AHDB launches Carbon Week to support farmers

AHDB is to bring levy payers an essential guide to carbon and carbon footprinting in a string of free webinars next week.

Starting on Monday (1 March) the week-long focus on carbon will feature five webinars to outline the fundamentals of carbon within UK agriculture.

The webinar series follows AHDB’s recent launch of on-farm carbon footprinting, with 40 farms across its Farm Excellence platform being assessed to determine a custom plan to bring its carbon footprint down.

Designed for all crop and livestock systems, the week of webinars will be delivered by AHDB’s in-house experts, external experts from ADAS, Promar International and Rothamsted Research, and feature industry case studies.  

From understanding the basics of carbon, to calculating on-farm carbon footprints and ways of reducing emissions, the week aims to lay the ground work for farmers to begin or boost measures to cut carbon emissions. 

The five webinars cover:

• Understanding low carbon farming
• Understanding fertilisers, carbon emissions and what farmers can do to reduce them
• Carbon Footprinting: save the planet and make money
• The ins and outs of soil carbon – measurement and management
• Supply chain requirements – building a narrative

As the UK Government brings fresh focus to reducing emissions and achieving Net Zero by 2050, it is clear that carbon will soon have a clear financial value, explains Dr Jonathan Foot, AHDB’s Head of Environment.

“While carbon has always cost farmers money – the most expensive activities tend to make up the bulk of a farm’s carbon footprint such as animal feed, fertiliser, fuel and energy – it is clear carbon will soon cost farmers in new ways.

“Whether that’s in the form of environmentally focused payments schemes such as ELMS in England or retailer pressure, farmers will be rewarded for reducing their emissions.

“Therefore, understanding the opportunities each farm has in cutting emissions and subsequently costs, is the first step to more sustainable farming and achieving Net Zero. The aim of the week is to deliver a ‘carbon 101’ to our levy payers to give them the knowledge and tools to begin their journey.”

Carbon Week and carbon footprinting is discussed in the soon to be released Carbon Week podcast, and more information on the different webinars and registration can be found at ahdb.org.uk/carbon-week