Driving profitability with your carbon audit

Hendrie Bros consists of three separate herds, one of which is an Autumn block calving herd and two Spring calving herds, including Millands Farm. The Hendrie family have been farming in the West of Scotland for over 250 years, which today is home to 900 Holstein Friesians across its 1,360 acres. With little scope to expand, their focus is to become more efficient and, in-turn, increase profit within their current setup.

As an AHDB strategic dairy farm, Wallace and James identified fertility as an improvement area. Currently, they have a 32% replacement rate and rear all heifers themselves, but they recognise there are inefficiencies within this system.

Undertaking the carbon audit

A carbon audit produces a calculation to show the total output (eg. milk) against total inputs (eg.  the amount of diesel used etc.). Several companies offer audits, but all work out a figure for the kg of emissions generated per kg of output.

Once this is generated, there are two ways to improve your results at future audits:

1. Reduce emissions required for the same output.
2. Increase the number of kg coming out of the business to spread your carbon footprint over more kg of output.

At Millands, the audit showed total emissions as 1.24 kg of carbon dioxide equivalent (kgCO2e) per kg of milk produced. This compares with an average of 1.47 kg for similar dairy businesses using the same method and a GB average of 1.23 kgCO2e. The report identified five areas the team could explore to improve their carbon footprint: fertilizer use; energy efficiency; carbon sequestration; herd health and welfare planning; and stock turn-over.

Wallace and James were keen to understand how the audit results could drive decisions for the farm and were quick to recognise that improving efficiency and reducing their carbon footprint will also help maximise their output and increase their profit. “It gave us some confidence in where we are with the business, but at the same time, we don’t want to get complacent,” said Wallace.

Fertilizer use and grassland management

More efficient fertilizer use is an easy win for Wallace. “Sometimes we panic a wee bit that we are not going to have enough grass. We use 240 kg of nitrogen fertilizer in a year.” He is confident that this can be reduced, saving money and lowering the carbon footprint of the farm. “We’re starting to use plantain and some different mixtures in the grass to use up the organic matter better and reduce fertilizer input. We need to have the confidence we can grow the grass!”

Wallace has considered planting trees, recognising them as an easy way to offset carbon. However, they do little to improve efficiency and he is keen to understand how small changes to grassland management could have a big impact.

Ian Cairns, independent consultant from 5 Agri said: “Farming has the opportunity to offset the carbon it produces within its own business. In farming we can sometime tweak the process and sequester our own carbon and reduce our own emissions. But you have to consider what impact that has on financial performance.”

Ian highlighted the importance of examining grassland management including carbon sequestration through rotational grazing. As ploughing ahead of re-seeding releases stored carbon back into the atmosphere, longer term leys will reduce emissions lost from the soils.

Exploring grass mixes and herbal leys further could prove beneficial for Wallace and James. Clover fixes nitrogen in the soil, so there is less need for an artificial nitrogen fertiliser for grass growth. With both feed and fertiliser prices high, it offers a dependable source of home-grown protein to off-set feed costs. Other deep rooting species encourage soil resilience and can help with drainage, while a high legume content in a sward can fix 180 kg N/ ha, reducing both fertiliser costs and emissions.

Fertility

For James, his focus remains on fertility. “Efficiency improves your carbon output, so for me, it’s about getting our fertility better. Efficiency here will also drive our overall goal of having less costs while lowering our carbon footprint.”

Improving fertility and selecting the right genetics will help the brothers improve the environmental credentials. AHDBs recently launched EnviroCow genetic index may offer some assistance as it allows farmers to select traits for breeding replacement heifers that will be environmentally sustainable and maximise both yield and profit. Reducing the calving interval and age at first calving can also be beneficial to farm efficiency, profitability and your carbon footprint.

Where next?

It is important to look at the whole system says AHDB’s Senior Knowledge Exchange Manager, Doreen Anderson. “It’s vital not to look at this through a single lens. You’ve got to consider every part of your business together. If you only looked at improving your carbon, your system wouldn’t be the best. You need to look at it as part of the bigger picture and be realistic. We all need to reduce our carbon footprint, but it’s not going to happen overnight.

The first step in managing carbon on farm is by measuring it. Farmers and growers have a unique opportunity to be part of the solution that tackles climate change.”

AHDB’s Senior Environmental Scientist, Harley Stoddart added: “I always recommend focusing on profitability, but by accounting for carbon then you’ll be able to demonstrate the environmental improvement that will accompany any increase in profitability. Almost everything that’s recommended to be good for the environment is good for your pocket as well. Economic sustainability is the driver for environmental sustainability –– carbon simply provides a different lens to view the profitability of a farming business.”

Wallace and James are eager to do their bit. “We all have responsibilities as business owners to do better,” said James. “The audit has shown us that efficiency and reducing our carbon footprint go hand in hand so it’s a no-brainer really. If we get this right, then hopefully they’ll be Hendries still farming this land in another 250 years.”