What are Carbon-Neutral Farms and What Do They Mean in Terms of Sustainability?

With the push for sustainability growing exponentially, farmers are looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint in hopes of making their practices more sustainable. Part of this goal is to become carbon neutral, meaning that no carbon dioxide (or in some cases, all greenhouse gases) is released into the environment because of the farm. With new technologies being born everyday, there is great potential for farms to move towards being carbon neutral in the coming years. In livestock farming, there are technologies that can reduce the amount of methane produced, which is a damaging greenhouse gas. Through prioritizing soil health, the carbon dioxide outputs of crop farming can be reduced greatly as healthy soil can take in huge amounts of carbon dioxide and produce healthier crops. The adaptation of regenerative agriculture practices also reduce the impact on the environment greatly by replenishing the land that is farmed on, meaning reducing the amount of greenhouse gases released by the farm. One of the biggest technological advancements in terms of reducing the impact on the environment on farms is manure management. New technologies have been able to utilize manure to create energy instead of going to waste. There are machines that are able to extract the methane from cows’ manure and use it to create energy rather than it seeping into the atmosphere. This means that the farm is powered by clean energy while also greatly reducing greenhouse gas emissions. If all of these technologies and practices can become more readily available to farmers, the environmental footprint of agriculture can be significantly reduced while also increasing efficiency in a lot of areas!