Farmers in Cornwall can improve their environmental impact by lowering their carbon footprints thanks to a project.
In addition to 40 other farms working to reduce their emissions by 30%, three Farm Net Zero members are aiming to become net zero within five years.
The project is assisting farmers in making changes, such as to compost usage and grazing management.
According to Farm Net Zero's Dr. Hannah Jones, the changes are being driven by the farmers.
She claimed that farmers are the ones who develop new concepts and innovations because they need to work with their particular industry.
Anything novel. The farmer must be aware of the possibility of failure as well as success, and we will provide them with the information they need to decide whether the experiment was successful or unsuccessful. ".
By 2050, the UK has committed to having net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases.
According to the government, agriculture was in charge of 11% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions in 2020.
Several organizations, including Duchy College, the Westcountry Rivers Trust, and the Isles of Scilly-based community interest company Farm Carbon Toolkit (FCT), are working together to run Farm Net Zero, which is funded by the National Lottery's Community Fund and aims to demonstrate the contribution farming can make to achieving net zero.
For fifteen years, Kate and Will Martin have operated a farm at Treway Farm, close to St Austell. They recently joined the Farm Net Zero project as one of 40 monitor farms with a goal of reducing emissions by 30% over five years.
Cattle were previously fed grain to gain weight before being slaughtered, but in more recent years, they have switched to 100% grass and homegrown silage.
Now, every day, they move their animals to new grazing.
The Martins claimed the system reduced the need for synthetic fertilizer, improved the health of their soil, and reduced their carbon footprint. They were interested to see how this affected their carbon footprint.
We wanted to get involved because, according to Mr. Martin, "it's a much more sustainable business for the future and we want to know that we're doing the right thing for nature and that we're not a carbon emitter, we're actually sinking more carbon into our fields.".
The meat from grain-fed and grass-fed cattle had a "massive difference," according to Mrs. Martin, who claimed that they sold all of their products directly to consumers.
She remarked, "You can see quite clearly in the meat how the fat is very yellow.
That comes from the grass, so any animal that has consumed grain won't have that lovely yellow fat. and the flavor comes from that. ".
Cattle are "magic machines because they eat grass that we can't eat and turn it into nutrient-dense food," the speaker claimed.
One of the ways Farm Net Zero determined the progress farms were making, according to Dr. Jones, a soil and carbon advisor with FCT, was by measuring soil health and the carbon stored in it.
Then, farmers can calculate their carbon footprints using a specialized tool that accounts for information about their operations, including livestock, inputs like fertilisers, as well as landscape and soil carbon to show total carbon emissions and offsets.
Pensipple Farm, where three generations of Anthony Ellis' family have farmed, is located halfway between Looe and Liskeard.
The mixed agricultural and sheep farm has already surpassed its goal of a 30% reduction in emissions.
We are currently carbon negative, according to Mr. Ellis. ".
According to him, the farm has stored the equivalent of about 80 tonnes more carbon than it produced over the past two years.
The reduction is not the result of a single change; rather, Mr. Ellis said it is the result of many smaller changes.
His farm trucks run on bio diesel, his sheep graze under solar panels in a rotating fashion, and his house's central heating is produced using oats that are grown on the property.
According to Mr. Ellis, "we're trying to develop a farming system that is much less dependent on artificial inputs, and the sheep are a massive part of that because they are really, really good at recycling nutrients through the system, through the soil.".
Using no insecticide on the farm for the previous four years, according to Mr. Ellis, was one of the things he was "particularly proud" of.
Considering that each of his fields was only eight acres, he claimed that by forgoing the use of chemicals, beneficial insects had accumulated in the hedgerows surrounding each one.
According to him, it's about "keeping your composure and believing that nature probably has a solution for the problem.".
"These little things all add up to a better farming environment," he said. ".
Mr. Ellis enjoys experimenting as well.
Early in February, part of one of his wheat fields was grazed by his sheep to see if Septoria, a disease that can lower wheat yields, was affected.
According to him, the strategy appears to be effective, and he intends to apply it to the entire crop the following year.
It's the illness we prioritize above all others, he said, adding that when sheep were grazing, Septoria that had accumulated over the winter was eliminated by the sheep.
"We'll ideally see a rise in yield and a drop in inputs. ".
Dr. Jones noted that the Farm Net Zero project has been "gaining momentum" as it approaches the halfway point of its five-year lifespan, with hundreds of farmers attending events and farm walks.
We are definitely learning together, she declared.
"If a neighboring farm is with you on a field walk. If someone can demonstrate an innovation that lowers carbon footprint, improves soil health, or increases farm resilience, you're going to gain a lot of confidence from other farmers and ask yourself, "Well, why can't I do it?,".
She claimed that a healthier soil would also benefit the larger community.
"A higher quality soil with more carbon will hold a lot more water, and by doing so, it will not only support better growth in droughts but. If soils can hold more water, flooding will be reduced, runoff will be greatly reduced, resulting in less pollution, rivers and streams will stay clean, and water companies won't have to spend as much time cleaning up after people. ".
"For me, the carbon footprint issue is kind of a secondary story really; there's a much bigger story here about sustainability and landscape regeneration," Mr. Ellis continued. For me, it's designing a farming system so that my children can continue farming here if they so choose and the land will still be in a healthy condition to yield food in 20, 30, 40, or 80 years.
. "
