AHDB launches Carbon Week to support farmers
The Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) is to release a guide to carbon and carbon foot printing in a string of free webinars next week.
The carbon footprint of meat production, starting before the farm gate, has been a major environmental issue over recent years with much misinformation about meat production methods.
Starting on Monday 1st 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 foot printing, with 40 farms across its Farm Excellence platform being assessed to determine a custom plan to bring its carbon footprint down.
The five webinars cover: Understanding low carbon farming; Understanding fertilisers, carbon emissions and what farmers can do to reduce them; Carbon Foot printing; The ins and outs of soil carbon; and Supply chain requirements.
“Whether it’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.”
Dr Jonathan Foot, AHDB’s head of environment, said: “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.”
More information on the different webinars and registration can be found at ahdb.org.uk/carbon-week.
Dr Foot concluded: “Whether it’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.”
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