its legal obligations to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050. 

This report came out with other reports and consultations such as the Defra Land Use Framework Consultation and the IGD’s Net Zero Transition Plan for the UK Food System. Certainly how we produce food and look after agricultural land in the UK is coming more and more under the spotlight.

Within the 7th Carbon Budget report, it is good to see that the role of land use change in removing carbon is now being linked to agricultural land which gives a truer picture than was previously the case, when land use change was in a separate silo.

It is clear that the carbon budget is very high level, focussing on climate impacts only, with little reference to the impacts of the proposed changes on biodiversity across the UK’s agricultural land. In reviewing this budget, FCT has taken a very practical viewpoint and has reflected on areas where the budget could have helpfully provided more detail and looked at how to fully engage with farmers and growers across the land who are on the delivery frontline.

As other sectors decarbonise, the proportion of total emissions arising from agriculture will increase, putting more pressure on the sector to make progress on emissions reduction and carbon removals. In 2022 the contribution of agriculture to overall UK emissions was 12%. By 2040 this is predicted to rise to 27%, after the activity to reduce emissions set out in the carbon budget and it will be the second highest emitter after aviation even with the target action outlined in this carbon budget.

The report proposes a pathway for agriculture to reach net zero by 2050. Not surprisingly woodland creation, peatland restoration and other land use changes are highlighted as mechanisms to sequester more carbon. There is significant reliance on carbon sequestration into land sinks through the 2040’s but little reliance on any level of carbon sequestration into soil itself. 

There is a reliance on increased tree planting from the late 2020’s onwards as trees will only start to sequester larger volumes of carbon from 15 years of age onwards. According to the UK Woodland Carbon Code, sequestration rates for woodland increase dramatically during the “teenage years” of woodland establishment. In total, woodland creation has been modelled to contribute 15% to emissions reduction by 2050 . This will require an additional 1.1 million ha of woodland to be planted by 2050. In addition some 300,000 ha of lowland peat and 970,000 ha of upland peat will be returned to natural/ rewetted condition by the same time.

For agriculture the reduction in overall GHG emissions is targeted at 45% by 2050 compared to 2022, coming primarily from a reduction in livestock numbers (38% by 2050) with a relatively small contribution from the adoption of low carbon farming practices. These reductions are significant, reducing the breeding flock of sheep from 15 to 11 million ewes and the breeding cattle herd from 3 to 2 million head.

The reduction in grazing livestock numbers will release land for tree planting. The combined effect of the changes to farming practice and tree planting is to suggest that the sector will become a net sequesterer of carbon by 2048.

There are a number of important assumptions included within this budget which bear further scrutiny:

  • Crop yields will increase by 16% by 2050. Presumably this increase is deemed necessary to ensure adequate plant based foods to replace the current levels of meat in our diets. However it is questionable whether this will be achievable in practice, even if gene editing technologies are successful and fully deployed as more adverse weather events are already affecting yield levels in the UK and across the world. It is not clear how critical to successful achievement of the overall plan this is.
  • Stocking rates for grazing livestock on lowland will increase by around 10% with stocking rates in the upland reduced. Presumably the former is to allow for more land to be released to grow crops for human consumption and the latter to reflect the current over-grazing in parts of the upland and to reflect rewetting of upland peatlands and the proposals for tree planting. Targeting increased stocking rates for lowland livestock could require additional artificial fertiliser inputs which would seem counter intuitive, though the increased stocking rate could potentially be achieved through improvements in grassland utilisation efficiency.
  • Consumption of meat products (primarily beef and lamb) will fall by 35% by 2050 compared to 2019 levels. On first sight it would appear that changes in consumption are mirroring proposed reductions in livestock numbers, however, no mention is made of any changes in dairy cow numbers, but since the majority of beef produced in the UK comes from the dairy herd this will also impact milk production. Consideration is also given to replacing meat in ready meals with plant based alternatives which will negatively affect carcass balance, with lower value “cuts” often used for this purpose at the moment. This would put further pressure on sector profitability. The targeted reduction in ruminant livestock numbers would lead to a lower requirement of permanent grassland for grazing of a similar order to the reduction in livestock numbers. This would amount to around 3 million ha which could be diverted for other use, where this is possible. Tree planting would be a key use for poorer quality ground (topography and stoniness) with better quality grassland moving to arable cropping where this is possible. This would probably lead to loss of carbon from soils, especially when permanent grassland is first transitioned to arable cropping2. It is not clear whether this has been accounted for within the overall budget. 
  • The carbon budget includes a very low value (0.5Mt CO2e per year for carbon removed by grassland soils). This appears to be low and seems to take little account of the ability for well-managed livestock systems to bring multiple benefits beyond reducing emissions including carbon removals into soils and enhanced biodiversity.

    More research and data analysis is required urgently to inform us of the ability of the soil to permanently and reliably store more carbon and how best this can be done. We have some information as do others, but as yet this is not a body of evidence which the CCC can use as part of its carbon budget.
  • Returning around 300,000 ha lowland peat to a rewetted state will impinge upon its current use for growing vegetables, fruit and arable crops. The report does mention that some 10% of horticultural production will move indoors, which is likely to focus on leafy salad type crops. However for field scale vegetable production left to be grown outdoors the question remains as to where they will be grown. Moving vegetable growing to other parts of the UK will require careful site selection if current levels of margin (currently pretty low) are to be maintained and consideration of the infrastructure required, such as pack houses and cold stores.

There were also a number of notable omissions from the budget:

  • Whilst the pathway to reduce nitrous oxide emissions are recognised as coming primarily from agriculture, there is no mention of the need to reduce reliance on fossil fuel based N fertilisers. For arable cropping, up to 75% of total emissions arise from the production and use of artificial N fertiliser. Great work is being done to produce low carbon alternatives, but further information on the likely “winning technologies” in this space would have been helpful.
  • The level of efficiency of the UK to produce food at a lower GHG intensity than some other nations, utilising fewer arable resources (land and feed) and with lower supply chain discards through a circular feed system provides the nation with a competitive advantage in terms of overall emissions per unit of home grown food. This could be better recognised within the budget report.
  • There is no mention of any target to reduce numbers of pigs and poultry within this 7th Carbon Budget. Whilst the animals themselves do not emit methane, their manures do and their reliance on imported soya has a significant impact on overall UK agriculture emissions as well as the soil degradation associated with cereal production to grow the cereals they wholly rely on. We have estimated that reducing reliance on imported soya by 50% and moving to feeding UK grown beans and pulses will reduce the emissions from agriculture by 7% (primarily due to reduced reliance on artificial N fertiliser and to removing deforestation emissions on 50% soya supply).

Reliance on land use change to enable agriculture to reach net zero by 2050

In the period from 2043-2050 agriculture and land use are budgeted to contribute the largest share of net emissions reduction (35%) – see figure 2 below from the Carbon Budget report, and to reach net zero emissions by 2050 as a result of increases in carbon sequestration into land sinks (primarily increased areas of woodland and reduced emissions from peatland due to changed management) with emissions of around 25Mt CO2e and sequestration of around 26Mt CO2e per year. Current emissions from UK agriculture are around 48Mt CO2e per year.

Distribution of emissions reductions during each carbon budget period (Climate Change Committee, Seventh Carbon Budget, 2025)

At FCT, we are in agreement with the Agriculture Advisory Group of the UK Climate Change Committee and its report in calling for more nuanced targets which better reflect the benefits of UK livestock production, especially when it is primarily based on the consumption of forages. We also agree with their view that it is important to reflect on the impact of the different gases on warming aligned to the Paris Agreement temperature goal. Both GWP100 and GWP* metrics are important and could already be reported in concert to inform on both GHG accounting (CO2e) for national inventories and impact of different GHGs on climate warming (CO2e) important for the Paris Agreement. 

We believe that the report could be much more positive about the contribution that resilient farming businesses, agricultural land and farmers can make to meeting the climate change challenge. Positive engagement and empowerment of farmers, growers and land managers are critical elements in building confidence and encouraging investment but is currently patchy, with beacons of good practice such as the Farm Net Zero project in Cornwall, which is delivering change on the ground and practically supporting farm businesses to transition towards net zero.

Footnotes

  1. A body set up to hold the government to account on their progress towards net zero and reducing emissions
  2. The UK GHG inventory suggests that the average change in non- organic soil carbon density (to 1M deep) from converting grassland to cropland in England is -24 tonnes C/ ha, in Scotland is -101 tC/ha, Wales -39 tC/ha and NI -68 tC/ha

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from grassland

Posted on March 17, 2025 by - Insights, News

The key areas of grassland management that are known to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions are fertiliser application and management of applications, grazing management, introduction of more diverse species into grassland including legumes and herbs, and correct use and application of farmyard manures and slurries

Effective, efficient use of artificial N fertilisers

Greenhouse gas emissions from synthetic fertilisers is a significant emissions source on grassland farms. 50% of emissions come from the production of the synthetic fertilisers and about 50% from the processes that take place in the soil after application. Estimates suggest that 10-30% of all applied nitrogen fertiliser is lost to the crop or grassland to which it is applied; use efficiency is influenced by application method and environmental conditions at the time of spreading. Make sure soil pH is above 6.5 if possible, soils are not compacted, that soil temperature is warm and rising and that soils are not not waterlogged. Do the basics well and you will get better yield response from your fertilisers and lower GHG emissions.

Reliance on Inorganic N fertiliser usage can be reduced through incorporating more legumes into swards. Establishing clover within temporary leys has additional benefits of higher protein forage and also a more diverse rooting system which can aid production in adverse climatic conditions. Typically grass clover swards containing around 30% clover by DM can fix around 120Kg – 180 Kg N /ha/ year. When they are in the sward, this is free nitrogen fertiliser!

As we are coming to appreciate that the nitrous oxide emissions associated with inorganic N fertilisers are a huge part of agriculture’s total emissions, improving N fertiliser use efficiency is critical.  Saving 170kg N/ ha across 50ha will reduce emissions  by around 58 tonnes CO2e which is more carbon than is sequestered annually in 10ha of broadleaf woodland.

Grazing Management

Grazing rotation is an excellent way to increase grass utilisation and reduce GHG emissions. Ensure there are adequate rest periods between grazing cycles to allow the sward to recover to optimise soil and plant health. Consider sub-dividing fields further to  allow for more regular livestock  movement. The long term effect of increasing rest periods and grazing taller grass is improved soil organic matter and soil structure. This will aid in reducing weed burden, lengthen the grazing season and improve resilience to flood and drought.

Including deeper rooting and more traditional species will increase above and below-ground biodiversity which may increase productivity alongside potential carbon capture and sequestration deeper into the soil profile. Ensure that grassland species composition supports production goals, soil type, soil pH and climatic conditions and consider overseeding where required. 

Overseeding permanent pasture with improved diversity can provide a wide array of benefits.  If 5 ha permanent pasture was over-seeded or re-seeded to create a herbal ley (consistent with SAM3 SFI) it could provide an additional -15.68 t CO2e of carbon removed per year. This will also build soil health and resilience by optimising the above ground canopy increasing the surface area of leaves for photosynthesis and supporting a greater below ground biodiversity responsible for cycling nutrients.

Accurate consideration of manures and slurries

Sampling and analysis of your farmyard manures and slurries will enable optimal accounting for the nutrients in them. Knowing what you are applying will enhance the accuracy of nutrient management planning and could reduce the requirement for synthetic N fertiliser. Consider the application method when applying organic manures to avoid nutrient losses and if possible cover muck heaps like silage heaps where possible to avoid dilution and runoff of nutrients. 

Grassland Manager of the Year 2025

Posted on February 20, 2025 by - Carbon Farmer of the Year, News

Andrew and Clare Brewer: 2025 winners in the National Arable and Grassland Awards 

Andrew Brewer is our FCT Carbon Farmer of the Year 2024 and we are delighted to congratulate him and Clare on scooping the National Arable and Grassland award for Grassland Manager of the year. Andrew is also one of our Demonstration Farms in the Farm Net Zero Project in Cornwall which is supported by the National Lottery.

Andrew and Clare are pictured in the centre of the photo with sponsors and judges

They were worthy winners in this category. The Awards are supported by a wide range of industry businesses including BASIS and the National Association of Agricultural Contractors.  

A day in the life of… Anita Jelley, Finance Co-ordinator

Posted on May 14, 2025 by - Meet The Team, News

Working as a Finance Coordinator for an organisation that supports farmers and landowners to reduce carbon emissions and promote sustainable land use offers a unique blend of structure, autonomy, and purpose.

My role, while rooted in financial processes and accuracy, is deeply connected to a wider mission—to support those working on the frontline of environmental change.

My typical day begins around 8am, working remotely from home. I start by completing daily bank reconciliations and reviewing staff expense claims. This early morning routine provides a quiet, focused window to clear key financial tasks. Once that’s complete, I turn to updating project boards and project invoicing. These tools are vital for keeping track of financial workflows across the diverse range of projects we support.

As the day progresses, I move into deeper, more focused work. Afternoons are usually dedicated to preparing detailed project claims, compiling reports, and other financial work. These claims are crucial—they help secure funding and maintain compliance with project requirements, especially around mid-month when many of these claims are processed in batches. I also carry out credit control twice a month and prepare a monthly project invoicing report at the start of each month, so no two weeks ever look quite the same.

My role involves regular communication and collaboration. I meet weekly with my manager, the COO, and every fortnight with Rachel, our Operations Administrator, and Becky, our Business Development & Technical Director. These meetings ensure we’re aligned on project needs, timelines, and workflows. I also make myself available to other staff who may have finance-related queries, which helps build trust and keeps things running smoothly. Though most of my work is internal, I do have monthly contact with external organisations around project claims and invoice payments.

What I enjoy most is the team I work with. There’s a strong sense of shared purpose—everyone genuinely cares about our environment and the work we’re doing to support sustainable land management. That enthusiasm is infectious and makes it easy to stay motivated. I look forward to starting work at the start of each week! I also appreciate the autonomy in my role. I have the freedom to improve systems and processes, and it’s rewarding to know my work is helping make things more efficient and accurate.

My work-life balance is healthy. My hours are flexible, which helps manage the ebb and flow of deadlines and busy periods. While I can disconnect at the end of the day, I’m also happy to put in extra time and effort when needed to meet critical deadlines. Working remotely enables me to enjoy life outside of work.

Being a part of this growing organisation—one that’s making a tangible difference to how we care for our land and resources—is not just fulfilling, it’s inspiring. Every day feels like a small but important step toward something bigger.

I’m honoured to be part of the Farm Carbon Toolkit team and I am excited about the future.

Bringing new and novel fertilisers into Calculators: a call for further collaboration 

Posted on January 16, 2025 by - Insights, News

This month marks a year since the publication of the ‘Harmonisation of Carbon Accounting Tools for Agriculture’ report commissioned by Defra and produced by ADAS. 

The collaborative efforts of the three leading carbon calculators resulted in significant progress being made, especially in the area of harmonisation on methods to bring new and novel fertilisers into our Calculators.

An opportunity for harmonisation

Commissioned by Defra in 2022, the independent ADAS report sought to explore the level of divergence in carbon assessments between carbon calculators and provide recommendations for harmonisation, with the ultimate goal of ensuring comparability of results between the different providers. As the report states:

It is not about identification of which calculator is better or worse than others. It is intended that the insights from this analysis will help inform a potential approach that will enable providers to develop their calculators in a way that creates increased comparability of results while still allowing innovation.

Successful collaboration

In response to the publication of the report, three of the UK’s major carbon calculators – Agrecalc, Cool Farm Tool, and the Farm Carbon Calculator – agreed to work together in June 2024 to harmonise their calculator methodologies, on the understanding that such work would ultimately benefit all their end users. 

Since that initial meeting, we are pleased to report significant progress on one area of divergence identified by ADAS between the different calculators reviewed, namely fertiliser embedded emissions.  In addition, we are working on Calculator interoperability to enable data transfer between Calculators.

We have recently established an Industry Fertiliser Steering Group to explore how new and novel fertilisers with lower carbon footprints should be incorporated into all carbon calculators. This work is being kindly supported by the Agriculture Industries Confederation (AIC). With a range of new and novel fertilisers being developed and introduced into the UK, it is important that any emissions reductions brought about by these products can be accurately accounted for by the calculator tools. 

Join us

Following the successful collaboration between Agrecalc, Cool Farm Tool, and the Farm Carbon Calculator, we are keen to invite other calculator providers who also publicly provide transparency in their calculator methodologies to join us on this harmonisation activity.  Liz Bowles, CEO of Farm Carbon Toolkit said:

We are keen to support all Calculators who wish to work together for the benefit of the agricultural sector.

Our mutual goal is collaboration with industry, trade bodies, and fellow calculator providers in the UK and internationally, so that we can actively contribute to the development of more consistent approaches to on-farm carbon calculation, for the ultimate benefit of our varied customers. We look forward to hearing from you.

Additional Information

This positive, collaborative work has come about as a direct result of the ADAS report commissioned by Defra. Further information on the report is set out below, together with some key aspects to assist everyone in the agri-food sector to understand more about how farm-based greenhouse gas emissions are estimated.

The purpose of the ADAS work

This project was developed to quantify the level of divergence in the calculation of farm-level emissions between a selection of the main carbon calculators on the market, understand the causes of this divergence, and determine how those differences might impact the user. By its nature, the report focuses on the differences between calculators and the challenges of providing robust estimations while making the process accessible to non-expert users. 

However, as the report states:

It is important to recognise that despite these challenges the calculators are all able to provide the farmer with a baseline understanding of emissions and can facilitate the start, and ongoing development, of a decarbonisation process.

Fundamentals of all Farm Carbon Calculators

As the report states:

all carbon calculators are models; there is no single correct answer as they are aiming to simplify a complex biological system

However, it is important to understand why there are differences in results between calculators and identify ways to minimise these differences. 

Harmonisation of calculators aims to ensure greater levels of precision of outputs, while recognising the need to simplify data entry to support the use by non-expert users (e.g., farmers), in order to facilitate the provision of consistent guidance to farmers to support their decarbonisation efforts.

Findings of the work

The report did not recommend any one calculator as being superior to the other calculators investigated. Indeed, what has become clear is that different calculators ask different questions and there is currently no one standard question. 

It is important for farmers and growers to look at how individual calculators work for them in providing results at a product, enterprise or whole farm level and seek one which meets their specific needs. The report set out the main areas where ADAS found differences between how the calculators dealt with different types of emissions and how the boundaries for such measurements were set.

Conclusions

It is clear that there is still much work to be done by all calculators to ensure they remain aligned with emerging guidance as this science develops and matures. The good news is that data standards harmonisation is underway, driven by the tool owners themselves. 

While there continues to be a range of different user and supply chain requirements for a farm carbon footprint (from corporate scope 3 reporting and risk management planning to product footprinting and on-farm resilience planning) there will be an ecosystem of different tools and providers to meet this range of needs. One size does not fit all in this space!

To identify which Calculator might suit you best, AHDB has set out a useful set of questions to guide you: Carbon footprint calculators – what to ask to help you choose | AHDB

Notes to Editors

As the UK agricultural supply industry’s leading trade association, the Agricultural Industries Confederation (AIC) represents businesses in key sectors within the supply chains that feed the nation.

Its Member businesses supply UK farmers and growers with animal feed, fertiliser, seed, crop protection products, trusted advice and quality services that are essential to producing food, as well as trading crops and commodities across the globe.

Formed in October 2003 by a merger of three trade associations, today AIC has over 230 Members in the agri-supply trade and represents £17.8 billion* turnover at farmgate.

AIC works on behalf of its Members by lobbying policymakers and stakeholders, delivering information, providing trade assurance schemes, and offering technical support.

www.agindustries.org.uk

*According to a 2023 survey of AIC Members.

Farm Carbon Toolkit is an independent, farmer-led Community Interest Company, supporting farmers to measure, understand and act on their greenhouse gas emissions while improving their business resilience for the future.

The Farm Carbon Calculator uses the IPCC 2019 and UK GHG Inventory methodologies and is aligned with the GHG protocol agricultural guidance.  Recent developments have allowed us to provide greater interoperability with other data platforms through our Report Export API and Carbon Calculation Engine API. This represents a step-change in the industry’s ability to provide trustworthy carbon footprints with transparent methodologies on platforms where farmers already collect data, thus reducing the data inputting onus on farmers. This new functionality has been warmly welcomed by supply chain businesses who are now using our Calculation Engine to support their customers without the need for further data entry.

The Farm Carbon Calculator is used across the UK and on four continents with global usage growing at around 20% per year.

For over a decade, Farm Carbon Toolkit has delivered a range of practical projects, tools and services that have inspired real action on the ground. Organisations they work with include the Duchy of Cornwall, First Milk, Tesco, Yeo Valley and WWF. The Farm Carbon Calculator is a leading on-farm carbon audit tool, used by over 8,000 farmers in the UK and beyond. To find out more visit www.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk  

Media contact: Rachel Hucker ([email protected] 07541 453413)

Agrecalc, a carbon footprint tool developed by combining practical expertise with world-class agricultural science, is a precise instrument that offers both breadth and depth of on-farm and through-the-supply-chain calculations of GHG gas emissions.

Agrecalc is the largest source of collated farm benchmark data from thousands of farms, having been used as the designated tool to deliver carbon audits under various schemes since 2016. It is recognised as the preferred carbon calculator in many of the emerging government programmes.

With a mission to increase efficiency and business viability of food production, the scientists, consultants, and developers who work on Agrecalc, strive to constantly upgrade the calculator according to the most up-to-date available research results and recommendations.

Media contact: Aleksandra Stevanovic, Head of Marketing; ([email protected]; 07551 263 407)

Cool Farm Alliance is a science-led, not-for-profit membership organisation (community interest company) that owns, manages, and improves the Cool Farm Tool and cultivates the leadership network to advance regenerative agriculture at scale.

For over fifteen years, the Cool Farm Alliance has worked to put knowledge in the hands of farmers and empower the full supply chain to understand and support agro-ecological restoration by providing a respected, standardised calculation engine to measure and report on agriculture’s impact on the environment. The Cool Farm Tool has established widely endorsed, science-based metrics for water, climate, and biodiversity, supported in 17 languages and used in more than 150 countries around the world.

Cool Farm Alliance members share the need for a respected, consistent, standardised, independent calculation engine and have joined the Alliance to ensure the Cool Farm Tool meets this need, now and in the future.  To find out more visit https://coolfarm.org/

Media contact: Kandia Appadoo ([email protected])

Farm Net Zero Updates: December 2024

Posted on December 19, 2024 by - Farm Net Zero, News

It’s been a busy time in the Farm Net Zero project with lots of exciting on-farm trials work taking place. On-farm trials are an important part of activities, as in order to support a change in practice, a key step is to evaluate the impact on your farm. There are trials going on looking at a range of innovations across livestock and arable enterprises. 

We have a trial running on two monitor farms which is looking at how to reduce Septoria in wheat through biological nutrition to boost plant defences. This builds on an event which was held in January 2024, with Tim Parton and Nick Woodyatt focussed on the importance of biology for soil and plant health and a webinar by Mike Harrington on plant pathology in the autumn. 

The trials builds on expert knowledge, from Tim, Nick and Mike alongside arable farmer from Yorkshire Angus Gowthorpe to trial growing a very diverse mix of wheat varieties on both farms.  The trial will then be comparing performance of the wheat specifically focussing on septoria prevalence, between a biological approach and a standard chemical fungicide programme. The crop will be monitored for disease pressure throughout the trial but the impact on the crop and farm carbon footprint will also be calculated.

Within grassland systems, we will be tracking Will Martin’s successful herbal ley reseeds into next year. We had a great event in the autumn, and a repeat assessment will allow those attending to understand the longer term survival and establishment of herbal leys with and without glyphosate and direct seeding with and without secondary cultivation. 

We will be benefitting from the expertise of Pete Bone, Mike Harrington and some farmers who came to the event at Carwen to improve grass yield without increasing nitrogen inputs. The focus in will be on adjusting macro and micro nutrient indices to increase dry matter offtake. Early soil samples suggest calcium may be a nutrient of particular interest.