ARCZero, a farmer-led European Innovation Project co-funded by the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) has announced it will hold a farm walk on Tuesday 21st June on the farm of Simon Best near Poyntzpass, County Armagh.

ARCZero, led by Professor John Gilliland of Devenish, is comprised of seven innovative farmers from across Northern Ireland together with academic and industry partners including Devenish, Queen’s University, AgriSearch and Birnie Consultancy. It has been investigating practical ways to measure, manage and reduce carbon in ruminant farming. ARCZero has just finished creating a robust baseline of both emissions and carbon stocks and is now looking at how these farms can further reduce their emissions while increasing their carbon stocks in a manner which will accelerate their journey towards Net Zero.

Hosted by Simon Best, this will be the second in a series of farm walks which are being held in the coming months. Simon farms in Acton House Farm, Poyntzpass, County Armagh with his father John and brother Rory, where they have 1200-acres of predominantly arable land, as well as an Aberdeen Angus herd and green waste composting facility. The Best family understand the importance of environmental standards and Simon and his family have been involved in agri-environment schemes for over 20-years, increasing hedgerows, planting trees, managing soil health and water quality on the farm. A member of both a CAFRE Arable and an Environment Business Development Group, Simon and is also a member of the Nature Friendly Farming Network NI Steering Group. In 2021 Simon was awarded the title of Arable Farmer of the Year for the UK by the Farmers Weekly.

At the farm walk delegates will be taken round a series of stops which will include an introduction to ARCZero and the farm, a look at how the greenhouse gas emissions were benchmarked, how above and below ground carbon is measured, the use of soil nutrient and LIDAR data to optimise the use of nutrients and improve water quality and mitigation measures being adopted to lower the farm’s carbon footprint.

Speakers will include experts from AFBI, Queen’s University and CAFRE. The farm walk will get underway at 4.30pm. Everyone is welcome but pre-registration is required.