A one day conference for farmers will showcase how reducing a farm's carbon emissions is important both for the profitability and future resilience of the farm business.

The Farm Carbon Cutting Toolkit is running the conference on the 3^rd February to explore practical measures to improve profitability on-farm and reduce emissions.  The conference will hear from farmers who are actively engaged in reducing emissions as well as leading scientists and industry experts on the benefits that can be achieved from reducing carbon.  Nuffield scholars and farmers who are pioneering new techniques on-farm will share their experiences of cutting emissions and improving profits.

"Far from being another opportunity to berate farmers about the challenges that come from managing resources, this conference really aims to highlight the positive economic benefits that come from reducing emissions" explains farmer and FCCT director Adam Twine.  "There is a real opportunity for farmers to make a difference to their bottom line by making small changes to management of soil, nutrients and stock in spite of difficult economic conditions. This conference will champion real farmers who are achieving real savings and give them a stage to show others how to do it."

The morning session will include a talk by Rebecca Audsley, Climate Change and project manager from Scotland, who has been running a demo farm project for the last three years.  These demo farms have yielded real results that show the savings that can be made.  "This will be a great event to share what has worked well on other farms and get practical ideas to boost farm profits and cut carbon.  Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is really about maximising resource efficiency, which can in turn benefit both the farm business and the environment."

The NFU Chief Climate change advisor Dr Ceris Jones will explain the policy drivers behind the science and show that getting involved isn’t complicated.  She confirms, "if your aims for your business are to improve productivity and profitability, then it’s likely that you’re already on the road to be a lower carbon farmer or grower."

The morning will also include the retailer's perspective, with speakers from Marks & Spencer and PepsiCo on the drivers behind their sustainability journey, and how they are engaging with their farmer suppliers.  The afternoon workshops will be led by inspirational farmers who have been pioneering new approaches on-farm, and will highlight what did and didn’t work and how they did it.

The Farm Carbon Cutting Toolkit is a not-for-profit, farmer-to-farmer information sharing organisation.  For more information please visit the website – www.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk or phone 0845 4587485 to book your place.