T E C H N I C A L
Measuring the carbon performance of your farm By Becky Wilson The old adage of you can’t manage what you can’t measure is certainly true of carbon accounting. But when it comes to agriculture, measuring carbon isn’t as simple as it may first seem.
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arbon accounting systems were designed to measure industrial processes; when measuring the emissions associated with a product manufactured in a factory, we are able quite simply to understand how the inputs lead to the outputs and everything tends to all be neatly contained within a building. This is not the case when we use these metrics to measure farming systems. On-farm we are trying to measure biological systems, which are impacted by climate, soil type, topography and vegetation, as well as what we as farmers are doing in terms of our management. Which can make the whole thing a little tricky! However, undaunted by this complexity, carbon metrics are an essential tool that farmers can use to not just identify climate solutions, but also to baseline the farm’s emissions and drive technological change.
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Identifying the carbon footprint of a farm business is the first vital step in being able to quantify the contribution that the farm is making to climate change. A carbon footprint calculation in its simplest form identifies the quantity and source of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide emitted from the farm (the emissions) and subtracts from the emissions the carbon that is being sequestered onfarm (sequestration) to provide your carbon balance. This balance is the starting point which should then highlight areas where improvements or changes can be made to reduce emissions and improve sequestration potential. Reducing carbon emissions in a farming business makes sense on many levels. High carbon emissions tend to be linked to high use of resources, and / or wastage, so reducing emissions also tends to reduce costs. This makes the farm more efficient and should improve profitability. As well as the
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business opportunities that come from reducing emissions, farmers and landowners are in the unique position to being able to sequester carbon both in trees, hedgerows and margins and within the soil. Before being able to reduce emissions, you need to know where the emissions are coming from. Are the largest emissions coming from livestock, soils, fuels, or fertilisers? It is vital to get a picture of your business which is made possible by carbon footprinting.
Choosing a tool to use There are various carbon footprinting tools that have been designed for use by individual farmers (or groups of farmers) who are interested in understanding the carbon balance of farms. Tools include the Cool Farm Tool, AgreCalc and the Farm Carbon Calculator. The golden rule is, once you have decided which tool to use, stick
