soil health

This summer Kent farmer Doug Taylor reaped the rewards of a long-term project to increase soil organic matter and now plans to take his soil and carbon even more seriously.

Three UK farmers involved in the Bayer Carbon Programme are looking forward to finding out more about their farms and carbon.

Sharply escalating costs for fertiliser and fuel, coupled with extremes of weather, mean there has never been a better time to look at your farm’s carbon footprint.

Easy-to-use IT means it is now straightforward to see the impact changes in practices might have on your farm.

The chemical element carbon has some notable properties. It exists in pure form but also combines with other elements to form more compounds than all other elements combined.

Now is the time for farmers and agronomists to act to address carbon footprint on farms, according to Farmacy agronomist and service leader Matt Ward.

Foxburrow Farm, a mixed arable and livestock farm in Norfolk, has reduced its carbon footprint as a result of changes to its cultivation strategy, the consequent reduction in time spent on the land, Controlled Traffic Management and decreased herbicide and insecticide use.

New Holland is in the final stages of bringing a methane-powered version of its T6-180 tractor to market which will deliver impressive reductions in particulates, nitrous oxide and CO2, reduced running costs and a resulting reduction in carbon footprint.

The principles behind Horsch are at the heart of a good carbon management strategy. Founded in 1984, Horsch says its focus has always been on no-till and min-till farming.

Ben Sell, who is based at a 300-hectare family-run farm close to the New Holland factory at Basildon and runs a farming and contracting operation with his family, has been one of a small group of tractor users testing the pre-production T6.180 Methane Power tractor.