Farm carbon audit
Earth Trust’s new strategy sets out our ambition to be a net zero organisation and to be well on the way to delivering this by 2027.
In order to develop our action plan, we are carefully monitoring our carbon impact, creating a baseline from which to improve.
Carbon Conscious Farming
The first part of this journey was focused on a carbon audit of the farm. At Earth Trust, our role as farmers and producers of food is a critical part of our identity and the green spaces we care for. We have 500 hectares of mixed farmland, demonstrating the links between environment, wildlife, landscape and growing food. Our aim is to farm in a climate-friendly way, working with the environment to enhance a biodiversity partnership that assists us in minimising the farm’s carbon emissions and maximising its carbon sequestration, whilst producing quality food.
While carbon emissions are inevitable in any production process, the natural assets on farmland (soils, habitats, woodland and hedgerows) have the potential to sequester (capture and store) carbon if managed correctly. As land managers, we can make a difference in supporting carbon sequestration through our conservation and farming activities, as well as reducing our energy usage.
The carbon audit of our farm, funded by the North Wessex Downs AONB Farming in Protected Landscapes programme and conducted by Farm Carbon Toolkit, revealed that Earth Trust Farm operations are overall carbon negative. Read more about the results on our blog post.
This is just the beginning of our farm’s carbon journey – itself part of a bigger journey for Earth Trust and all of our operations.
We will be regularly monitoring and updating our carbon emissions calculations as and when we implement different land management strategies, and look forward to extending our learning with data on how our activities are directly impacting the environment around us.