Credible carbon footprint for grasslands available for first time

Problems with soil carbon and extensive grassland systems overcome by Trinity Agtech to finally provide livestock and dairy farmers with credible carbon footprints. 

This week, Trinity Agtech launched the pasture upgrade to Sandy, their digital assistant for navigating farm carbon and natural capital. The upgrade will enable land managers to accurately assess the carbon emissions and sequestration of grassland systems for the first time. 

Carbon calculators have struggled to provide accurate estimates for some grassland systems. Trinity Agtech’s Dr Alasdair Sykes, formerly Agrecalc, and Dr Jon Hillier, formerly Cool Farm Tool, explain: 

‘Previous carbon foot printing attempts have been largely input focused, but inputs dry up as grasslands get more extensive. Managers of these systems are essentially left with a non-footprint that fails to effectively incorporate soil carbon, the environment, or relevant management actions.’ 

Overcoming issues with soil carbon

Trinity has overcome this problem by evolving the IPCC (2019) Tier 2 soil carbon model and bringing it together with Tier 3 models developed specifically for this purpose.  This allows Sandy to incorporate the full range of management actions and ecosystem attributes. These include sward composition, grazing pressure, plant growth, root/shoot ratios, climate, soil texture and pH, and altitude.

‘Existing carbon calculators used by many in the sector do not accurately account for soil carbon – and therefore cannot credibly estimate the carbon footprint of grassland systems,’ continues Alasdair. ’Thirty seven scientists have contributed to developing Sandy and we know that it offers farmers in all enterprises the most credible carbon footprint.’ 

This is important for multiple reasons. Accurate information is a precursor to smart management decisions. There is also a moral dimension to ensuring carbon footprints are correct. However, for farms wishing to trade carbon or promote their carbon credentials, there are also financial drivers.

‘Pasture is all but worthless from a carbon credit perspective if not using Sandy,’ finishes Alasdair. ‘Sandy is the only platform that can handle pasture carbon effectively. It then allows farmers to increase the value of their credits even further through the addition of biodiversity and water co-benefits.’

Alongside the benefits to farming incomes and management, credible carbon calculators significantly reduce risk for farm businesses. Louisa Knocker from Trinity Natural Capital Markets:

‘There’s a real risk that if carbon footprints are found to be based on flimsy science – and have been used to trade carbon – that buyers may seek compensation. We are dedicated to ensuring transparency and trust between farmers and buyers in the marketplace by providing robust science, legal and risk management frameworks.’

Jersey Dairy

The benefits of Sandy have been recognised by Jersey Dairy, which has committed to using Sandy to measure and reduce carbon emissions for every farm across the island. Tom Perchard, a third-generation Jersey dairy farmer, says:

‘Rather than using generic and outdated emissions data, Trinity Agtech have developed technology to measure CO2 emissions more accurately – down to individual farm businesses and fields. Essential to this process, and often overlooked in the past, is being able to quantify the positive contribution that grassland carbon sequestration and increased levels of farm biodiversity make towards net carbon output.

This work will dovetail perfectly into what we at Jersey Dairy are already doing through LEAF accreditation and our own Dairy Environmental Enhancement Plan (DEEP) and will enable us to make more informed and better management decisions across our businesses as we move towards net zero.’

Beyond carbon

Despite making a significant investment in carbon, Trinity Agtech is keen to remind people that Sandy offers benefits beyond carbon. The software also includes modules for measuring and improving farm biodiversity, agroforestry, nitrogen use efficiency, and waterways. It also offers powerful business intelligence and artificial intelligence that enables farms to predict the environmental and financial impact of changing management practices.

‘Carbon represents a huge opportunity for farms,’ says Anna Woodley, Director of Business Development at Trinity Agtech. ‘However, I think some in the industry, understandably, have a kind of carbon tunnel vision. By creating an asset register of farm natural capital in Sandy you open up so many opportunities beyond carbon.’

 You can watch a demo of Trinity Agtech’s carbon module here.