Greener Footprints for your Farm

One of England's most rural counties, with 82% of the land being farmed, agriculture represents an incredibly important social and economic cornerstone for Herefordshire.

Opportunities to capture and store carbon across the farming landscape include through the management and introduction of trees and hedgerows, maintenance of grasslands, and other farm management practices such as using cover crops, reducing tillage and introducing rotational grazing or cropping.

Many of the management practices that can reduce farm carbon offer financial benefits to the farmer, whilst also reducing soil erosion, improving water retention and reducing run off, and providing habitat for our native wildlife.

Ongoing Projects

Farm Carbon Project

Herefordshire Council recognises the importance of supporting Herefordshire farmers in taking action to reduce the carbon footprint of food production in order to achieve the ambitions of net zero. Herefordshire Council has funded 40+ farm carbon audits across the county, has produced a farm carbon workout guide, and is delivering a series of farm carbon workshops to help farmers reduce farm carbon emissions and improve efficiency.

This project comes as a result of the priority actions identified by the Farming and Land Use sub group of the Climate and Nature Partnership Board.

The farms who received a farm carbon audit in 2023/24 will receive a follow up visit after 3 years. In the interim, the face to face workshops are taking place on active farms, designed to guide farmers through some of the actions they can take to reduce the farm’s carbon footprint. You can view the content of previous workshops in the links from this page.

Herefordshire Council continues to seek ways to support farmers and land owners to reduce costs and reduce carbon while remaining productive, and allowing local ecosystems to thrive. For any questions regarding this project or the contents on these pages, please contact climate@herefordshire.gov.uk

Severn Treescapes Project

Herefordshire Council supports the Severn Treescapes Wye to Wyre partnership project of Herefordshire, Gloucestershire, and Worcestershire Wildlife Trusts. The project is seeking to increase tree cover and support woodland connectivity at a regional scale, and is calling on farmers and landowners across the region to get involved.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, Worcestershire Wildlife Trust and Herefordshire Wildlife Trust have partnered up to provide a team of on the ground advisors, as well as a series of informative events, best practice visits, community engagement opportunities, grants advice and applications assistance. Find out more here.