Wednesday, 30 October 2019 16:58

Carbon absorption on your farm

Written by  Staff Reporters
Caroline Read, chief executive of Overseer. Caroline Read, chief executive of Overseer.

New Zealand farmers can now estimate how much carbon their tree blocks are sequestering.

This follows a new addition to OverseerFM.

The carbon stock tool in OverseerFM uses data from the Ministry for Primary Industries’ Carbon

Look-up Tables to estimate the carbon sequestration potential for existing and future tree blocks on a farm.

The new tool adds to OverseerFM’s existing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions analysis tool, which models the farm’s biological emissions (methane, nitrous oxide) and carbon dioxide as well asproduct footprint.

"Farmers, rural professionals and the sector have told us they want a tool to help them make more informed decisions around the potential carbon sequestration impact of planting tree blocks on farm,” says Caroline Read, chief executive of Overseer.

“The new feature provides an easy way of understanding the positive environmental impact of tree blocks and better representation of their farm systems.

“The carbon stock tool is a valuable addition to our OverseerFM GHG emissions analysis suite, which enables farmers to test different management approaches to reduce emissions on their farm and to increase their farm sustainability.

“The unique capability of OverseerFM enables a holistic approach to farm environment planning in that you can see the impact on Nitrogen, Phosphorus and GHG at the same time and avoid pollution swapping.”

Overseer is also working with Scion to understand if different forest management practices will have a material impact on carbon stocks, she says.

“The addition of this tool represents the next step in our strategy to partner with the farming community and enable New Zealand farms to be more environmentally and economically sustainable.

“Our software provides farmers and their advisors with better information about nutrient management so they can make better decisions to lift environmental performance.

“Using OverseerFM means farmers can understand what they are emitting into the environment and test the impacts of farm management changes before they make them.”

More like this

Overseer's a screwdriver, not a hammer!

The new boss of the environmental software tool Overseer claims there is much support in the agri sector for what they are trying to do and that criticism of the tool appears to have gone quiet.

Featured

Brendan Attrill scoops national award for sustainable farming

Brendan Attrill of Caiseal Trust in Taranaki has been announced as the 2025 National Ambassador for Sustainable Farming and Growing and recipient of the Gordon Stephenson Trophy at the National Sustainability Showcase at in Wellington this evening.

National

Machinery & Products

Calf feeding boost

Advantage Plastics says it is revolutionising calf meal storage and handling, making farm life easier, safer, and more efficient this…

JD's precision essentials

Farmers across New Zealand are renowned for their productivity and efficiency, always wanting to do more with less, while getting…

» Latest Print Issues Online

The Hound

Don't hold back!

OPINION: ACT MP Mark Cameron isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but he certainly calls it how he sees it, holding…

Sorry, not sorry

OPINION: Did former PM Jacinda Ardern get fawning reviews for her book?

» Connect with Rural News

» eNewsletter

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter