FARMERS and land-owners facing ever more complex demands in their book-keeping are being offered on-line help in a way which could also help cut carbon emissions.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has co-operated with the leading land agents Savills to release a new, free, web-based calculator which will allow farmers and land managers to work out their carbon accounts.

This calculator offers a free, business-based approach for farms and estates

Allan Buckwell - CLA Policy Director

The CLA, the rural economy experts, say it will mark a shift in emphasise when, instead of dusty ledgers and cheque stubs, important calculations will be based around green house gas emission and carbon sequestration.

The calculator – called CALM – goes live on Friday 7 March and can be accessed by anybody, via the CLA website. The software is the result of a project led by the CLA, working in partnership with Savills and supported by the East of England Development Agency, and the Crown Estates. The CLA says the figures the calculator produces may eventually become as important as profit and loss accounts.

CALM is the first free business-based calculator which shows the balance between annual emissions and carbon sequestration of the key greenhouse gases associated with the activities of individual land-based businesses.

CLA Policy Director, Allan Buckwell, said: “This calculator offers a free, business-based approach for farms and estates and it is quite distinct from carbon footprint calculators devised for specific products. It follows the most widely used, internationally agreed, accounting guidelines for government and businesses to understand quantify and manage GHG emissions.”