As rural chartered surveyors working with farms of all sizes, we have been paying close attention to COP26 over the last two weeks.

According to some articles, 20% of global emissions come from agriculture and land use, and when you consider the whole of the food production process, this rises to 25%. So, there is no surprise that reducing the amount of carbon produced by rural businesses is a crucial concern for the government and will be addressed in the New Year when full details of Environmental Land Management Schemes (ELMS) emerge.

In the meantime, if you want to get a head start, you need to be considering how you can reduce three main greenhouse gases:

• Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is created by energy use and combustion engines.
• Methane which comes from enteric fermentation and manures
• Nitrous oxide, which is created when fertilisers breakdown into the soil

It will be practically impossible to reduce all three of these gases to zero, but their production can be significantly reduced through careful planning.

But where to start?

1. Look at your waste and areas of inefficiencies
2. Look at your land use – can you increase the amount of forest and grassland – which are carbon stores
3. Can you reduce your fertiliser use?
4. Undertake a carbon audit – look at all of your emission sources and consider introducing new techniques and technologies to reduce their impact. A carbon management plan can be really helpful here.
5. Investing in new, more efficient and lower emission machinery

As well as these five tips, we would recommend applying for countryside schemes, such as the one operated by The Woodland Trust, which will reward you for planting trees and hedges. We know of several other grants that are currently available.

You could also look at installing solar panels on your property or renting land to the larger solar farm operators, which will generate both clean electricity and an income for you.

Obviously, until the government reveal the full details of the impending ELMS, we won’t know for sure how best to help you, but if you’d like to know more about how to gauge your carbon emissions and how to develop a carbon management plan, please give us a call on 01522 696 496 or email ray@walters-rural.com or vicky@walters-rural.com.