Hannah Webber (Chippenham) 

DEFRA have recently published a report reviewing the main carbon calculators on the market to better understand the level and causes of differences between the calculators.  This will then determine how those differences might impact the user.  In the report, DEFRA created 20 model farms, with nine farm types which cover a multitude of farming systems.  The 20 farm’s data was then inputted into five of the main calculators on the market which included Agrecalc, Cool Farm Toolkit’s, Trinity AgTech’s Natural Capital Navigator (Sandy) and The Farm Carbon Calculator. 

The results from DEFRA’s report identified that all carbon calculators provided the user with the ability to enter farm-level data and produce a useful data output.  This can effectively show the farmer the current state of their farm’s carbon emissions, so they can make a change to try and reduce their emissions.  However, the report showed that there was a lack of consistency throughout the calculators which resulted in a large range of results for a whole farm’s carbon emission.  A difference identified between calculators was that some just ask for an overall total fertiliser usage over the whole farm, whereas others ask for a breakdown of each type of fertiliser used on each crop, which has a large effect on the overall emissions of the farm.  Similarly, a couple of the carbon calculators don’t take into consideration the sequestration of hedges on a farm which again impacts the farms’ overall carbon emissions.

However, it’s important to recognise that despite these challenges, the calculators are all able to provide the farmer with a baseline understanding of emissions.  As long as a farmer is aware of the difference between the calculators, they can still gather accurate data from their farm.

If you would like to discuss this further, or would like assistance with calculating your carbon emissions, then please contact Hannah Webber at hannahwebber@fcgagric.com or your local FCG office.