03/05/2011 image expired

The Soil Association has launched a new Low Carbon Farming Project to help farmers reduce carbon emissions and improve the resource efficiency of their farms.

The project will identify user-friendly carbon foot printing tools and provide a benchmarking facility along with information, advice, and detailed case studies. There will be a number of low carbon workshops and on-farm training events on offer in the coming months open to all interested farmers and growers.

In order to provide a benchmarking facility the Soil Association needs to collect carbon foot printing data from different farms and is looking for farmers to get involved.

Poppy Johnson, Low Carbon Farming adviser at the Soil Association, said, “There is a growing urgency for farms to reduce their carbon footprint. This kind of work is essential if we are going to reach government targets of reducing green house gas emissions 80 per cent by 2050. Farming has a vital role to play when it comes to our impact on climate and is responsible for 30 per cent of UK greenhouse gas emissions.

“We hope to encourage adoption of best practice by enabling farmers to learn from each other, make assessments of their current activities and identify areas where improvements could be made. I look forward to hearing from farmers keen to get involved in the initial carbon foot printing exercise.”

The announcement comes at a time when issues of sustainability in farming are being addressed. In March, UN Special Rapporteur Olivier de Schutter composed his report the Right to Food and unveiled a ‘Green Marshall Plan’ which backs the use of agro-ecology systems, including organic. The French government has recently reintroduced 'natural preperations' as part of its Ecophyto initiative to drastically reduce chemical fertiliser input and in the UK, the James Hutton Institute is conducting experiments with household green waste also aimed at reducing non-renewable fertiliser use.