THE Miller family who run a 380-acre traditional beef finishing and arable farm near Wigton recently undertook a carbon audit through Virgin Money in partnership with Carbon Metrics.

High Aketon houses 300 head of cattle, with a flock of 600 female breeding sheep and runs an extensive arable side.

Simon Travis of Carbon Metrics said: “High Aketon is a progressive farm, already in a Countryside Stewardship Scheme Agreement. From meeting with the Millers and through fact checking all of the data, we quickly established that the farm had a really decent carbon footprint already, in terms of productivity and involvement in environmental schemes. One thing William needs to really consider is improving the farm’s usage of renewables, which would make a significant impact. On-farm renewables could reduce avoidable diesel usage and power equipment such as robotic feeders and electric vehicles. The turbines already save the equivalent of one beef animal’s worth of emissions a year based on the calculated figures in the audit, but by taking all diesel out of their beef feeding system and looking at where fuel management on the farm could be improved, around 20 animals’ worth would be saved.

“Secondly, using thermally dried digestate as a bedding product and monitoring what is getting spread on the fields when mucking out the sheds is also making a difference. This is reducing fertiliser use on the farm, which is having a positive impact on lowering crop emissions. It is also reducing the farms cost by reducing straw used for bedding.

“The Millers are forward thinking, and to really drive their business forward over the next three to five years they know that it is vital to improve their farm’s environmental credentials.”

William Miller says: “Overall, I know that this Carbon Audit will prove invaluable in terms of directing us into the future. From our perspective it has been good to establish that we are on the right track, and exactly where we need to make improvements. We have already offset our electric usage to some extent, and currently our quarterly bill for the farm steading is between £80 and £120. Going forward we need to utilise the electricity we produce further and embrace new technology, such as robotic feeding systems and electric vehicles. As an industry, agriculture has to become more carbon neutral. It can enhance public perception and it will help with marketing our livestock to butchers and supermarkets.”