A WELSH sheep farmer says achieving carbon efficiencies in agriculture must be balanced against the need for farm businesses to be productive and profitable.

Rhys Edwards, who runs a flock of 530 ewes and 180 ewe lambs with his parents, Russell and Eira, at Hendre Ifan Goch near Bridgend, completed a carbon audit of the farm in its role as a Farming Connect demonstration site. The audit showed the balance to be carbon-negative (at -197.01), because the farm has high levels of soil organic matter.

The sheep flock is responsible for 49 per cent of emissions, so the focus going forward will be on ewe efficiency and lamb growth rates.

Mr Edwards told a recent Farming Connect ‘Demo Farm Live’ webinar that he had opted for the Farm Carbon Toolkit carbon footprinting tool because it is the only one that recognises carbon sequestration in its calculations.

Rhys said he was taking steps – including setting a target to wean lambs at 65 per cent of ewe weight – to reduce emissions from the flock. The ewes weigh 65kg, so if 1.65 lambs per ewe tupped are reared, and the lambs average 26kg at weaning, the target of 65 per cent of mature weight will be achieved.

“I don’t think we can physically do anything more to be carbon-friendly, and reducing emissions has got to work hand-in-hand with running a profitable food-producing business,’’ said Rhys.

Improvements will be sought in post-weaning growth rates, as performance can be a challenge in the autumn due to grass availability and trace element deficiencies.

Independent sheep consultant Dr Liz Genever, who has been working with the farm on this project, said the more days lambs are on-farm, the more they eat, and the more methane they produce.

FARM FACTS

  • Hendre Ifan Goch is a 91-hectare (ha) severely disadvantaged area hill farm run by Russell and Rhys Edwards.
  • The farm, which rises from 600ft to 1,300ft, supports 400 Aberfield mules, 200 Welsh mules and 130 ewe lambs.
  • The flock is performance recorded and culling decisions are based on that data.
  • A rotational paddock system has been created for grazing the flock.
  • Forty acres of chopped pit silage is harvested in June.
  • The flock is housed early for lambing from March 5 and fed a total mixed ration (TMR).
  • Lambs are weaned at 12 weeks and sold deadweight to Dunbia or Kepak.

DIVERSIFICATIONS

  • A 5.5kW hydro generator produces an average of 27,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) annually.
  • In 2000 the family created a farm park and trout fishery; this site is rented out as a highly successful wedding and events venue.
  • In 2013 a caravan and camping park was established.