Technical Insights – GHG Application

Apply to showcase your GHG reduction solution

The UK Dairy Carbon Network is seeking ideas, innovations and technologies that can help reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions on UK dairy farms.

If you’re a technology provider, innovator or entrepreneur with a scalable, practical solution, this is your chance to demonstrate the impact of your solution and collaborate with dairy farmers, researchers and industry experts.  

Your innovation could play a crucial role in shaping the next phase of on-farm GHG emission mitigation. Our expert panel will assess the feasibility, impact and adoption potential of solutions and consider their inclusion in the catalogue of measures from which participating farms can select the approaches most suited to their farm. Implementation and measurement will be carried out by the project’s academic partners.

We are seeking solutions that have a clear demonstrable evidenced-based GHG
emissions reduction across the following areas:
  1. Breeding, fertility & genetics 
    Practices to improve fertility, choice of breeding animals, genomic testing 
  2. Forage quality 
    Optimising forage utilization for silage making, choice of sward mixtures and species, grazing management 
  3. Animal Nutrition  
    Feed composition, diet formulation, reduced nitrogen inputs, and methane-suppressing feed supplements 
  4. Animal health 
    Animal health and disease diagnosis and prevention/eradication from the herd 
  5. Fertiliser and nutrient use 
    Fertiliser and nutrient use on land, crop and pasture management 
  6. Manure management 
    Collection, storage, treatment and use of manure to optimise nutrient use and minimize pollution 
We are also seeking interest from novel measurement technologies and methods, including, but not limited to the following:
  • Laser-based and optical detection systems 
  • Sensor-based and wearable technologies 
  • Remote sensing and drone technologies 
  • Atmospheric monitoring 
  • Farm-based automated monitoring systems 
Eligibility criteria 

Please consider whether your solutions address the following criteria before submission: 

Basic: 

  • Is your solution viable for UK dairy farming systems? 
  • Does the solution fall into one of the categories listed above? (N.B. UK Dairy Carbon Network is also looking for solutions that fall outside the categories listed above) 
  • Is your solution readily used in the market already or in a research environment?  
  • Is there a body of literature or evidence to support the efficacy of your solution? 

 

GHG emissions: 

  • What are the expected reductions in GHG emissions based on current evidence?  
  • Are the mitigation effects long-term or does the solution require continuous applications? 

 

Co-benefits or trade offs:

  • Does the solution contribute to any co-benefits including biodiversity, nutrient management, animal health, soil health or negative externalities and trade-offs? 
  • Will your solution affect milk yield, quality or overall farm productivity? 

 

Regulatory: 

  • Is your solution authorised for use, if required? 
  • Does your solution comply with food safety regulations? 
  • Does your solution comply with environmental regulations?

 

Implementation: 

  • Can your solution be readily integrated into existing farm practices? 
  • What expertise and skills are required to implement your solution? 
  • What are the costs associated with implementing and managing your solution? 
  • What are the projected operational savings on participating farms from your solution?

  

Measurement: 

  • Can your mitigation solution be measured and monitored on dairy farms effectively? 
  • Are there existing tools, technologies, models or proxies available to assist with measurement and reporting? 

 

Farm-specific: 

  • What production system does your solution best suit? 
  • Are there any environmental considerations that might limit the effectiveness of your solution? 

 

How to apply 

Please submit your solution via the following form. If you’d like to learn more about the UK Dairy Carbon Network project and the mitigations and measurements being used in the project, please reach out to the Mitigations and Measurements Centre Lead, Paddy Tarbuck at paddy.tarbuck@ukagritechcentre.com