The word sustainable is ubiquitous and not least when it comes to farming. With Scottish Government’s National Test Programme now rolling out and farmers incentivised to carry out a carbon audit to create a baseline for future agricultural policy, we are delighted to be introducing the first of our sustainable farming services to support members.
Our senior agronomist, Eric Anderson, is now a certified FBAASS* assessor allowing Scottish Agronomy to provide the supporting evidence needed to claim for a carbon audit, and as part of the service we will be supporting members to submit their carbon audit and to access the funding available for this.
The most compelling aspect is that through our co-op model, we are able to offer our Carbon Auditing Service to members at a hugely competitive price, in most, straight-forward, cases within the £500 grant offered by Scottish Government.
Members interested in this service should register by contacting a member of our advisory team. This offers members a route to access funding for soil sampling available under the Preparing for Sustainable Farming (PSF) scheme.
An amendment has been made to the PSF guidance to allow businesses who soil sample their whole farm in a year to claim this activity over multiple years.
The claim in any individual year is restricted to the existing maximum soil sampling allowance based on 20% of eligible land. There are some additional requirements for businesses choosing this option including having a Carbon Audit that meets the option requirement for each scheme year. The revised guidance can be accessed here; Preparing for Sustainable Farming (PSF) (ruralpayments.org)
To find out if we can support your enterprise through our Carbon Auditing Service and to sign up, contact your agronomist.
*Farm Business Adviser Accreditation Scheme for Scotland
