Supported by Virgin Money and Trinity AgTech, NSA North Sheep host farm in Cumbria will undertake a natural capital audit to demonstrate potential carbon reductions and cost savings.

As farmers raise their game to meet the growing challenges of sustaining the viability of their businesses alongside meeting stringent environmental goals, NSA North Sheep confirm that, supported by Virgin Money, the Cumbrian farm hosting NSA North Sheep 2025 will undertake an audit of natural capital, with the results presented at the June event.

Hosted by John and Liz Peile and their family at Greystoke Castle Farm near Penrith, NSA North Sheep will be one of this year's most important sheep industry events in the UK and the presentation of the results will be a key part of the day's programme.

The audit of the Peile's 2,400 acre upland farm will be undertaken by Trinity Agtech, who will present the results with Virgin Money in a dedicated seminar, "Understanding the Journey to greater sustainability and Net Zero - The journey for farmers to a Net Zero future and turning the challenge to opportunity" at NSA North Sheep on Wednesday 4^th June.

Virgin Money's UK Head of Agriculture, Brian Richardson, sees this event as a perfect platform to demonstrate the major business and environmental benefits of understanding a farm's natural capital for the sheep farming sector.

"Farmers are facing unprecedented economic challenges right now and at the same time they are being challenged by their markets and by consumers to demonstrate that they are cutting their carbon output. In recent years, we have been urging and supporting farmers to undertake an expert carbon audit of their farming business as this is the ideal starting point for planning a carb-cutting strategy on any farm.

"An audit gives the farmer a clear and accurate benchmark for measuring their current natural capital assets and carbon emissions, and it forms the basis for planning business changes that will reduce carbon emissions, increase efficiency and cut costs. The Peile family who are very generously hosting North Sheep this summer immediately agreed to work with our carbon and natural capital partners, Trinity AgTech, to carry out an audit on their wonderful farm, and I am confident that the results we will present in June will prove beyond doubt how valuable this is for their own sustainable future."

With agriculture being one of Virgin Money's biggest sectors, the bank has been partnering with Trinity AgTech to promote carbon and natural capital auditing as an essential starting point in the journey to net zero for farming customers. They also are a cornerstone of Virgin Money's strategy to at least halve the carbon emissions across everything the bank finances by 2030.

"The Greystoke Farm carbon audit will begin with a visit by Trinity Customer Success experts to understand the background of this outstanding family business, and to gather data on farm management practises, fertiliser records, and nutrient management plans. This provides the numbers for further discussion on how carbon and natural capital can be optimised as part of the farm's future management plan", says Anna Woodley, Managing Director of Business Development at Trinity AgTech.

"Running a detailed natural capital audit is much more than a box ticking exercise. Our platform, Sandy, provides farmers with unrivalled accuracy about how their farm management practises impact both the profitability and sustainability of their business. It's a win-win – our customers consistently report improvements in profitability coupled with improvements in carbon, soil health, biodiversity and water - putting nature at the heart of their farm's future resiliency".

By presenting the results of the Greystoke Castle Hall Farm audit at North Sheep, Virgin Money aims to inspire other farmers to look at their own businesses in the same way and find out how it could help them future-proof their own enterprises.