Agricultural analysis laboratory NRM has teamed up with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) to offer its members a discount to measure their soil carbon.
As part of the agreement, NFU members get 10% off NRM’s CarbonCheck and CarbonCheck Plus packages.
“As part of our ambition for UK agriculture to achieve net zero by 2040, we have partnered with NRM to give our members a 10% discount on its CarbonCheck services because we know farmers are keen to better understand where they are now, and measure progress to help us meet our ambition and support the planet,” said NFU president Minette Batters.
Earlier in 2021 Batters, a beef farmer, had the 13 fields at her farm tested using CarbonCheck. This new service measures organic and active carbon as part of a comprehensive analysis suite and enables farmers to benchmark their soil health.
Soil samples were taken by Minette on each of the fields at her farm. The samples were then sent to NRM for analysis.
CarbonCheck measures organic and active carbon as part of a comprehensive suite, as well as organic matter, C:N ratio, total nitrogen, total carbon, inorganic carbon, carbonate classification, and bulk density.
Minette was ‘delighted’ with her soil carbon levels, which came back higher than NRM’s dataset average of over 4,000 samples. The farm’s average adjusted organic carbon stock (in tonnes per hectare) was 129t/ha whilst NRM’s dataset average comes out at 98t/ha, and their Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) level was 1.7% higher than the dataset average.
By comparing the results for her different fields, Minette could determine what that meant for her future crop nutrition plans.
