Zero carbon farms vs profitability

The farming industry is under a lot of pressure to reduce the amount of carbon produced. The industry thought leaders are focusing on how to get farms into carbon neutral, sometimes referred to as zero carbon farms. The farmers are more concerned with remaining profitable while their margins are squeezed due to the rising cost of living. This disparity is causing a disconnect between the two, which means there has been no solid solutions. There is also the issue of future labour shortages, as less people are turning to farming as a business. 

What do zero carbon farms look like? 

CO2 is required for plants to grow, as they need carbon dioxide to enable photosynthesis. This does help towards lowering carbon in the atmosphere, but only marginally. There are some steps you can take to move towards becoming one of the zero carbon farms of the future, while not putting strain on your profits. Many solutions will require some investment, such as farm management software for documentation, and technology that automates a large amount of data collection. 

Changes you can make to make zero carbon farms a reality

Take measurements 

You need to know exactly what you are dealing with; you cannot make changes to your farm without knowing the basics about it. Collecting data on every aspect of your farming operations will give you a baseline of where you can improve. 

This can be both physical and procedural changes, inefficiencies during the workflow will cost time, which will use more resources. Is there a specific area in your farm that causes the most problems? Being as accurate as possible will in turn give you better results. Where do you store your farms data? 

Alter and adapt existing processes 

Maybe you have decided to reduce the amount you use your tractors and other machines. At what stages of the growing process could you streamline? Many farms still work from spreadsheets, if not physical record keeping, which doubles the labour cost for data entry. 

If there was an issue where the grower needs to go back into a field, but only finds out when they have returned to base, this is an extra trip that could have been avoided. Farm management software gives live updates and instant access to job information. 

Building insulation 

If you are growing crops in tunnels, in an artificial setting, you will be using a lot of energy on climate moderation. Locating spots where heat is being lost through convection, and insulating these cold spots, can prevent the heat transfer. This allows for less energy being required to keep the temperature steady. 

Soil health care 

Zero carbon farms could easily be started by doing less, specifically, tilling less, and using natural ways to rejuvenate soil. This is a cost saving way to reduce CO2 emissions. Cover plants can enrich the soil with nitrogen, and by tilling less, you create a better biodiversity. Worm castings are essential for adding phosphorus back into the soil, and this is done organically. You can read more on regenerative farming in this article.