Downpatrick Monitor Farm meeting: Preparing for zero carbon farming

Please join us for the first 2021 winter meeting at the Downpatrick Monitor Farm. 

Richard will update us on the farm, harvest and winter planting and we will also look at how farms can prepare for zero carbon farming. Ryan Douglas (ADAS) will lead a discussion on how carbon calculation can assist arable farmers in managing their zero carbon targets.  

Richard has done a full carbon audit and we will discuss how they approached this process, interrogate their data and discuss their own carbon management plans.  

Climate change is arguably the greatest environmental challenge facing the world today and British farmers are all too aware of the increasingly frequent weather extremes. Consequently, farmers have a special responsibility to protect carbon reserves already in soils and vegetation.  
  
As highlighted in the Government's 25-year environmental strategy and by its 'net zero' greenhouse gases emissions target, farmers must prepare their businesses for the pending deadlines.   
  
Ryan Douglas, Consultant for Sustainable Food and Farming at ADAS will talk about:    

• Carbon terminology and myth busting  
• What was involved in the Monitor Farm carbon audit  
• Analysis of the Downpatrick Monitor Farm carbon figures  
• Understanding how carbon audits can help farm businesses to make strategic decisions  
• Making a realistic management plan to reduce carbon on arable farms