Understanding your farm's emissions profile

Many farmers are already measuring emissions to better understand their farm system. Knowing your emissions profile can help you:

• Understand where emissions come from on your farm
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency
• Track changes over time
• Support long-term farm planning
• Prepare for future market and industry requirements

Understanding your emissions isn't about perfection. It's about knowing where you're starting from and making informed decisions about what comes next.

Many farmers are already doing more than they realise

Many of the things farmers do to improve productivity, and resilience can also help reduce emissions.

Actions such as improving animal performance, using fertiliser efficiently, increasing homegrown feed utilisation and making better use of farm resources can all contribute to lower emissions while supporting farm performance.

Understanding your emissions profile can help you see where these opportunities exist within your own farm system.

Agricultural emissions mainly come from two greenhouse gases:

Methane

Methane is produced naturally as ruminant animals digest feed. On most livestock farms, methane makes up the largest share of total emissions.

Nitrous oxide

Nitrous oxide is released from soils, animal urine and dung, and nitrogen fertiliser use. The mix of emissions will vary from farm to farm depending on factors such as livestock numbers, feed, fertiliser use and farm system.

There are a range of tools available to help farmers understand emissions within their farm system. Some provide a quick overview, while others offer more detailed analysis and can be used to compare scenarios or track changes over time.

On-farm emissions calculator

The emissions calculator helps build a clearer picture of your farm system, showing where emissions come from and how different management decisions may influence them over time.  

It is a free tool designed for sheep, beef, dairy and deer farmers in New Zealand.

Using information about your livestock and fertiliser use, the calculator estimates emissions from methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide. It can also account for a range of mitigation actions already being used on farm, including improved effluent management and low-methane sheep genetics.

As new technologies and mitigation options become available, the calculator is updated so farmers can explore how different actions may affect their farm's emissions profile.

This calculator uses a standardised, government-endorsed methodology and does not store any farm data.

What can the calculator help with?

·       Understanding where emissions come from on your farm

·       Building a baseline emissions profile

·       Exploring the impact of different mitigation actions

·       Tracking progress over time

·       Supporting farm planning and decision making

Information you’ll need to use the calculator

Before you start, it's helpful to have some basic farm information on hand. Most information you’ll already have at hand, including:

·       Farm size (effective hectares)

·       Livestock numbers and stock classes

·       Milk solids or livestock production figures

·       Nitrogen fertiliser use

·       Supplementary feed brought onto the farm

·       Crop areas (if applicable)

·       Effluent management information

·       Tree planting or vegetation areas (if applicable)

Most farmers can complete the calculator using information they already have available through farm records, accounts, fertiliser invoices and stock reconciliation reports.

There are a range of industry tools available to help estimate greenhouse gas emissions on farm. The most important thing is to use the same tool consistently over time. This helps you track progress, understand how management decisions influence emissions, and identify opportunities for improvement.

• ·    See what other farmers are doing on-farm
• Explore actions suited to your farm type:
• Calculate your farm’s emissions profile