Tag: carbon

A Day in the Life of… Emma Adams, Senior Farm Carbon and Soils Advisor

Posted on March 20, 2024 by - Insights, News

This January I was very fortunate to attend the 27th Challenge in Rural Leadership course, run by the Worshipful Company of Farmers and Duchy College, with my place supported by the Henry Plumb Foundation and FCT. Throughout the course, I was able to work alongside other industry leaders, understand why they succeed and practically improve my expertise. However, it was also very clear that leadership is not inherited through attaining a particular job title or level of responsibility. There were many insightful and poignant moments from the course, but one of my favourites was from Mary Quicke, of Quicke’s Cheese in Devon – “No one has ‘Spent a long time in the office’ on their grave”. So with that, what am I getting up to?

FCT operates on an incredibly diverse scale, whereby we have the great privilege of working with farmers and growers across all sectors and corners of the UK and beyond. This is brilliant and makes each day highly varied but does mean that many lists are made in a day of the tasks arising. Today for example started by packaging up soil samples heading for analysis from a wonderful project we have up in the Lake District (thank you West Cumbria Rivers Trust and the lovely farmers involved) looking at baselining the soil health and carbon status of the farms. This quickly proceeded into finalising proposals for upcoming projects with Lamb Weston and First Milk – two brilliant companies who although operating in different sectors (potatoes and milk production) are both passionate about producing sustainable food to the highest standard.

This week I am also participating in some filming for a project we have recently launched with the Royal Countryside Fund titled ‘Savings in Soil’. It is a brilliant project looking to help farmers measure and manage their grassland’s soil health to benefit future farm resilience. As ever, soil underpins a healthy and productive grassland system, capable of producing healthy pastures and livestock, which in turn supports a profitable farming system. 

I am very lucky to facilitate the Soil Farmer of the Year competition, as such the day also bought liaison for this year’s application process. The competition aims to find and champion UK farmers who are engaged with and managing their soils to the benefit of their farming system and the wider environment. We are supported again this year by Hutchinsons and Cotswold Seeds, so again an opportunity to say thank you to their teams! 

So, despite a little bit of time in the office today – we have managed to work with a huge variety of topics and geographies, continuing to assist the fabulous farmers, communities and industries of UK agriculture.

A Day in the Life of… Becky Willson, Technical Director

Posted on February 13, 2024 by - Insights, News

One of the wonderful things about working for FCT is that no two days are the same. I am incredibly lucky that I get to work with such a brilliant group of colleagues and some fantastic farmers.  Everyone brings new skills, knowledge and interests, which allow us to learn from each other and share ideas which is really rewarding. 

This week has been an interesting week. I am currently delivering a new course which is being run by the University of Cumbria entitled Upland Farming for Net Zero. We have a great cohort of 15 students who are either directly farming or involved in supporting our upland farmers in the South West. This week, we have had online sessions focussing on storing more carbon in upland environments and measuring emissions from livestock, alongside a farm visit on Monday to discuss what it all means in practice.  What’s great about this course is that it also feeds into a project we are just completing, which has built a version of the carbon calculator specifically for upland farmers to be able to take account of carbon on-commons, which is a welcome step forward. 

I have also run a couple of training sessions for groups within the Royal Countryside Fund, providing an introduction to managing carbon on the farm. Although I do a lot of these types of talks, they never get boring as each session yields a different set of questions. What I get most enjoyment from is the interaction with the farmers and helping them to see how what I’m saying could be put into practice. It’s so rewarding to be able to help in some small way, even if it is just to help empower them to feel part of delivering the solutions. 

Alongside talks, I have been finishing off a couple of reports for projects that are coming to an end: a dairy footprinting project combining farm footprints for the supplier farms with the operational footprint of the processing site, and writing some factsheets for farmers around the importance of managing manures and the opportunities with cultivation. There is always more to do and new projects and ideas to explore.

A Day in the Life of… Dr Hannah Jones, Farm Carbon and Soil Advisor

Posted on December 7, 2023 by - Insights, News

No day at work is remotely similar, every field is different, and each farm is unique. However, there are common questions that are raised during a carbon audit, farm event or trial set-up. It is these questions which motivate me to find how we can support farmers’ to build the resilience of their businesses and in so doing reduce their carbon footprint.

Years ago, I worked with one of the UK’s leading agro-ecologist, Professor Martin Wolfe who greatly inspired me. Central to Martin’s teachings was the need to understand the effect of environment on the expression of the genetics of an organism. In the context of the farm, it is the effect of that individual farm environment and the management which alters crop or animal performance. These on-farm trials can have quite different outcomes from average values from national data sets.

In this context, it is the trials on-farm which provide the information for individual farmers or the associated farmer clusters. These trials, which might be just a single pass of a different seed mix or replicated trials over multiple farms, that provide the information to change a farming practice. In addition, and most importantly, these small trials and discussion groups reduce the risk associated with a change in practice and allows collaboration in terms of machinery or technological know-how.

The Farm Net Zero project , funded by the National Lottery, is focused on working with a farm community in Cornwall. It is this funding that has allowed me, as part of a wider consortium, to work with groups of farmers to address common areas of interest. The project is in its third year, and the work continually inspires me because of the evolving dialogue, increases in soil health, reducing emissions and a community network that gains increasing strength.

It is hard for anyone to make a change, but it is particularly challenging for complex businesses that are vulnerable to variability in climate, biological risks from pests and diseases, as well as changing market and policy forces. As part of a community, my favourite working days are those spent with groups of like-minded farmers focused on addressing a common challenge and reducing risks associated with changing to a more sustainable practice. I imagine Martin would approve.

The Fellfoot Forward Project: A Case Study

Posted on December 7, 2023 by - Insights, News

In December 2021, five farmers from the Fellfoot Forward Landscape Partnership participated in a carbon footprinting project in association with the Farm Carbon Toolkit. Based in proximity to the North Pennines AONB these five upland businesses demonstrated how livestock farming can work in conjunction with the wider landscape to produce quality food whilst providing environmental services such as water and air quality alongside carbon capture and storage. 

A carbon footprint, or carbon balance, is the measure of the total emissions and total sequestration associated with a particular business or product. For this project, the whole farm was measured to include all of the enterprises included within a farming business. When we discuss ‘carbon’ we are referring to ‘CO2e’ or ‘carbon dioxide equivalent’ which is a measure of the three main greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane. Different greenhouse gases have different dynamics within the atmosphere, consequently having higher or lower warming potentials and thus potency as a contributor to climate change. Therefore, ‘carbon’ as a term encapsulates all three of these gases under one metric so we can compare items such as fuel alongside the biological systems seen in livestock like for like.   

To produce a carbon footprint the farmers were asked to collect a variety of data associated with their business, including items such as fuel and water usage, livestock numbers and quantity of materials used for activities like silage wrapping or maintenance. Alongside these figures, it was also important to record the ‘natural capital’ of each farm holding – the resources found in the farmed environment which are managed as part of the business but provide wider ecosystem services and value – such as areas of woodland, length of hedgerows, soil organic matter and specific habitats such as floristically enhanced margins or wetlands. When all of these details had been recorded, the data was entered into the Farm Carbon Calculator to produce a carbon footprint detailing the balance of emissions and sequestration found at each farming business. 

For the farms included in the project action plans were created to highlight where emission savings can be made or sequestration opportunities maximised. All of the farms within the project were found to be likely to be able to reach a Net Zero, if not already in this position. A large factor on many farms to reach this target is proper accounting of carbon held within the soil as organic matter. For the Fellfoot Farmers who are in majority grassland systems, livestock can be utilised as a tool to increase organic matter in soils – either through grazing systems and the capture of sunlight to be stored as carbon, or through the return of manure to pasture for nutrient cycling. To fully account for the potential sequestration of carbon through the building of organic matter in soils regular testing should be conducted to measure and monitor the levels found in soils. If, like on many farms there has been no prior soil organic matter testing the best advice would be to select three or four key fields within the farmed area which are representative of the systems within the business. For example, if the farm was in a grass-based system, a field which is usually cut for silage, one only grazed and a traditional low-input or hay meadow would demonstrate potential underlying trends in organic matter across the landscape. Equally, if there is a range of soil types or diversity of land use on a single farm it would be perhaps useful to test fields representative of these features to better understand trends and consequently the best management approach to conserve existing carbon and build stocks in the future. As ever, when testing soils aim to minimise external variation by ensuring consistency in the laboratory used and the time of year when sampling.   

The project with the Fellfoot Forward farmers demonstrated the variety of approaches to upland livestock farming, from the number or type of stock to the management required to protect and enhance vulnerable habitats within their farmed area. Some of the farms included in the project had areas of peatland within their management, using cattle or sheep to maintain and conserve the landscape in association with government or local schemes to the benefit of the wildlife and ecology found there. Peatlands are a vast store of carbon and consequently, the condition of this landscape could greatly impact upon the land managers responsible for its status. More information is required to fully understand the dynamics of peat and how farmers can measure and monitor this landscape for not only carbon footprinting processes but also for generations to come. 

Carbon footprinting is a process that can be repeated on an annual basis, used as a monitoring tool for both the emissions and sequestration of a farming business but also to understand changes in management approach. There is a general underlying correlation between high carbon and high cost on many farms, with items such as fertiliser and blended livestock feed being both expensive and also a comparatively larger contributor of emissions. Therefore, conducting a carbon footprint not only has benefits towards understanding the environmental impact of a business but also can be used as a tool for resource optimisation and economic efficiency. 

Key findings

  • Conduct organic matter testing to understand the current carbon held within soils. Aim to repeat this testing every 3-5 years to understand whether your soils are sequestering (increasing in organic matter) or emitting (decreasing in organic matter) carbon. 
  • Account for things you are already doing such as hedge or tree planting that are under existing or future schemes.
  • Accept that you may not have all the data, aim to create a baseline from which you can repeat the process in future years and account for more information with more experience, time or understanding.
  • Identify ‘hotspots’ where emissions are highest. Except for cropping or livestock, are there particular items or categories which contribute a larger proportion of emissions than others, is there potential for reduction in these areas?

Scenario Planning In The Farm Carbon Calculator

Posted on January 4, 2024 by - Calculator, News

At Farm Carbon Toolkit, we know that planning for the future is vital to any business. That’s why we’ve been working hard to create a more formalised system of scenario planning in our Farm Carbon Calculator. And today we’re excited to unveil the new beta version of this functionality, which will give growers and those in the supply chain key insight into the management of their business.

While it was previously possible to scenario plan in the Calculator, we’ve built brand new functionality that makes the entire process clearer and simpler to steer you towards achievable actions.

Scenario Planning In The Calculator

When planning for the future, it helps to be able to visualise the changes you want to make. Scenario planning can help you to plot a roadmap for your business, and see the impact that operational changes could have on your carbon emissions.

Here is a rundown of all the new scenario planning functionality in the Calculator, and how you can use it for key insights into your business.

Report Types

In order to make scenario planning easier and clearer, there is now a ‘report type’ option in the Calculator – which will make it clear if the report you’re looking at is a standard report, a test, or a scenario plan. It also helps us filter out scenario plans from our benchmarking datasets.

Creating Scenarios

There is now a ‘Scenarios’ button on the report results screen, which will bring up several options when you click it (see the screenshot below). When you’ve finished a report, use the ‘Scenarios’ button to start building your plan for reducing your footprint or explore how you could improve the sequestration potential of your farm.

Presets

Firstly, you’ll be able to choose preset scenarios that let you see the effect of changing business parameters. The presets are:

  • Reducing red diesel usage by 10%
  • Switching to a 100% renewable energy tariff
  • Reducing fertiliser usage by 10%

Selecting any or all of these options, and then clicking ‘Create Scenario’, will create a scenario based on the criteria you’ve chosen. You can also leave the presets blank, and just click ‘Create Scenario’, in order to build your own customised scenario plan building on the data you entered in your original report.

N.B. In time, we intend to make more preset options available – but the scenarios above represent fairly typical changes that many growers look to make, and so offer a useful starting point.

Editing Your Scenario Plan

Once you have created a scenario, you’ll need to click ‘Edit farm details’ on the report page so that you can edit the date your scenario plan applies to.

Setting the date is important for our timeline and comparison views, which you can use when you’re ready to see the effect of your scenario planning.

If you’re building a scenario yourself, or want to change some details on a preset, then simply click ‘Edit data’ in the report results screen. Here you can make any changes you want in the same way as in a standard report.

Comparing And Visualising Scenarios

There are two ways to access a report comparison – the first is through the ‘Scenarios’ button in the report results page – from here, you have ‘Scenario comparisons’ and ‘Scenario timeline’ options. These buttons will take you to the relevant comparison type – more on that below – for any scenarios associated with the report you’re working on.

Alternatively, you can also access comparisons by clicking ‘Dashboard’ and then selecting the ‘Comparisons’ sidebar button. From here, you’ll need to select the reports you want to compare – note that linked reports and scenarios appear next to each other automatically. Finally, select either the ‘Timeline’ or ‘Compare’ option – we’ll dive into what each of these options mean next.

Comparison Types – ‘Timeline’ And ‘Compare’

Our Timeline and Compare views offer two different ways of visualising your data. In the simplest terms, ‘Compare’ shows you key metrics and KPIs in a tabular format, while ‘Timeline’ shows your progress over time and towards a net zero target date (2050 by default).

If you want a detailed, granular view of your business, emissions and sequestration, then it’s best to use the Compare view. If you are looking for an overview and direction of travel, you’ll probably prefer the Timeline view.

Click through the image gallery below to see some examples of the ‘Compare’ view data.

And below are some examples of what the ‘Timeline’ view will show you.

Future Development

We’re excited to see how scenario planning will help businesses to reduce emissions and achieve their targets. Looking forward, in 2024 we’ll continue developing the Calculator, and as always our focus will be on helping farmers and businesses both track and reduce their carbon footprint.

You can always get in touch with us to find out more or let us know what you need from the Farm Carbon Calculator [email protected].

Agroforestry Show

Posted on September 13, 2023 by - News

Apples

The scorching September sunshine in Wiltshire at the Agroforestry Show was a good reminder of just how important trees are to us humans and to livestock, providing shade, a different microclimate and more water cycling. Hosts Helen Browning and Ben Raskin showed the extensive field scale alley cropping that intercrops trees, crops and livestock. As Helen said “ever since planting these trees the whole field has felt more alive”.

Agroforestry Show

The trees are not only providing benefits in hot weather, but also reducing wind speed, increasing biodiversity and habitat, sequestering carbon and slowing down water in the landscape. But furthermore they are providing extra income opportunities for farmers and growers – such as fruit, timber, woodchip, nuts, and sticks for the future, along with potential ELMS payments.

Alley crops

The event was very much about spreading and sharing knowledge and insight, with a wide range of presentations and discussions. So much discussion was clearly being had amongst people with an interest in agroforestry in a way that only these sorts of events in person can really do. Businesses displaying at the event were as diverse as fruit tree nurseries, wood processing, banks, advisory, nature charities and many more; an indication of just how wide a range of people have an interest in the growth and continued success of agroforestry.

Sea buckthorn

At FCT we had many discussions with attendees about carbon footprinting, and especially carbon sequestration in soils and perennial crops. We believe the Calculator and Advisory work we do really compliments the aims of agroforestry and look forward to more discussions on this subject with farmers and growers in the future.

One of the actions we will certainly take away is to deepen our understanding of the carbon sequestration benefits of Agroforestry systems, and to reflect that in terms of options in the Farm Carbon Calculator.

Becky talking

Using the Calculator: focus on sheep

Posted on July 17, 2023 by - Calculator

This month we’re focusing on calculating emissions and sequestration from your sheep enterprise.

To accurately estimate the emissions and sequestration from your sheep enterprise, you will need to add data to the following sections of the Calculator:

  • When setting up the report, make sure you enter the area of grazing (grassland) as well as any non-agricultural land area and cultivated land (arable or horticultural)
  • Use the Livestock section and select sheep. Add as many entries as you need to cover your flock. So for example, you may have two breeds with different liveweights, in which case enter the ewes from the first breed with one liveweight and then the ewes from the second breed as a separate entry with their own liveweight. This will give you more accurate emissions from their enteric fermentation (gut methane).

  • To calculate the average head of livestock on farm over a 12 month period, take the number in a particular livestock category per month (so you have 12 “snapshots”) add these  together and then divide by 12. Our data collection sheet has a helpsheet for this. For lambs you may want to use the same approach for calculating average liveweight (our defaults assume a midpoint liveweight through the year for growing lambs but growth rates won’t be linear so using the snapshot approach may be more accurate).
  • “Livestock” entries capture the CO2 equivalent of the methane emissions from enteric fermentation and of the nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from the animals’ manure over the course of the year. The Calculator asks you how this manure is managed as this has an impact on the N2O emissions.
  • You will need to account for any supplemental feeding via the Livestock > Animal feeds option – this is for brought-in feeds that were produced off-farm.
  • If you use any additional fertility sources, you will need to account for these where they have been brought-in. For manures, slurries, AD digestate, water treatment cake, lime or mineral fertilisers, use the Crops tab. For chemical fertilisers, use the Inputs tab.
  • Account for all your fuel use, electricity use, consumables, inventory items and waste produced using the relevant sections (Fuels, Materials,  Inventory, Waste).
  • We recommend getting your soil sampled and have a guide on how to do this effectively and affordably. By monitoring your soil organic matter or soil organic carbon over time you can begin to log sequestration rates in your grazed (or other) soils. Once you have two years’ worth of soil sample results, you can enter these in the Calculator under Sequestration > Soil Organic Matter (you will also need bulk density measurements and a record of the depth of the sample).
  • If you don’t have directly sampled soil data for all your soils, you can use our range of proxy values for different Countryside Stewardship and habitat classes to estimate how much carbon your soils may be sequestering year-on-year. You can also measure the length of any hedgerows and field margins (ungrazed) and enter these to estimate the carbon sequestered in them on a yearly basis.

Getting in touch

If you have any questions/comments please email [email protected]

Find out more

You can find all our useful calculator resources here.

This blog was written by Lizzy Parker, our Calculator Manager.

Press release: 2024 Carbon Farmer of the Year Winner Announced!

Posted on October 3, 2024 by - News

The winner and runners-up of the 2024 Carbon Farmer of the Year competition were announced at the Farm Carbon Toolkit’s Annual Field Day in Herefordshire.


Now in its second year, the annual Carbon Farmer of the Year competition is organised by the Farm Carbon Toolkit and generously sponsored by HSBC Agriculture UK. The competition aims to find farmers and growers who are engaged with–and passionate about–reducing their business’s climate impact through changing management practices to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

2024 Carbon Farmer of the Year Overall winner:

  • Andrew Brewer of Ennis Barton, Fraddon, Cornwall (Dairy farmer supplying Arla UK)

2024 Carbon Farmer of the Year Runners-up:

  • Jason Mitchell, Gary Logue, and Adam Moore of Greenville Dairies Ltd, Newton Stewart, Northern Ireland (Dairy farmer supplying Lakeland Dairies)
  • Tom Burge of Oaremead Farm, Lynton, Devon (Upland beef and sheep farmer)

Competition judges, Steve Dunkley (HSBC UK), David Cope (Head of Sustainability at Duchy of Cornwall), and Liz Bowles (CEO Farm Carbon Toolkit) were very impressed with the commitment and innovation shown by all the finalists in identifying sources of GHG emissions on their farms and developing strategies to both reduce emissions and increase the rate of carbon removal into soils and non-crop biomass.

L to R: Steve Dunkley / HSBC UK Ltd, Liz Bowles / Farm Carbon Toolkit, Tom Burge / Tom Burge / Oaremead Farm, Andrew Brewer / Ennis Barton, Adel Tajouri/ Greenville Dairies Ltd, Terry Mitchell / Greenville Dairies, David Cope / Duchy of Cornwall


Liz Bowles, Chief Executive Officer at Farm Carbon Toolkit, says:

Once again, the Carbon Farmer of the Year competition has identified some truly inspirational farmers. All our finalists have made great strides in reducing business reliance on fossil fuels through changes to their farming practices and careful soil management to reduce GHG emissions and sequester carbon.

It was particularly positive to see a dairy farm winning this year’s competition, given that dairy farming is often in the media spotlight for  its adverse environmental impact. We are looking forward to showcasing the many effective ways that our finalists are reducing on-farm emissions and increasing carbon storage for others to see at free farm walks over the coming months. Watch this space!

Steve Dunkley, HSBC UK Agriculture, says:

HSBC UK Agriculture is pleased to support the 2024 Carbon Farmer of the Year competition. The quality of entries has been superb and hugely inspiring. As a business, we’re very keen to support the agriculture industry in transitioning towards net zero. While that will take many forms, we have the ambition to help farmers fund investment in the new practices and technologies needed to evolve.

“The Carbon Farmer of the Year competition is a great way of showcasing how farmers are already achieving these changes and encouraging others to follow their lead.

About the Farm Carbon Toolkit and the Carbon Farmer of the Year competition

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.

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 7,000 farmers in the UK and beyond. To find out more visit www.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk 

The Carbon Farmer of the Year competition aims to recognise and champion farmers, sector organisations, and businesses who are leading the way in adopting farming practices and developing new technologies that are helping to reduce farm emissions while optimising output. 

This competition allows for discussions on greenhouse gas emissions and sinks on farms to be framed in a very practical way to allow for maximum engagement with the issue. Farm Carbon Toolkit facilitates discussion and information sharing between farmers and other actors, which ultimately leads to changes in on-farm practice.

The long-term objective of this competition is to create a network of alumni who are changing their management practices to better manage emission and carbon storage on farmland, and who will inspire others through activity, practical demonstrations, and advocacy for changing management practices.

ENDS

Carbon Farmer of the Year competition -update

Posted on May 25, 2023 by - Carbon Farmer of the Year

Earlier this year we at the Farm Carbon Toolkit launched our Carbon Farmer of the Year (CFOTY) competition. With this competition we will be recognising and championing farmers, sector organisations and businesses who are leading the way in adopting farming practices and developing new technologies which are helping to reduce farm emissions whilst optimising output. 

Back in 2015 we launched our Soil Farmer of the Year (SFOTY) competition which recognises those farmers who are going above and beyond to support improved soil health on their farms and to showcase all the good things which flow from that enhanced soil quality. This competition has been highly successful at celebrating incredibly forward thinking farmers and through it we have been able to share their methods, spreading their knowledge and normalising practices that may have previously seemed intangible to many farmers. The approaches these farmers have been demonstrating through the highly popular SFOTY farm walks have been a great opportunity to show to others that increasing soil health to safeguard our soils for future generations and future food production can be achieved whilst maintaining profit and production. 

We are confident that our new Carbon Farmer of the Year competition will do the same as the SFOTY, but with a focus on carbon reduction and carbon sequestration.

We are looking for those farmers and other businesses who are doing great things to reduce farm emissions and to store carbon in soil and non-crop biomass within resilient, biodiverse businesses. We believe the more we celebrate and recognise those farmers that are leading the way with regards to reducing emissions, increasing carbon capture and minimising reliance on imported energy the more we can spread this knowledge, create a new norm and share best practice across the industry. 

All the details to make nominations/apply and the entry form are available on our website here. Or you can go straight to the nomination/application form here.

Entries close on the 4th July and we will be announcing the winners at our annual Farm Carbon Toolkit Field Day on the 21st September.

Please note – the Soil Farmer of the Year competition will still be running alongside this new competition, and as always we will be announcing the winners at Groundswell in late June. 

Farm Carbon Calculator update May 2023

Posted on May 22, 2023 by - Calculator

Farm Carbon Calculator logo

This month we have launched further improvements to our Farm Carbon Calculator that enables farmers and growers to measure and understand the carbon footprint of their business.

In this upgrade there are a large number of improvements to the data and calculations that underpin the tool. This means we are up-to-date with the latest science and correspondingly your carbon reports are more accurate. We constantly aim to be reflecting the most recent emissions factors. In this upgrade we have updated factors and calculations in:

  • Livestock (including new category descriptions)
  • Fuels
  • Distribution
  • Materials
  • Processing

In addition, we’ve re-ordered and updated the list of sprays, as well as a new sub-section for molluscicides. Some additional mineral amendments and specific fertilisers have been added too.

Animal feeds are a very important issue, and the impact of feeds on the footprint of livestock farms can be very significant. We’re constantly trying to improve the information available in this area and have expanded the number of items on offer. This is a continual topic of research for us.

There are some changes to how users select a report date, so that a start and end date is required (for the 12 months of the report). This is due to how our database works, which is a hidden but important area of the improvements we’ve made.

Renewable energy exports now don’t show up as a carbon offset, in line with scoping guidance provided by GHG Protocol, which is a globally recognised carbon standards organisation.

Details of all the changes can be found here, including a list of sources of our emissions factors.

Next stages

Months of research, development and testing by the Calculator team have led to this point. We are proud of what we’ve achieved, and see it as a vital improvement for users. But, more excitingly, the development continues as part of the two projects that are going to radically improve the user experience of the Calculator. This first stage of these feature upgrades will be launched in early September.

The Tesco-WWF funded work, in partnership with Produce World, focuses on improving the user experience, building infrastructure to allow carbon data to flow through the supply chain, with improved benchmarking and target setting for users, and an international version.

A parallel Innovate UK funded project, in partnership with Velcourt, CHAP and Agrimetrics, will strengthen many of the above developments, as well as enabling better data flow into and out of the Calculator. This stage of the feature upgrades will be completed at the end of December.

These are hugely exciting developments for the Farm Carbon Calculator, so expect to see much more activity from us in coming months and, importantly, a much improved tool for our users. Alongside our project partners, we are supporting the food and farming sector to cut carbon emissions and reach beyond net zero.

Resources

There are a range of resources for users of the Calculator on this page https://calculator.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk/resources, including the popular Data Collection Spreadsheet which gives guidance on how to complete data collection and the process of completing the report.

There are also useful FAQs and a ‘how to’ video on the Calculator homepage. You can also login to access your reports here, or set up a new account if you’re new to the Calculator https://calculator.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk/