Agrecalc - Carbon Calculating Software
Agricultural consultants are uniquely positioned as a vital link between agricultural producers, policy makers and research and development within the industry. You need to keep up to date with the latest environmental and agricultural schemes, the latest technology, and the economy trends.
You are constantly on an upward trajectory to improve the range of services you offer to clients and drive the value you deliver. To do that, you need to increase your knowledge base in the area of agricultural emissions space in terms of both footprinting and mitigation advisory.
To be able to serve your clients in the best possible way, you need the ability to use and understand carbon footprinting software, and the best option for you is one that:
- has the ability to handle large volumes of farm data sets, which may each have multiple reports
- can access benchmark data to drive your advisory work
- has the data that is defensible and rigorously calculated for your clients.
Agrecalc is a leader in the carbon foot printing software sector amongst agricultural consultants. Our platform allows consultants to manage a large volume of farm data sets easily and seamlessly through our portal feature, a single point of access for all staff in an agri-consulting firm. In addition to our training sessions in farm carbon footprinting and mitigation advisory for farm consultants, we aim to regularly post value rich content on carbon footprinting and advisory around mitigation solutions.
Agrecalc was built by agricultural consultants at SAC Consulting with practical aspect of the farm business in mind. Our platform has an unrivalled database of benchmark data on all kinds of agricultural systems and their product emissions. Agrecalc adheres to IPCC methodologies and is PAS:2050 accredited, with each individual report currently validated in person by a consultant after submission.
Agrecalc for Consultants has a Portal feature that allows a single point of access – to see all your organisation’s farms, or clients’ farms simultaneously from each of their logins.
With an access to large emissions benchmarking datasets, a regional and country level analysis is enabled. You have access to insights of a wide variety of agricultural systems, with the numbers in thousands and growing.
Agrecalc adheres to IPCC (2019) and PAS 2050:11 supply chain standards throughout, with imminent plans for the tool to have appropriate ISO accreditation. Emission calculations for all livestock and farm enterprise types follow IPCC (2019) Tier I and II emission calculations, with calculations being updated to match the National GHG Inventory.
Agrecalc is supported by by on-farm experience and expertise of SAC Consultants, who engage with users on a daily basis. FBAASS-certified, SAC Consulting experts validate all the data entered, to ensure data quality. The consultants have access to a large database of validated carbon datasets.
Agrecalc has the ability to capture all farm enterprises, with the results expressed as whole farm, or allocated by enterprise and product. It also has operational modules on carbon sequestration from woodlands, hedges and soils.
Currently in development is the API-led connectivity to multiple databases including, for example, livestock movement records, and GFLI for feed inputs. Future plans involve even greater connectivity to other data platforms.
We’ve had a number of clients for these past 16 years, and collaborated with Consultants both in Scotland and throughout the UK. Our partnership with SAC Consulting and SRUC is ever-evolving.
We have supported many initiatives through the years, one of the largest being Farming for a Better Climate.
- Agrecalc is a carbon calculating software, or as many refer to it – farm carbon calculator.
- But first and foremost, Agrecalc is a Resource Use Calculator.
- Far from being a tick box exercise, if applied correctly, Agrecalc can show you where you can apply mitigation measures to reduce on-farm costs and boost business profitability.
- Agrecalc is team of agricultural professionals, environmental scientists and technical developers on a mission to provide clarity and confidence when it comes to GHG emissions.
- 16+ years of experience in calculating carbon footprint; backed by cutting-edge science and research at SRUC and practical knowledge of SAC Consultants
- We are supporting the transition to low-carbon agriculture, whilst increasing production efficiency.
- Identify the main sources of carbon emissions (CO2 – from fossil fuels; CH4 – from ruminant digestion and manures; N2O – from fertiliser application)
- Measure those emissions & monitor improvements year after year
- Benchmark key performance indicators / relevant comparators
- Account for sequestration – woodland, hedgerows, soil carbon and biodiverse habitats
- ‘Calculate’ option – yearly subscription is FREE for farmers
- Calculates whole farm emissions, emissions per kg of output and per enterprise
- Suitable for mixed farms and all enterprises
- Livestock – aligned with the current IPCC Tier II methodology – 16 years of experience
- Access to benchmark data – provides farmers with access to validated benchmarks
- Based on scientific credibility of SRUC, and independence and practical reputation of SAC Consulting
- Option for data and results to be validated by experienced consultants
Anticipate how best to secure grants, subsidies, participation in schemes, and other payments
Secure markets and premiums:Meet retailer requirements and secure markets and potential premiums for farm products
Reduce input use and cost:Map your use of inputs, compare efficiency with others, identify costly hot spots where savings can be made
- Agrecalc is a carbon calculating software, or as many refer to it – farm carbon calculator.
- But first and foremost, Agrecalc is a Resource Use Calculator.
- Far from being a tick box exercise, if applied correctly, Agrecalc can show you where you can apply mitigation measures to reduce on-farm costs and boost business profitability.
- Agrecalc is team of agricultural professionals, environmental scientists and technical developers on a mission to provide clarity and confidence when it comes to GHG emissions.
- 16+ years of experience in calculating carbon footprint; backed by cutting-edge science and research at SRUC and practical knowledge of SAC Consultants
- We are supporting the transition to low-carbon agriculture, whilst increasing production efficiency.
- Identify the main sources of carbon emissions (CO2 – from fossil fuels; CH4 – from ruminant digestion and manures; N2O – from fertiliser application)
- Measure those emissions & monitor improvements year after year
- Benchmark key performance indicators / relevant comparators
- Account for sequestration – woodland, hedgerows, soil carbon and biodiverse habitats
- ‘Calculate’ option – yearly subscription is FREE for farmers
- Calculates whole farm emissions, emissions per kg of output and per enterprise
- Suitable for mixed farms and all enterprises
- Livestock – aligned with the current IPCC Tier II methodology – 16 years of experience
- Access to benchmark data – provides farmers with access to validated benchmarks
- Based on scientific credibility of SRUC, and independence and practical reputation of SAC Consulting
- Option for data and results to be validated by experienced consultants
Anticipate how best to secure grants, subsidies, participation in schemes, and other payments
Secure markets and premiums:Meet retailer requirements and secure markets and potential premiums for farm products
Reduce input use and cost:Map your use of inputs, compare efficiency with others, identify costly hot spots where savings can be made
- Redirecting agricultural subsidies towards low carbon approaches
- Implementing legislation to drive lower carbon emissions
- Putting pressure on wider economy / retail sectors – to cut emissions
- Seeking suppliers / farmers to help them deliver low carbon / net zero products to consumers
- Seeing the benefit of commercial / market advantage
October 2022:
- Module released: Tier II Nitrous Oxide calculations form the UK national Inventory
Agrecalc Cloud, released in July 2023, includes:
- Nitrification / urease inhibitors
- Transferred manures
- Enhanced pig / poultry inputs
- 3NOP feed additive
- Anaerobic digestion of manures
- Scope 1 / 2 / 3 emission reporting
Further releases will involve: GWP*, agroforestry, peatlands, ammonia, nitrate feed additives, enhanced reporting, and much more!
The Agrecalc carbon calculator is the backbone of our carbon footprinting service. Our calculation software transforms farm level data into emissions estimates, carbon sequestration figures, and key performance indicators.
The carbon calculator uses equations published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the UK Government to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from all major on-farm and upstream sources, returning these estimates in the form of simple tables and charts.
Agrecalc is based on the life cycle assessment (LCA) framework for evaluating the environmental impacts of products and processes. We calculate all greenhouse gas emissions related to agricultural production, up to the point when final products leave the farm gate, according to the internationally recognised and standardised methodology.
In general, the data used by the Agrecalc carbon calculator can be divided into three categories:
- Inputs include all information the user provides about their farm system
- Coefficients include emission factors for the carbon calculations and default data which fills in missing user inputs
- Outputs include estimates of all major greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, CH4, N2O) from the farm and its products
At its core, the methodology we use to calculate emissions from each source is relatively simple. Our carbon calculator contains numerous equations that use farm input data and scientific parameters to estimate emissions.
We start by matching user input data to a set of coefficients, which are then used to calculate emission intensity across the farm.
For most major emission sources, such as manure management, fertiliser application, and imported feed, we use variations of the equation presented in the graph (left) to estimate greenhouse gas emissions.
However, farms are complex biological systems; this simple linear model cannot be applied to emission sources with internal system dependencies.
For example, we use more elaborate modelling for enteric methane emissions, which are influenced by various factors including feed composition, animal weights, herd size, activity levels, and calving percentage.
The same is true of crop residue emissions and soil carbon sequestration; these emissions depend on various management characteristics including residue removal, crop type, and yield.
Once emissions are calculated for all sources on the farm, these carbon footprint results must be allocated across farm enterprises and products.
For example, Agrecalc directly allocates emissions from the production of home-fed silage to livestock and allocates emissions from home-produced manures to the crops to which they are applied.
This graphic illustration demonstrates how our carbon calculator software allocates resources and models interactions between multiple farm enterprises.
Agrecalc is currently the only carbon calculator on the market that internally allocates emissions across multiple enterprises.
After allocation of emissions across enterprises, we use the LCA economic allocation method to allocate emissions across multiple products within each enterprise.
For example, for a cattle enterprise producing both meat and milk, total enterprise emissions are allocated between these products based on their economic value.
This allows the carbon footprint to be expressed per kilogram of meat or milk, so results can be directly compared across farms.