UK Dairy Carbon Network FAQs

The UK Dairy Carbon Network intends to work with farmers to evaluate practical approaches to managing greenhouse gas emissions. It will bring together dairy farms from across the UK to explore and implement practical solutions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Through collaboration, research and real-world testing, the work will deliver valuable insights that strengthen farm resilience and benefit the wider industry.

To apply to be part of the project, please complete a short online expression of interest form available here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/86KHZS8.

To be considered eligible for the project, participant farms must have a dairy enterprise and be located in one of four regions:

1. Northern Ireland

2. Cumbria and south-west Scotland

3. North-west England

4. Wales and south and south-west England

Participant farms must also be willing to:

• Implement a range of greenhouse gas mitigation strategies on farm
• Commit to a three-year programme of activity
• Actively participate in meetings and group discussions
• Provide access for staff to collect data
• Share experiences through farm walks and media content

Applications close on 31 March 2025, but early application is encouraged as AHDB and AgriSearch reserve the right to close the application process early if necessary.

Further rounds of farm recruitment may take place should the need arise within the project.

AHDB and AgriSearch will use the information provided in submitted expression of interest forms to assess a farm's suitability for the project.

Additional information may be sought via phone call, or a pre-arranged site visit, to aid these decisions. Final selections will be made based on project objectives and required deliverables. Should the project be oversubscribed, a reserve list may be put in place.

Participating farms will begin the process of selecting mitigation strategies to implement on farm in April 2025. Commencement of activity on farm will depend on the mitigation strategies selected, but it is expected that some, if not all, strategies will be put in place before autumn 2025.

It is not the intention for the project to result in additional cost or loss of income for participating farms. Each mitigation strategy will, however, have an associated implementation cost and the project has a budget to purchase consumable items or compensate for additional farm expenditure where applicable. 

The project also has a budget dedicated to providing direct compensation for farm participation; a base payment is available, with additional payments dependent on the mitigation strategies chosen.

Testing and measurement that will be carried out on farm will be dictated by the mitigations that are selected for each farm through their bespoke action plan. Typical measurements and testing that could be carried out on farm include:

• Grass and silage samples
• Samples of TMR fed out to livestock
• Methane measurements of dairy cows using GreenFeed systems
• Slurry and manure samples

The testing and collection of evidence will be carried out by the project’s dedicated Farm Liaison Officers or, alternatively, the representatives of scientific partners within the project.

Frequency of collection will depend on the mitigations selected but will be agreed with participant farms before commencing the project.

To achieve the objectives of the project, AgriSearch and AHDB will be required to share data that arises from participant farms (which may include personal data) with project partners.

AgriSearch and AHDB will only do so when strictly necessary for the purpose of the project and shall, at all times, comply with UK data protection law.

Details of the project and its outcomes may be released into the public domain; however, any such information will be anonymised where relevant.

The UK Dairy Carbon Network project is a large multi-partner project.

The project is being led by the Agri-food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI) with support from AHDB, AgriSearch, UK Agritech Centre, ADAS, Aberystwyth University, Queen’s University Belfast, Harper Adams University, University of Reading, Newcastle University and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC).