A Welsh sheep farm with over 600 ewes absorbs four times more greenhouse gas emissions than it emits, according to the results of a carbon footprint calculator.

Speaking in Kells, Co Antrim last week, Rhys Edwards told National Sheep Association members that he increased average soil organic matter on his farm from 10.2% to 11.5% over a three-year period. This was mainly done by aerating soils and applying farmyard manure. Edwards then used Farm Carbon Toolkit, an online emissions calculator, to work out that the change in soil organic matter resulted in his 225-acre farm sequestering 935t of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) each year.

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That compares to 176t of CO2e which was emitted from his livestock. When other smaller sources and greenhouse gas sinks were accounted for, the calculator showed the farm absorbed 974t of CO2e annually.

“We are removing carbon from the atmosphere whilst being a profitable sheep farm. It is good to be able to tell the public that it is not always a case of ‘we have to plant more trees on farms’,” Edwards said.

Whilst the findings are not scientifically verified, it does show the potential for low organic matter soils, such as continually cropped arable land, to act as carbon sinks as organic matter levels increase.