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.  

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The emissions calculations will be provided on the Envirocrops platform, whose development has been funded by DESNZ, to aid farmers in decision-making when considering switching part of their land into biomass crop cultivation.

What we did 

We provided two arable and six livestock farming scenarios to compare with the cultivation of six different biomass crops and modelled the associated emissions using the farm carbon calculator (see Table 1). As some of the biomass crops have a long lifespan (10 – 25 years) with the potential for multiple harvests from one planting, the emissions for each farming scenario were modelled over a 20 year period. 

The biomass crops included in the project were short rotation coppice (SRC) willow, SRC poplar, miscanthus, switchgrass, reed canary grass and hemp. As hemp is an annual crop, it was swapped in for a crop in the arable 3 or 5-year baseline rotations. For the other biomass crops, two scenarios were modelled, either conversion from arable land or conversion from grassland, which differed in their field preparation operations and herbicide application, to provide the comparison to the arable or livestock grazing scenarios respectively.

Only associated emissions from the different farming practices were modelled but no potential carbon sequestration due to the high level of uncertainty and lack of current available research (particularly with biomass crops grown in the UK). Additionally, any emissions or sequestration from carbon stock changes in soils were not modelled, as this would vary largely depending on a variety of factors (e.g. location, soil type, season). Emissions were modelled to farm gate and do not include the downstream processing of crops. To see a more detailed outline of the data that went into the GHG calculations, visit our assumptions document here.

Table 1. The farming scenarios and their modelled emissions.

What we found 

As biomass crops can be planted once, harvested repeatedly and require little to no fertiliser inputs over the 20-year period, the emissions associated with cultivating biomass crops are considerably lower than the arable and livestock farming scenarios. 

Arable comparisons

The biggest contributor to the arable scenario emissions is from fertilisers (see Figure 1). Swapping hemp into the rotations decreases emissions by an average of 9.2% when compared to the average of the 3 and 5-year baseline rotations. 

For the perennial biomass crops, there is an average 95.5% decrease in tonnes of CO2e per hectare per 20-year period compared to the average of the arable baselines. This is largely because the perennial biomass crops do not require fertilisers, the application of sprays and fertilisers is often not possible once the crops are established due to their size. However, It is worth noting that soil testing and site choice are essential to help establish any nutrient requirements prior to biomass planting, which has not been included here due to its varying nature.

Additionally, because the rootstock of the perennial biomass crops remains viable for many years (excluding hemp), emissions associated with biomass crop residues are lower.

Livestock comparisons

Livestock comprise the largest proportion of emissions in the grassland grazing scenarios (see Figure 2), which is associated with enteric methane production and manure emissions. There is a potential average 97.6% reduction in emissions when switching to biomass crop production (per hectare, per 20-year period). 

Summary

From these example farming scenarios we can see that the emissions associated with cultivating biomass crops are substantially lower than arable and livestock farming. An increase in biomass cropping in the UK and Ireland has the potential to aid in the transition towards net zero goals, along with diversifying farming portfolios and income streams. Biomass crops can often grow on marginal land that may otherwise be unproductive. They can also be incorporated into food production systems, for example, SRC and short rotation forestry (SRF) tree crops can be planted as agroforestry silvopasture or silvoarable systems, to offer increased biodiversity in farming systems. As part of this project we were able to research and include additional biomass crop emissions factors in the Farm Carbon Calculator, contributing to our project aims on the CHCx3 project.

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For the last 10 years, Farm Carbon Toolkit has hosted the Soil Farmer of the Year (SFOTY) competition, seeking out the farmers and growers across the UK who are doing the best job at improving their soils and underpinning their businesses with healthy soil management. The 2025 competition is open now and you can enter here, as well as see details of our past winners. The competition runs in partnership with Innovation for Agriculture and is supported by Hutchinsons and Cotswold Seeds.

Over the years we’ve had many inspiring finalists, so we thought we’d share information on some of the winners, what they’re doing on soil management, and some top tips.

Growing soil biology

In 2018, SFOTY winner Simon Cowell, an arable farmer from Essex delves deep into soil biology to create the conditions for his crops to thrive. He makes his own compost and applies it at 2-4 tonnes/acre, more as an inoculant than as a fertiliser, as Simon explains:

It’s not being used as a fertiliser source or for organic matter, it’s purely an inoculation for the soil biology and a home to grow biology that will benefit the soil. Within a few weeks you can see the difference where it has been applied

Through a mixture of crop rotation, on-farm trials and compost, the use of applied Nitrogen has decreased dramatically and the use of agrochemicals. Noticing that the plants nearer the hedge look healthier, Simon comments:

My aim is to get the biology and fungal network to transfer all those benefits throughout the fields, although it’s going to be a slow process.

Farmers should be beekeepers

Over in Oxfordshire, another arable farmer was the 2019 winner. Julian Gold grows a range of crops on 800 ha, with a small flock of sheep to manage the green manures. He’s over 10 years into his journey of minimising tillage and covering the soil as much as possible. He’s tuned in to his soils and how they’re working now:

If you know your soil and are on the right trajectory, you don’t need to do soil testing. I can see the straw disappearing and see worm middens, I know it’s healthy and doing what it should be, but it can take time.

Trials with Universities and Research Institutes has been common on the farm over many years, and has looked at greenhouse gas emissions, soil health and biodiversity on the farm. Julian advocates that all farmers should be beekeepers:

…….as with all things its about a change of mindset. This is true of fertiliser use, crop protection and carbon farming

Using electric fences instead of fertiliser

In 2022, Herefordshire farmer Billy Lewis demonstrated how his mixed farm had turned around and really improved its soil massively. A combination of direct drilling, applying compost, mob grazing, reduced inputs and introducing legumes has transformed the soil health, productivity and profitability.

On the new grazing system, Billy comments:

Since beginning our rotational grazing system we no longer apply fertiliser to our permanent pasture. You will grow ten times more grass with an electric fence than you will with a bag of fertiliser.

Fertiliser use has reduced by 50% over 3 years, with an aim to eliminate it in the future

Noting that arable crops have become much more profitable now, and the livestock more relaxed and healthy, Billy believes this is down to both a reduction in inputs and an improvement in soil biology.

When we dig up any legume species, be it in a herbal ley, cover crop or in the clover living mulch, we’re seeing plenty of nodules forming and more importantly we are noticing that they are active due to the dark purple colour when they are sliced open.

12 million worms per hectare

Arable farming can face greater challenges in rebuilding soil health and carbon. 2021 winner Tom Sewell is farming over 1500 acres in Kent with his wife Sarah. The farm is both at a serious scale but also working across a range of soil types. Minimum cultivation and direct drilling have been used for some time on this farm and Tom was an early adopter.

Through a combination of providing minimum disturbance, and adding organic matter – through straw, cover crops and compost, the organic matter has gone up worm counts are very healthy. Tom reckons there are 12 million worms per hectare!

A ‘simple system’ that maximises soil health has allowed them to reduce fertiliser use by 10% per year, yet maintain yields and improve soil health continuously. Tom says:

I just want to improve the soil, I use compost and feed the worms, they’ll do the rest.

Using all the tools

Over at Overbury Farms in Gloucestershire, 2020 winner Jake Freestone farms over 1500 hectares with a diverse arable rotation, plus 1,000 sheep across a wide range of soil types. Jake is using fungal-rich seed dressings to improve germination, soil biology and reduce costs. 

Nitrogen fertiliser is being reduced, other inputs reduced, cover crops experimented with extensively and sheep being a key part of the rotation. “

Jake comments:

Ultimately we are trying to use all the tools that we have to improve soil organic matter, water infiltration and wider water management, soil structure and soil biology to achieve the long term goal of improving our resilience both for our crops, our business and our soil.

A 10-year transformation

Back to mixed farms and in 2023 winner Stuart Johnson in Northumberland demonstrated how 10 years of work has transformed his farm, primarily by reducing inputs, improving soil health and livestock productivity. Moving to a strip-tillage system and mob grazing platform has provided financial success alongside a more resilient business. 

Stuart has now eliminated fertiliser on his grassland and fungicides in the arable crops, instead utilising an integrated system with the livestock and compost teas to grow what is needed on the farm. The farm is currently in a seven-year rotation of a five-year legume/herb mix followed by a two-year arable break with full grass grazing for the sheep and cattle meaning that there is no need to buy in additional supplementary feed over the summer months.

Herbal leys and vegetables

Bringing us right up to date, 2024 winners Tracey Russell and David Neman at Bucksum Farm in Buckinghamshire show in this video how herbal leys and vegetables sold directly is working successfully.

Creating their own compost, using extensive herbal leys (grazed by sheep), they also incorporate living mulches amongst the vegetable row crops. Incorporating top fruit and chickens too, the farm is an exemplar of how to grow fruit and veg in a sustainable rotation whilst improving soil health.

Learn even more!

We also have amazing 2nd and 3rd place Soil Farmers from each year, and you can read more about them here.

Don’t forget, if you think your farming practices are worthy of being entered in the competition, please do consider entering the 2025 Soil Farmer of the Year competition. It’s free – what have you got to lose?

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The Farm Carbon Calculator is just one branch of FCT’s work and is a tool within our online toolkit. Working within our Calculator team, my role is to ensure the Farm Carbon Calculator is based on rigorous science, remains up-to-date with standards and guidance, and is free of bugs that can sometimes appear when running a software.

To achieve these aims, I am regularly undertaking research, particularly if someone has requested an item on the Calculator, like a specific fertiliser or crop. I will find associated emissions factors, consult with experts in the field, alongside standards and guidance to ensure we are employing the recommended calculations.

Each year we undertake two major updates, one in April where we assess and update all emissions factors and one in October where we also look to improve the functionality of the Calculator. These are busy times for our team, where we work through and update thousands of line items on the Calculator to ensure we remain up-to-date with the latest science and data that’s available. All the while, I work alongside Lizzy Parker (Calculator Manager), James Pitman (Calculator Development Officer) and our software developers to keep the website running smoothly. 

Aside from my core work on the Calculator, one of the exciting things about working for FCT is the breadth of interesting projects we are involved in. I have undertaken farm modelling work for a few different projects looking to model the transition to more regenerative practices and the impacts that may have on greenhouse gas emissions. I regularly go to farming conferences to hear firsthand the issues that farmers are facing and can offer free advice on carbon footprinting their farm. I get to brush up on my science communication skills when posting blogs on our website on hot topics. I also get to enjoy our in person events such as our Annual Field Day, Soil Farmer of the Year and Carbon Farmer of the Year events, where we champion pioneers in sustainable farming.

Since we all work remotely and are spread far and wide across the UK, it is these in-person events and our Away Days that remind me how lucky I am to work with such passionate people who care immensely about our farmers, our environment and our food production systems.

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Day to day, my activities and tasks can vary widely, depending on the needs of the Calculator team as well as Izzy, our Data Scientist with whom I also work closely.

I primarily work with the Calculator team which can involve a variety of tasks. One of my main responsibilities is the rigorous testing of the Calculator after every update, and following the addition of new items to the calculator. Flagging errors and helping to resolve issues (if indeed there are any!) ensures a reliable tool and the efficient running of the calculator that farmers and landowners can use seamlessly. Another major part of my role is information-finding. Regularly, the Calculator team receives requests for additional products/items/data entries to be added to the calculator. Personally, I was surprised by how many crop protection products (insecticides/herbicides etc.) that are available to farmers, upwards of 30,000 different products available in the UK alone. So you can imagine, with changing trends and needs of farmers to protect their crops in various ways, we as a Calculator team need to keep up with adding additional products to the calculator.

Outwith helping the smooth running of the calculator, my responsibilities include assisting Izzy, our Data Scientist, with her work. Recently, I’ve been assisting her in updating and maintaining soil sampling datasets using QGIS (a spatial data software) that have been collected by the advisory team. I also assist Izzy by testing apps that she designed herself! One of which is a soil sampling app for use by the FCT Advisory team to record soil sampling points more efficiently. I’m particularly grateful for this piece of work as it takes me away from my desk and gets me walking around, albeit on the streets of Edinburgh rather than the fields.

My day to day can vary depending on the tasks that are required or whether I’m working out of my flat, a cafe or the Melting Pot, the co-working space I go to. I’m kept on my toes with the diversity of work to do. Through this type of work, it might seem easy to disassociate from the real-world challenges faced by farmers in a changing climate when you’re spending your days hidden behind a screen, focused on numbers and code. However, this is what I feel FCT does very well, in connecting us to the issues we are all helping to solve. Between the numbers and spreadsheets, we do well to have numerous meetings, whether it be online, hearing about the projects FCT are involved in such as Farm Net Zero, or in person days where we celebrate the farmers that are doing the most to demonstrate low-carbon, sustainable agriculture.

My first in-person day was last September at our annual field day, where FCT presented the Carbon Farmer of the Year. An opportunity to hear first-hand what farmers are implementing to produce our food in a sustainable and low-carbon manner with the help of our carbon calculator. I always come back from these days feeling invigorated to tackle the next challenge knowing that farmers are using the calculator to benefit their farms and the environment. 

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This article reviews the mechanisms and inputs to ruminant diets which are known to impact greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It explores how these can be used by ruminant livestock farmers, alongside their limitations and the need for more research into more systems-based approaches to reduce methane emissions from ruminants.

Background

Methane (CH4) is an important greenhouse gas in livestock-based agriculture as it is particularly potent. Over a 20-year period, methane is approximately 80 times more powerful at heating the earth than carbon dioxide (CO2), though it dissipates much more quickly (7-12 years) compared to CO2.  Because methane is such a potent greenhouse gas, anything that can be done to reduce those emissions cost-effectively and without negative impacts on animal health, welfare and productivity is beneficial. 

Ruminant animals have diverse microbial populations in their stomachs and these form a natural ecosystem in their own right. Anaerobic fermentation is a key process in the digestion of natural forage-based diets. Methane is released by anaerobic microbial activity through a process called methanogenesis and is consequentially released into the atmosphere as a by-product of digestion. Methane production also results in a loss of gross ingested energy and reduces animal growth and development, so minimising methane production can in theory lead to an increase in animal growth and productivity. 

All ruminants (cattle, but also sheep and goats) together, contribute 30% of global methane released into the earth’s atmosphere. While this briefing focuses on methane inhibitors in ruminant diets, there are also opportunities to reduce methane emissions post-digestion, such as through manure and slurry management, biodigesters and activity to increase dung beetle activity. This will be the focus of a forthcoming briefing. Strategies to reduce enteric methane production are a major focus of research, due to the significance of methane. Initiatives like the Global Methane Hub are leading work on increasing our understanding of the mechanisms for reducing methane production safely in ruminants. Feasible approaches include improved animal and feed management, such as diet formulation, which has shown potential for meaningful emissions reductions. This is an active area of interest for organisations such as the Farm Carbon Toolkit (FCT) alongside our work on strategies to reduce enteric methane production post leaving the digestive system.

The commercial backdrop

FCT is aware of the significant ongoing efforts to develop products aimed at reducing methane emissions. Much of this work has focused on supplements that can be added to the animal’s diets, as these offer clear commercial opportunities for manufacturers. However, generating robust scientific data to support solutions based on practice changes, rather than commercially sold products, has been more challenging. As a result, these approaches and beneficial practices are underrepresented in discussions about methane reduction, due to the current lack of robust evidence demonstrating their effectiveness. 

Adding supplements to ruminant diets becomes difficult to achieve when those animals are consuming a forage-based diet, grazing in the wider environment and consuming a variable and diverse range of plant species. In these situations, research into the makeup of these forages which can reduce emissions is taking place, but with no patentable product to promote, the investment in research and development is understandably less intense. As such, FCT as a farmer-led community interest company, may have a legitimate role in seeking to facilitate and advance the science in this area of research and development.

Feed supplements are now becoming commercially available in the UK. The most common supplement currently is 3-NOP (Bovaer^®) which has drawn the attention of the media in recent weeks. There are thought to be other products in advanced development that are now close to market. There are other strategies and approaches where scientific data has established methane inhibitory activity which we discuss below.

Current understanding of Methane Inhibitors and their mode of action

Bovaer^®

Bovaer is a synthetically manufactured enzyme inhibitor with an active ingredient called 3-Nitrooxypropanol (hence 3-NOP Bovaer). It is scientifically referred to as a Methyl co-enzyme or M reductase Inhibitor, meaning it blocks the activity of a combination of enzymes that breaks down organic compounds (under anaerobic conditions found in the rumen) and therefore prevents the final biochemical stage of methane release. It is called a reductase process (a reduction process) that would normally result in the breakdown of a glucose chain (a sugar) into CH4 (a methane compound). 3-NOP inhibits that activity.

The Food Standards Agency Website states:

Bovaer has undergone rigorous safety checks by the Food Standards Agency as part of its market authorisation process and is approved for use, and is considered safe for the consumers of milk and beef. It has been demonstrated to be safe for the animal, consumers, workers and the environment.

The dosage of Bovaer is recommended at 1 gram per 20 kg of feed (label recommendation). The manufacturer claims that a 45% reduction in methane emissions for dairy cows and 30% for beef cattle, is achievable, but only when the supplement is fed within a blended or total mixed ration.

Seaweed

Microalgae, commonly known as seaweed, are a large group of marine plants, made up of three relevant taxa: Rhodophyta (red), Chlorophyta (green) and Phaeophyceae (brown). Bromoform is found in the highest concentrations in red seaweed Aspargopsis, which is grown in subtropical regions around the world. Brormoform is also found in lower concentrations in the brown and green seaweed groups which are more ubiquitous and widespread in the world’s oceans. Feed additives derived from Asparagopsis have reduced methane emissions by 40+% and 90% respectively.

Bromoform (CHBR3) has proven to be highly effective at inhibiting methanogenesis along with other halogenated volatile organic compounds. These VOCs effectively bind to enzymes and reductases, reducing H2 and CO2 release and through archaeal organisms these produce CH4. 

There are some studies and claims that Bromoform promotes increases in animal productivity, but other studies report modest reductions in milk yields (-6.5%) this appears to occur when reductions in animal intakes of feed are also observed. There has also been some evidence of abnormalities of the rumen walls of participating animals in such studies, with the loss of papillae and microscopic inflammation found in two studies, although the studies were not able to directly conclude that damage to the rumen was as a result of A.taxiformis supplementation. It is clear that there are discrepancies within the results of the various studies undertaken using Bromoform and that the energy in the H2 compounds resulting from the reductase reaction is not 100% possible to be re-diverted into volatile fatty acids and appears to require the expansion of H2 sinks within the rumen and is seen as an area of further developmental work.

There are numerous other bioactive compounds within the microalgae plants / seaweeds, and are known to produce other compounds that have anti-microbial function that could modify the rumen environment and reduce methane emissions in different ways. These include; phlorotannis, saponins, sulfonated glycans and other halocarbons and bacteriocins, these are the source of ongoing research and developmental work.

Condensed Tannins

Condensed Tannins (CT’s) are commonly found in high concentrations in various UK native flora, including Greater Birdsfoot Trefoil, Birdsfoot Trefoil and Sainfoin. These are all commonly found in herbal leys. CT’s are complex plant polymers of polyphenols found in legumes and other C3-type plants. CT’s are considered to reduce methane emissions through the following mechanisms:

• Reducing fibre fermentation
• Inhibiting the growth of methanogenic micro-organisms
• Acting directly against hydrogen-producing microbes.

CT’s are able to bind to proteins, polysaccharides and metal ions and inhibit fibre digestion of longer-chain starch, cellulose and hemi-cellulose. As such CT’s consequently reduce the formation of hydrogen and acetate and inhibits the growth of methanogenic microorganisms, thus reducing enteric CH_4.

Excessive inclusion of biologically active Condensed Tannins within ruminant diets have been found to be detrimental if it exceeds 6% of the overall animal diet in terms of dry matter intake (DMI). Elevated levels have been found to impact negatively on animal performance in terms of growth rate or milk yield. Target inclusion of CT’s are recommended to between 2 and 4% where improvements in animal performance can be achieved. The scientific quantification of the impact of CT’s on Methane emissions is not clear, with the research inconsistent with the work that has been published to date, but it is not considered inconsequential.

From other parts of the world, studies (predominantly Australia) are being undertaken on management practices and cattle browsing legumes known to hold high levels of Tannins, Desmanthus or Leucaena species. Leuceana is a tropical and sub-tropical legume fodder crop and Desmanthus is a tropical legume. The inclusion of both crops in ruminant diets has been shown to improve live weight gains and reduce methane emissions in cattle.

Diversity and grazing diets

By embracing the diversity of grazing diets, there is potential to reduce ruminant emissions through a whole-systems approach. This involves increasing the overall dietary content of tannins coming from multiple grazed forage species, such as herbal leys, willow and other silvopastoral feeds. This can achieve a measurable and meaningful reduction in enteric methane production. However, achieving this requires investment and expansion of knowledge and empirical quantification.

Other options

Other options for exploring enteric methane production, including but not exhaustively:

• Genetic selection 
• Vaccination
• Feeding of grape marc (which is high in Tannins)
• Adding nitrate or biochar to feed

Conclusion

This is a dynamic area of development and knowledge exploration on GHG emissions, with many complex interconnections to broader environmental concerns. It is important to recognise these links, which include, but are not limited to, animal welfare, animal longevity, as well as other sustainability factors such as biodiversity, water quality, air quality. These, along with other far-reaching sustainability goals, must be carefully balanced to inform the best possible decisions.

The post Methane Inhibitors in Ruminant Diets and their impact on Greenhouse Gas Emissions appeared first on Farm Carbon Toolkit.

In November 2024, a farm walk was hosted by Andrew and Claire Brewer, winners of the Carbon Farmers of the Year 2024, as well as being a Farm Net Zero Demo Farm.

The Farm Net Zero (FNZ) project was very proud of Demo Farmers Andrew and Claire Brewer of Ennis Barton for winning the 2024 Carbon Farmer of the Year competition. Carbon Farmer of the Year is run by the Farm Carbon Toolkit and is sponsored by HSBC Agriculture UK. It aims to support farmers on their transition to low-carbon farming by championing farmers who are successfully on that transition and creating a network to learn from.

On Friday 8^th November 2024, Andrew Brewer hosted a farm walk to explain some of the practices that led to him winning this year’s Carbon Farmer of the Year competition.

Andrew and Claire farm 1,000 acres at Fraddon, near Newquay, milking 450 autumn-calving Jersey cross cows to supply Arla. Cows calve in late summer and are milked twice a day, sometimes in a 10 milkings in 7 days system. Land is let for field vegetables and potatoes as part of the rotation. Andrew is a Demo Farm for the Farm Net Zero project and carbon footprinting from this has shown that the farm is emitting 0.67kg CO₂e per kg of Fat and Protein Corrected Milk (FPCM). Andrew puts this down to maximising milk from forage, feeding little concentrate, and farming without any fertiliser on grass for the last four years. As well as working to reduce emissions, Andrew is optimising sequestration in hedges and soils.

Grazing management and herbal leys

The dairy herd grazes for as much of the year as possible, where conditions allow. Sometimes this may only be for a few hours a day, but Andrew feels this is an important part of his farming practices. Grass is the cheapest feed available and if the cows can harvest it themselves (aiming for 90% of the cow’s feed intake from grazed grass) then this not only reduces costs, but also reduces emissions from tractor diesel. Similarly, letting the cows out to pasture means that they can “spread their own slurry”, further reducing costs and emissions (both from diesel use and from slurry storage).

Herbal leys are used extensively across the grazing platform. Their deep, diverse roots help to improve soil health, potentially capturing carbon into the soil, and access minerals and nutrients deep in the soil profile, allowing for good growth without artificial fertiliser. The impact of the herbal ley on milk yield and quality is being assessed through a Farm Net Zero Field Lab, comparing cow performance on herbal leys and ryegrass/white clover swards. The results of this study will be available soon.

Calving

Cows calve outside in late summer, with the calves then reared in batches in a woodchip bedded shed. The woodchip creates a very clean environment, eliminating the need for bought-in straw. All calves are taken through to finish, with beef bulls kept entire and finished at 12 months and beef heifers finished at 17 months. Youngstock are grazed on a mix of pasture, cover crops and the leftover vegetable crops after the human-grade plants are harvested. This integration of farm enterprises helps to fully utilise nutrients across the farm, reducing the need for buying inputs in.

Soil health: the basis of the farm business

Andrew did a Nuffield Scholarship in 2015 and attributes this to changing his views on soil health as the basis of the farm business. Through the Farm Net Zero project, soil carbon has been monitored over a number of years and the carbon sequestered into these fields has halved the farm’s carbon footprint. Andrew acknowledged that the carbon sequestration is variable, with not all fields capturing carbon, but will continue to monitor soil carbon in the future to identify the long-term trends.

Farm trails

As part of the FNZ Demo Farm work, Dr Hannah Jones of Farm Carbon Toolkit has assisted in the development of a variety of soil-focused trials. When fields are let for vegetables and potatoes, the soil can require assistance back to optimum status. Trials to reduce the negative impacts of these practices have included intercropping between cabbages to reduce bare soil and the risk of runoff. Another trial has followed methods to restore soil health after potatoes. Different mixes were planted after potatoes to assess the improvements to soil structure, stability and worm content. Results from this suggested that Westerwolds ryegrass had the greatest positive impact on soil health, possibly because of its rapid growth creating a large root mass, so Andrew now grows Westerwolds following veg crops. This fits well with the dairy as the Westerwolds produces excellent feed for strip-grazing dry cows before calving, another example of how the whole farm system is integrated to minimise the need for emissions-intensive inputs.

In all, Andrew and Claire focus on running a simple system well, integrating enterprises across the farm. This allows them to minimise emissions from inputs, as well as maximising sequestration into soils and hedgerows. 

The post Award-Winning Low Carbon Farming in Action: Lessons from Andrew and Claire Brewer appeared first on Farm Carbon Toolkit.

Agricultural emissions could potentially be reduced by 3.4Mt CO2e by replacing half of soyabean meal in livestock feed with homegrown pulses as a result of reduced deforestation and land use change, lower synthetic fertiliser use and fuel savings. We are delighted to share more detail with you here.

Download this post as a PDF here.

In 2023, only 6.3% of the UK’s 4.3 million hectares of cropping land grew beans or pulses. These crops have significant agricultural potential; offering soil health benefits, livestock feed options, and alternatives to currently stressed rotations. The NCS project hopes to harness this potential by expanding the pulse cropping to 20% of the total arable area in the UK. This would involve increasing the annual area of beans and pulses grown from 275,090 ha’s (6.3%) to 874,026 ha’s (20%).

The impact of expanding pulse cropping

Expanding the pulse cropping area will result in GHG emissions reductions in the areas highlighted
below:

• Reduced fuel usage
• Direct fertiliser avoidance
• Indirect fertiliser avoidance as a result of leguminous residues
• Providing a low emission feed alternative to imported soya

Reducing fuel usage

Growing and harvesting pulses requires less fuel than growing cereal crops. FCT modelling on the operations needed to grow cereals indicates that 91 litres of diesel/ha is required, compared to 84 litres/ha to grow beans and pulses. This reduces emissions by 37,524.09 tCO2e when scaled out across the UK arable area.

Reducing fertiliser reliance

Growing pulses like peas and beans reduces reliance on synthetic nitrogen fertilisers both during the pulses cropping year and for subsequent crops, as these plants fix nitrogen into the soil. In 2023, the UK applied an average of 125 kg N/ha of fertiliser, totalling 546,266 tonnes and emitting 3.6 MT CO2e. By expanding pulse cultivation, the UK could save 74,867 tonnes of nitrogen fertiliser annually, directly avoiding 494,925 tCO2e emissions. Moreover, pulse residues can enhance nitrogen availability for subsequent crops, amounting to 35–70 kg N/ha (depending on soil conditions etc.). This could save an additional 20,963–41,926 tonnes of nitrogen annually across the UK, equating to 138,580-277,160 tCO2e.

Substitution of imported soya feed

In 2023, the UK imported 2.37 million tonnes of soya feed, 74% from South America, resulting in 7.3 MT CO2e emissions. UK grown beans could replace some of this soya, substantially reducing the footprint of animal feed. If all UK grown beans within the scenario proposed by NCS were used within compound feeds and straights, they could replace 96% of soya imports, avoiding 5.3 MT CO2e.

A more realistic scenario is replacing 50% of imported soya with 1.95 million tonnes of UK
beans, requiring 454,468 hectares (52% of beans/peas cropping area). This would cut
feed emissions to 4.5 MT CO2e, saving 2.8 MT CO2e compared to current levels of soya imports.

Conclusion

The expansion of beans and pulses to cover 20% of the UK cropping area could save 3.4
MT CO2e (equivalent to 7% of UK agriculture’s total emissions). This would increase if more
of the beans and pulses grown could displace imported soyabean meal.

Sources:

• Fertiliser data from the British Survey of Fertiliser Practice, 2023
• Land use data from DEFRA land use and crop areas 2023
• Fuel usage based on FCT modelling of the field operations
• Soya imports from EFECA and UK soya manifesto, 2024 progress
  report
• Protein content: Johnston et al, 2019 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.
  livsci.2018.12.015

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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])

The post Bringing new and novel fertilisers into Calculators: a call for further collaboration  appeared first on Farm Carbon Toolkit.

Food systems under threat from climate change

Among the many threats posed by climate change, maybe the greatest is to our food systems. With our country producing less than 60% of what we eat, and the climate crisis already having a huge impact on many of the places we import our food from, the UK clearly needs to become more self-sufficient.

But increasingly extreme weather is affecting food production right here too. Following last winter’s endless rains, British farmers have had one of their worst harvests ever. We know that the way our land is farmed and managed can help us to mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis… or indeed to make things much worse.

However, with farmers facing unprecedented financial challenges and record numbers now fearing they’ll go out of business, can we realistically expect them to protect us all from climate change too?

Farming and land use are also increasingly becoming a lightning rod in the climate culture wars. Half-truths, misinformation and outright lies are being pushed across social media by those with a vested interest in crushing the whole green agenda.

While filming the Cornwall’s Climate Stories documentaries, we’ve been keen to find out whether all of this is impacting real world efforts to boost pro-climate and nature-friendly farming.

Farmers centre stage, with a supporting role by FCT!

As filmmakers without a personal connection to farming, it’s been fascinating for us to interview so many farmers and food producers across Cornwall (and our film Food for Thought was actually presented by an organic beef farmer). 

We’ve also featured several members of the Farm Carbon Toolkit (FCT) team, including technical director Becky Willson, who we met in the middle of the 2022 drought.

Becky took us out in a Cornish field to show us the huge differences that regenerative farming can make to both farmers and wider society. Biologically-healthy soils are not only more fertile, but also store more carbon, support more wildlife, and hold much more water – reducing flash flooding during our increasingly torrential downpours, but also enabling crops to keep growing during increasing periods of drought.

Another of our interviewees was FCT Impact Manager Jonathan Smith, who is trying to adapt to increasing coastal erosion as the sea level rises around his beautiful organic farm on St Martin’s in the Isles of Scilly.  

Meanwhile, Farm Carbon & Soil Advisor Anthony Ellis appeared in our film Power to the People about climate change and energy, addressing one of the biggest flashpoints around climate action in rural areas – solar farms.

The loud public outcry against the idea of solar panels covering productive farmland has been unavoidable. However, Anthony believes we’re missing a trick by viewing land use in such a binary way. 

He has raised his panels up 18 inches higher than usual to allow his sheep to graze beneath them. Aside from bringing him in additional income, the panels also improve the welfare of his animals.

When we visited on a very hot summer’s day, the sheep were relaxing in the shade of the panels and Anthony explained the grass holds on better beneath them during droughts than it does out in the open. Chickens can be kept beneath solar panels and all manner of veg grown between them too. 

Few will argue that solar farms are beautiful – but the popular view of these sites as sterile and lifeless can be far from the truth. Recent studies have found well-managed solar farms act as vital havens for wildflowers and critical pollinators among barren landscapes of industrial farmland.

Bringing nuance into the debate

Concern over food security is totally understandable. However, even if all the solar area envisioned in the government’s net zero plans were built, this would still take up only 0.3% of our land area – just half the amount of land taken up by golf courses (and 0.5% of the land currently used for farming).

Solar farms are far from the only controversial way of using farmland to tackle the climate crisis though. Tree-planting initiatives are also leading to fears of food-growing areas being lost. 

However, the picture is more nuanced here too. Agroforestry is a great way of introducing more trees into the landscape, while still using it for farming.

Chris Jones, who farms near Ladock, has planted strips of willow through some fields, allowing him to mob graze his livestock (regularly moving animals on from one small area of land to another, which is a great way of boosting soil biology and carbon storage).

Planting more trees across a farm, or allowing hedgerows to grow out, not only benefits birds, pollinators and other wildlife. This can also provide shade and shelter, important for livestock as our weather becomes more extreme, as well as additional fodder. Trees can also be coppiced to provide firewood or fencing materials, or could provide additional crops such as fruit or nuts.

Tree planting is often linked to something else that has spawned huge controversy – rewilding. Yet several farmers across Cornwall are involved in this to different degrees too, re-introducing extinct or struggling species from tiny harvest mice or water voles to larger and much more misunderstood ones, like beavers. 

There’s alarm in some quarters about beavers eating fish (they’re vegetarian) or killing trees (most of the trees they fell regenerate). Concern about flooding of farmland may be more of a possibility. However, experience in countries like Germany, where beavers were reintroduced over 60 years ago, has shown these animals can be managed and relocated quite easily if problems arise.

In terms of benefits, beavers’ leaky dams help to clean up rivers and drastically reduce flash flooding, while the ponds behind them have been proven to kickstart an amazing return of other life, from insects and fish to bats and birds. Importantly for farmers in our changing climate, they can also provide a valuable reserve of water for potential use in times of drought.

Turning challenges to opportunities

We’ve met so many Cornish farmers who are grasping the climate challenge with great enthusiasm – from the Stoke Climsland cluster of small farmers working together to create wildlife corridors across their wider landscape, to huge businesses like Riviera Produce, which farms 8,000 acres across Cornwall, producing a significant amount of the UK’s cauliflowers, cabbage, courgettes and kale.

By adopting more techniques such as companion planting to encourage natural pest predators, Riviera have managed to massively reduce the amounts of pesticides and other chemicals they use. Worm counts in their soils have boomed, and by using cover crops after harvest instead of leaving bare earth there’s now far less run-off from their fields to cause flooding in nearby villages.

But…. there is one big elephant in the room around farming and climate action in Cornwall. Just a cursory glance shows that most of our farmland is dedicated to livestock – and the climate impact globally of the meat and dairy industry is huge.

Livestock farming may be a traditional part of Cornwall’s heritage and it’s true that we grow grass here very well. However, many animals today actually live in highly intensive systems dependent on imported feed and chemicals, with their waste contained in vast slurry lagoons that pump out planet-heating methane. 

Innovative Cornish research is attempting to tackle these impacts – for example by capturing methane and turning it into a green fuel, or researching new feeds to replace damaging Amazonian soya.

These advances are important given that these mass-produced animal products are sadly much more affordable than milk or meat from higher welfare and more nature-friendly, pasture-fed animals.

However, it’s also important to recognise that nearly 10% of the UK population is now either vegetarian or vegan. Could this offer new diversification opportunities for Cornish farmers too? 

We already have more Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) schemes, growing veg to organic principles, than anywhere else in the country – but there is potential for much more horticulture here too. A changing climate may increasingly also enable us to farm more and different crops, such as sweet potatoes, soya and grapes. 

At least one Cornish livestock farmer is even considering growing oats to tap into the vegan oat milk market too!

Farmers have always been great at adapting to whatever is thrown at them – be that weather, government policies or changing public tastes.

However, as climate impacts worsen, adaptability is going to become key to their survival. We all depend on farmers three times a day, so supporting them in this changing world should be a priority for all of us too.

We’ve seen some tantalising glimpses all over Cornwall of many ways in which farming could become more resilient and much better for nature, people and the climate. 

Making this a meaningful reality is clearly going to need much greater support from the government. However, we hope that, by showcasing the stories of so many passionate food producers around Cornwall, our films can help to enthuse more of the farming community to get on board with becoming part of the climate solution too.

Watch the films

You can watch all the excellent films for free here at https://www.cornwallclimate.org/films

FCT would like to send thank Claire for the blog and the excellent work of bringing to life Cornwall’s Climate Stories.

The post Telling the story of farming, climate and nature in Cornwall appeared first on Farm Carbon Toolkit.