Photo: (L to R - Amy Barnacle from the Andersons Centre, farmer James Newhouse and Jan Thornton, chair of Grow Yorkshire)
A farmer who has benefitted from a fully-funded carbon audit has hailed the results as the key to making better decisions for his land and animals.
David Skaith, the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, launched the initiative last year. It was funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and has now equipped 50 farms with comprehensive farm carbon audits.
By identifying cost savings, improving technical efficiency, and enhancing soil health, it is proving that the path to a carbon-negative region can also lead to profitability.
James Newhouse is a first-generation farmer at Meg’s Farm in Long Preston on the southern edge of Yorkshire Dales National Park. He was one of the 50 farmers to benefit from the programme and said:
"It’s a great life, working up here in the dales and being part of it all, I love it. This is a special place to farm, so that’s why we need to work with nature.
“This carbon audit is really important for us because it gives us the key data we need to make good decisions on and for our land.
“When we have this information, we can improve the soil and the land, giving our animals more nutrition with a better product at the end of our efforts.
“It’s profitable because we don’t need to spend on the sheds, the equipment and the feed which helps us keep costs down. it works really well for us.”
The Combined Authority appointed The Andersons Centre as one of the country’s leading farm business consultancies to carry out the tests and feedback to farmers.
Amy Barnacle, Environmental Business Consultant at The Andersons Centre, said after carrying out tests with James at Meg’s Farm:
"We did a 30-centimetre sampler which shows there aren’t any signs of compaction and we could see that it’s very dark, with very high organic matter.
“From here we can measure the nitrogen percentage, carbon percentage, CN ratio, as well as bulk density and the carbon stocks.
“All of it shows that his soil is very healthy and regenerating just as he wanted with the system that he's got.”
The programme has supported beef, sheep, dairy, arable and pig farmers, with around 20 in the region’s national parks.
Jan Thornton, Chair of the Grow Yorkshire partnership, said:
"Our farmers are the custodians of our landscape, and this report proves they are also at the frontline of our mission to become a carbon-negative region. We are supporting York and North Yorkshire's farmers to get the data they need to cut costs, boost productivity, and lead the UK in sustainable agriculture."
The programme also establishes a baseline of emissions on farms, as York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority drives the region to be the first in England to reach carbon-negative.
