Farm accounts will change forever from next month – when instead of standard book-keeping practice, important calculations will be based around green house gas emissions and carbon sequestration.
The change, due to kick in next month, will happen largely thanks to Carbon Accounting for Land Managers (CALM) - a free web-based calculator which will allow farmers and land managers to work out their carbon accounts.
CALM is the result of a project led by the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), working in partnership with Savills and supported by the East of England Development Agency, and the Crown Estates.
It is the first free business-based calculator which shows the balance between annual emissions and carbon sequestration of the key greenhouse gases associated with the activities of individual land-based businesses.
CLA East Midlands Director, Helen Woolley said: "We know how long it took for profit and loss accounts to achieve a standardised format – so there are likely to be changes along the way but the fact is that farming and forestry are in the front line of climate change. They depend critically on the climate for the production of their outputs while agriculture, land use change and forestry generate about 7% of UK greenhouse gas emissions.
"This calculator offers a free, business-based approach for farms and estates, particularly in the East Midlands, and it is quite distinct from carbon footprint calculators devised for specific products. It follows the most widely used, internationally agreed, accounting guidelines for government and businesses to understand quantify and manage GHG emissions," she said.
Andrew Wraith of Savills agribusiness comments, "Savills are extensively involved in rural land management both at farm and estate level as well as many other business streams either directly or indirectly associated with agriculture.
We are keen to introduce and develop the benefits of carbon management for both environmental and commercial benefit and consider this an important area for us in the future.
Savills have been heavily involved in the development of CALM. Access to a robust measurement system which is capable of further development is central to the process of carbon management and the adoption of practical steps to move the management process forward. We are already working with a number of businesses using the CALM calculator as an initial step to an overall carbon management plan."