Temporary pause on Carbon Audit applications

Since July 2024, The Farm Advisory Service (FAS) has received strong uptake in Carbon Audits.

To allow the service to manage this high demand, and to allow the Scottish Government to adjust available resources, new applications for FAS Carbon Audits will be paused from 23 September 2024.

This pause will allow time to process outstanding applications, and a further update on next steps will be shared in due course. Farmers and crofters seeking assistance with Carbon Audits after 23 September can apply through Preparing for Sustainable Farming (PSF) and advice on carrying out a Carbon Audit support is available on the FAS website.

The strong uptake in FAS Carbon Audits demonstrates the credibility of FAS Carbon Audits and the strong relationship FAS has with the sector.

Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Land Reform and Islands Mairi Gougeon said:

“I am delighted to see the current high demand for FAS Carbon Audits from farmers and crofters.

“FAS has played a central role in supporting farmers and crofters in preparing for the Whole Farm Plan. This includes providing easy access to information and updates, support for Carbon Audits, and Specialist Advice on biodiversity and soil nutrition.

“Seeing high uptake of this support means farmers and crofters are engaged and informed as we move towards our ambitions for the Whole Farm Plan in 2025, and I thank every farmer and crofter who has been involved.

“Carbon audits play a key role in Scotland becoming a global leader in sustainable and regenerative agriculture. While applications to FAS Carbon Audits are paused, I would encourage farmers and crofters to access the resources available to them through the PSF and FAS resources.’’

Agrecalc, the market-leading independent farm carbon calculator, quantifies, benchmarks, and helps reduce carbon footprint across the food supply chain, to enable transition towards a low-carbon, regenerative agriculture.

Julian Bell, Agrecalc’s Principal Consultant and Agriculture Director, said: “This development is something that happens fairly regularly at this time of year, and testifies to the strong awareness among Scottish farmers on the advantages and benefits of carbon assessments. The support comes back online fairly quickly after the available resources have been adjusted.

“We will keep the FAS tick box visible in version 1 of Agrecalc (app.agrecalc.com) and the toggle button available in Agrecalc Cloud. Our users usually take some time with inputting data into the software after they have been accepted into the FAS scheme, so we’ll continue to have this available for everyone.”

Pic credit - Farmer Neil McGowan of Incheoch Farm carries out a soil analysis. Copyright of Scottish Government.