Natural Capital Audit of NSA North Sheep's host farm demonstrates outstanding progress for the Peile family and great opportunities to cut more carbon at Greystoke Castle Farm.

For the 2025 NSA North Sheep, Virgin Money partnered with leading natural capital specialists, Trinity AgTech, to carry out a whole-farm carbon audit of the host's, the Peile family's, Greystoke Castle Farm near Penrith.

The headline results were announced during a dedicated seminar at the event on Wednesday 4th June:-

• Greystoke Castle Farm's overall whole-farm carbon footprint is 1,465.32 tCO₂e net carbon balance, which is made up of 3,716.42 tCO₂e in emissions and (-2,251.10) tCO₂e of sequestration.
• The permanent grasslands have a positive net carbon balance of -877.32 tCO₂
• The sheep enterprise at Greystoke Castle Farm has an emissions score of 1,080.04 tCO₂e, which is at the lower end of the industry average.
• The beef suckler enterprise has a total emissions score of 666.93 tCO₂e, which would be considered a lower score.

Giving feedback on the results of the audit, Anna Woodley of Trinity AgTech said: "Greystoke Castle Farm is a great example of a productive, mixed farming system that's clearly been built with care. The carbon footprint results reflect a thoughtful balance between commercial livestock production and well-managed permanent pasture that supports long-term resilience. There's always room to go further, and the data suggests some practical opportunities — like introducing herbal leys or more legumes into the pasture — if the Peile family decide to explore them. These kinds of changes can be modelled through scenario planning, giving them the confidence to test before they invest.

"Running carbon and natural capital assessments on farms like Greystoke is incredibly valuable. It gives the business a clear view of where its emissions are coming from and how its natural assets like soil, water, and biodiversity are contributing to the system. More importantly, it opens up opportunities — from cutting input costs to unlocking public funding or supply chain incentives. It's not just about compliance; it's about making smarter decisions that strengthen the farm's position today and help secure its future."

Greystoke Castle Farm is a 961ha mixed livestock farm, including 913ha of permanent grass and 49ha of woodland. Mr and Mrs Peile are running a mixed farm of Limousin and Simmental beef cattle Swaledale sheep and a Dairy herd. The grazing land is a combination of upland pasture and improved grazing for all livestock. They have wood pasture/ silvopasture areas in 35 fields where cattle can graze among wooded areas, which is reflected in their calculations.  They have variations of cattle breeds that are left out on pasture all year round and other breeds housed for longer periods. The sheep are extensively grazed.

In their headline report on the audit results, Trinity AgTech noted that the Peile's data was producing results below the average for emissions in most areas of their farming operations.

"The permanent grassland has a net carbon balance of -877.32 tCO₂e, which is generally positive. As the Peile's graze fairly extensively they have chosen to apply a mix of both organic and synthetic fertilisers to improve their pasture. This contributes towards an emission score of 680.76 tCO₂e attributed to the pasture. However, they have a healthy sequestration score for the pasture of -1,558.08 tCO₂e which is above the UK average. This is attributed to a positive soil carbon stock change and biomass carbon stock change from a combination of the contribution of organic matter from their grazing livestock, the living-root exudates from the pasture itself and their management practises – in particular the rotational grazing which stimulates root growth and biomass carbon stock change.

"The sheep enterprise at Greystoke Castle Farm has an emissions score of 1,080.04 tCO₂e. This is at the lower end of the industry average. The beef suckler enterprise has a total emissions score of 666.93 tCO₂e, which would be considered a lower score. This is reflected in the fact that the Peile's utilise both outdoor grazing and home-grown feeds as the main source of feeds. This likely contributes to a lower-than-average enteric fermentation score attributed in-part to high quality forage and rotational grazing suggesting an efficient beef system.

Anna Woodley suggested some of the practise changes the family might explore in their journey to reduce their carbon footprint, "The Peile's already employ a form of rotational grazing strategy, but implementation of further practices may be possible to improve their grazing utilisation. Resting periods of certain fields could be increased and for certain fields the stocking rate is high. This could be interpreted as a mob-grazing approach because most fields do have a resting period of 3 months during the winter months (Jan-March).

"Sward mixes are currently all inputted as 'Mixed grass ley, species rich sward'. These could be refined further if the farm were to analyse the sward breakdowns further. For example, adding legume mixes, into their sward would have a positive impact on their carbon footprint for the grasslands and further increase sequestration by increasing the soil carbon stock change by approximately 18%. Both organic and manufactured fertiliser is used on the pasture, if they reduced inputs, it would likely reduce their emissions related to pasture management significantly."

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.

Following completion of the carbon audit at Greystoke Castle Farm, Virgin Money's Head of Agriculture UK, Brian Richardson, said, "Farmers like the Peile's are facing a wide range of economic pressures in producing high-quality food both sustainably and profitably. At the same time, they're being asked by consumers and supply chains to show clear progress in reducing carbon emissions. As a leading agricultural bank, we've been encouraging and supporting farmers to carry out expert carbon audits, which offer a reliable benchmark for measuring natural capital assets and emissions. This is the first essential step in planning changes that improve efficiency, cut costs, and reduce environmental impact.

"We were pleased when the Peile family, who are generously hosting North Sheep this year, agreed to undertake an audit with our partners at Trinity AgTech. Greystoke Castle Farm is a fantastic example of forward-thinking land management, and I'm delighted the results have been so encouraging. I hope this work will support their journey toward a more sustainable, low-carbon future and inspire others to take similar steps."