CAFRE launches deep soil carbon stocks project across its farmed estate
April 6, 2025
CAFRE has recently launched a large-scale deep soil carbon coring project across its estate. The project is the largest of its kind in Northern Ireland, sampling carbon stocks up to 100 cm deep in the soil profile. The project has completed in-field sampling across 1,200 hectares of active agricultural land covering a range of farming systems, environments and habitats.
CAFRE Senior Technologist, Elizabeth Earle explained that Northern Ireland’s (NI) agricultural soils are an important carbon store. Optimising the condition of these soils will be fundamental for delivering against NI climate change targets, environmental sustainability and for ensuring efficient agricultural production. Many scientific studies have shown there are several positive co-benefits between optimising and protecting soil carbon stocks on water quality, soil fertility, nutrient use efficiency and biodiversity.
Elizabeth commented “The project delivered by Agricarbon UK has sampled close to 240 fields ranging from mineral to peat soils, it includes several land uses from lowland and upland beef and sheep grassland systems to lowland dairying, arable and equine systems. The project has also taken soil cores from a representative area of woodlands, hedgerows, agroforestry and field margins across the farms to provide information on soil carbon stocks in biodiversity areas across the CAFRE estate.” Elizabeth hopes the project will build upon the great work of the ArcZero NI project led by Professor John Gilliland which also measured soil carbon stocks across a network of farms in NI in 2021.
The CAFRE soil carbon coring project has been funded by the DAERA Carrier Bag Levy and has been delivered by the Sustainable Land Management Branch at CAFRE. The results from the project will establish an important baseline for deep soil carbon stocks, broad nutrients and carbon properties at a field level for each of the CAFRE farm centres. Elizabeth explained that the soil carbon data captured within the project will be combined with historic field management records to provide critical analysis on how historic and current land management practices at CAFRE have impacted soil carbon stocks across its estate.
The project will help inform future land management practices at CAFRE and provide vital resources for CAFRE knowledge transfer and educational programmes. Results will be a key to supporting farmers across Northern Ireland in implementing technologies and practices to protect existing soil carbon stocks, enhance soil health and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural production. The project will also support delivery of DAERA farming for carbon policies, Northern Ireland Climate Change Act 2022 target for net zero by 2050 and the CAFRE College Estate Strategy 2021-2030 which sets out the strategic direction of CAFRE innovation work. One overarching objective of the College Estate Strategy is to demonstrate the highest quality environmental practices in all activities across the CAFRE Estate. The new CAFRE soil carbon coring project will support CAFRE in achieving its target to be 50% Carbon Neutral by 2030.
CAFRE Technologists are continually investigating innovative systems and technologies to help farmers improve sustainability and productivity. These innovations are demonstrated across the CAFRE Farms and form an integral part of CAFRE Knowledge Transfer Programmes.