Agriculture is fundamental to reaching climate change targets through mitigation and sequestration. It is essential that farming changes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet targets, but also because it can sequester carbon from other sectors and possibly bring in another income stream to secure farm businesses.

Carbon farming is one of the buzzwords of the moment. Farmers are interested in improving their soil health and in turn storing carbon in their soil, but there is a lot of noise in this space.

The term has become more popular in recent times, but carbon farming has always been around and focuses on increasing the organic matter content of our soils, storing carbon, improving soil water holding capacity and infiltration.

Next Tuesday, 17 May, will see the Irish Farmers Journal broadcast a livestream from Queens University Belfast with Professor John Gilliland entitled Carbon Farming: a farmer’s perspective of the journey towards net zero.

Net zero

Prof Gilliland will talk frankly on his journey to net zero carbon and suggestions he would make to see more farmers set out on this path.

“The sector [agriculture] is fundamental for the journey’s success. Society needs us. Even the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] says that mitigating greenhouse gases alone will not get us to net zero. We need to increase our carbon stocks. And farmers are at the forefront of that. I see that as an opportunity, not a threat.”

From work on his own farm, in research and on the ARCZero project which has different farm types (including forestry), different soil types and climatic factors John is clear that we need land to be managed.

“It’s not just about land use, it’s about land management. That is coming out really strongly.

“You need active land managers so if anyone thinks the road to zero is about getting rid of farmers and putting trees everywhere, I’ve a lesson for them.”

The event is unique in that all speakers on the night are farmers.

Professor Gilliland will be joined by others who are on the net zero journey for a panel discussion including: Alasdair Macleod (Wilmot Cattle Company, Australia), Hugh Harbison (dairy farmer and Project ARCZero member, Northern Ireland) and Thomas Duffy (a young dairy farmer from Co Cavan and chair of the Signpost Programme Steering Group Committee).

Major achievement

John described the major achievement by Alasdair to secure carbon credits on his farm in Australia.

Hugh Harbison will describe the carbon measuring, reporting and verification process on his farm and what the experience has been like for the 150-cow dairy farmer, while Thomas Duffy will talk about the Signpost Programme and no doubt share his views as a young farmer on how climate change will affect him and why he is making his farm more sustainable.

John said this will be a positive event to inform, make suggestions and explain why we need to aim past net zero carbon.

The event will focus on the case for an innovative, public-private, carbon framework partnership and what this might look like and will focus on the need for active, profitable farmers, a fair carbon price, eliminating double counting while delivering for both the public and private sectors’ need for carbon reduction.

Very importantly, he will discuss how to measure, manage and verify changes in carbon stocks, while looking at ways to incentivise farmers to go beyond net zero.

He noted: “Some farmers will find this journey quite easy. Some farmers will find this journey really difficult. Society still needs to be fed. Professor Alice Stanton [of the Royal College of Surgeons] has championed that to have a healthy human diet you need ruminant livestock products in that diet.

“You need the ability within farming that the farmers who find it easy [to build soil carbon stocks] get paid to do it and their surplus carbon comes across to the sectors that will find it difficult. You look to help each other.”

Carbon price

At the end of last week the price of 1t of carbon on the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS) was at €91.54/t (6 May). Someone who purchases a carbon credit on this system is then allowed to emit 1t of carbon.

On 4 March this price dropped to €65.10/t. On 7 February it reached a peak of €96.70/t. However, when credits are sold privately these prices are only a fraction of the ETS prices and this is something John will discuss.

Where to watch or listen to this lecture?

The lecture will be streamed live at 6.30pm on Tuesday 17 May on the Irish Farmers Journal website at www.ifj.ie/qub and can also be watched back after the event.