How to calculate your farm’s carbon footprint—and why

Carbon footprinting is a crucial first step on the path to reducing your farm’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. It’s a simple process if you know how to go about it—especially with a little help from Sollio Agriculture expert Saber Hamdani. Read on to learn more!

When it comes to reducing GHG emissions, you need to know where you stand so you can come up with a solid game plan to make your farm more profitable and sustainable. As they say, you have to know where you’ve been to know where you’re going. And that’s certainly true when it comes to reducing your farm’s carbon footprint.

What is carbon footprinting?

Carbon footprinting is a way of measuring your GHG emissions. Farmers can use it as a diagnostic tool to calculate the amount of GHGs their business emits and sequesters every year.

The basic calculation is simple:

GHG emissions - carbon sequestered in the soil = net carbon footprint (in tonnes of CO2 equivalent/year, or t CO2 eq)

What is carbon footprinting for?

Carbon footprinting can help you better understand the sources of GHG emissions on your farm.

In other words, it can tell you where your GHG emissions come from, so that you can focus your reduction efforts in the right places.

What are the steps of carbon footprinting?

Calculating a farm’s carbon footprint is a fairly involved process. Luckily, Sollio Agriculture’s agri-environmental advisors can help you through the entire process, making it much simpler.

Step 1: Define the scope of analysis

First, you have to take an inventory of all the direct and indirect emissions generated by farm activities that are under your control (scopes 1 and 2). Then you have to account for indirect emissions generated upstream and downstream of on-farm activities (scope 3).

Step 2: Collect data

This is the most time-consuming step, but luckily all the data you need is right there in your farm’s digital tools. For example, you’ll need data on:

• Soils and crops

• Manure management

• Breeding

• Inputs

• Carbon sinks (woodlands and plantations on the farm, organic matter levels in the soil)

That’s a lot of data. But don’t worry! Your agri-advisor will handle all the data collection. They’ll also determine which emission factors to use for each source based on recognized protocols (such as GHG Protocol), which are built into the calculator developed by Sollio Agriculture for this purpose.

Step 3: Calculate and analyze your carbon footprint

This is where we use the data collected in the previous step. Your agri-advisor will apply a thorough, internationally recognized methodology based on the latest science on GHG emissions from the agricultural sector in Canada and Québec. Put very simply, they’ll multiply the data for each activity by the corresponding emission factor and subtract the amount of carbon sequestered. The result is your net carbon footprint.

And then what?

Once you know your farm’s carbon footprint, you can take action. Here’s how:

1. Make a game plan 
   Identify your main sources of emissions and find opportunities to reduce emissions and/or sequester carbon to improve your balance.

2. Follow through
   Implement the actions in your game plan.

3. Track your progress 
   Measure your carbon footprint on a regular basis to see how it’s changing.

    

Should I enter the carbon market?

If you’re able to improve your carbon footprint, you could be compensated for your GHG reductions.

Certain sustainable farming practices are eligible for carbon credits. You simply need to have them measured, verified and certified by an independent body that calculates how many tonnes of CO2 equivalent have been reduced or captured.

You can then use your carbon credits to achieve net-zero emissions, or sell them on the carbon market for an additional source of income.

The carbon credit market in Canada’s agricultural sector is currently poorly regulated. Unfortunately, that means it’s not yet financially profitable for farmers. So if you do earn credits, it’s definitely a good idea to hold on to them (link in French) until the Canadian market develops further, which is happening thanks in large part to initiatives like AgroCarbone.

If you’re interested in carbon footprinting, talk to your agri-advisor. Whatever measures you decide to take, carbon footprinting is an essential first step for reaping the benefits later on.

Find out how the farmers at Ferme Éthier-Pelland use carbon footprinting to reduce their GHG emissions in this article from Coopérateur.