Twenty-five years ago, when the term “net zero” was barely known, south Oxfordshire farm manager Simon Beddows unknowingly began his carbon-cutting journey when he took the plunge to reduce cultivations across his arable enterprise.

At a time when prices were falling and costs were on the rise, Mr Beddows decided to ditch the plough at Dunsden Green Farm in a bid to save on fuel and labour costs.

At the time he didn’t know this would indirectly reduce his carbon footprint, but he still believes implementing carbon-cutting measures makes sound business sense.

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Increased efficiency

Mr Beddows has now achieved a carbon-negative status of  3,031.62t carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e)/year, and has taken part in the Yield Enhancement Network (Yen) Zero project.

He is also one of five UK farmers to join a carbon initiative run by agrochemical and seeds firm Bayer, which aims to increase soil organic matter by reducing tillage and cover cropping.

He says cutting carbon output can improve farm efficiency, which is why he advises farmers to think about how they can lower costs, which ultimately reduces carbon levels.

“Start with the easy things you can control, such as machinery and fertiliser. Ask yourself if you can cut back on the number of passes or find other ways to reduce fuel and fertiliser use.

“This offers an opportunity for farmers to tackle the unprecedented cost rises which we face. After all, you can’t be green when you’re in the red,” he says.

Cultivation cuts

Growing milling wheat, winter barley, spring barley, oats, oilseed rape and forage maize, Mr Beddows now operates a minimum-tillage operation and is improving soil organic matter levels by using cover cropping and farmyard manure.

He explains that building soil organic matter levels has the greatest effect on carbon footprint offsetting, and contributes just over 77% of emission offsets on the 1,000ha farm, north-east of Reading.

Furthermore, the removal of deep and intensive cultivations has helped build organic matter and saved significant amounts of fuel.

Ploughing, cultivating and drilling uses 40.3 litres/ha of fuel, while shallow cultivation, followed by drilling with a Kockerling tine drill, uses 15.4 litres/ha – a significant saving of 24.9l/ha, with a lower carbon footprint.

Where cover crops are introduced ahead of spring cropping, using a direct drill for both the cover and following cereal crop an additional 1.5 litre/ha is used over the min-till system.

This is because of the extra sowing and rolling passes needed for the cover crop.

Soil health

The switch from a 350hp tractor to a 200hp machine removed 13t of weight from across the fields, helping reduce compaction. This has done soil health a world of good.

“Since reducing the number and depth of cultivations, the system works really well, but it’s important to be flexible.

“We don’t always direct-drill – sometimes we cultivate to a couple of inches. And when we grow maize silage for a local beef farmer we work at a much deeper depth.

“So we, in effect, have a cultivation rotation working to different depths.

“We also have a range of soil types, from fertile loams to clay and gravel. Wheat yields therefore vary from 7t/ha to 11t/ha, with 17 different soil types present in one 40ha block,” he says.

© Tim Scrivener

Despite not ploughing for 20 years, an invasion of rat’s tail fescue across one block of land prompted Mr Beddows to use the plough to tackle the weed burden.

He suspects the influx was the result of a patchy winter linseed crop, which allowed the weed to take hold.

“After ploughing we planted spring barley, which will be followed by a two-year legume break crop under a Countryside Stewardship scheme [AB15], after which we will bring it back into arable cropping,” he says.

Carbon sale risks

Having this cultivation flexibility is key to tackle the ever-changing issues farming throws at you. This is why Mr Beddows is cautious when it comes to selling carbon credits, as it could restrict certain farming practices.

“There is a risk with selling carbon credits too far ahead that we could sell ourselves down the river. What happens if we need to plough due to a weed issue, but we no longer can as we have sold our carbon credits?”

He warns growers not to sign up for long-term carbon agreements and seek legal advice before entering into any agreements.