FCCT Annual Review 2013

8/13/2019 FCCT Annual Review 2013

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Annual review 2013



2013 has been a year of both growth and consolidation for the Farm CarbonCutting Toolkit (FCCT). The start of the year was focussed on creating newresources and rewriting e!isting ones.

"ithin the s#ace of one week we launched the new $ersion of our CarbonCalculator% an e!#anded and rewritten Toolkit and a whole new website& From

then on we embarked on a #rocess of im#ro$ing communications% networkingand consolidation.

Towards the end of the year we concentrated on running a more effecti$eorganisation% im#ro$ing our communications to farmers% adding new content tothe website and a##ointing a new contractor. 'n 201 we #lan to take theorganisation forward to reach out to more farmers and growers% and engage inmore #roects.

"ith limited resources this has been a successful year for FCCT% under#innedby hard work from both directors and contractors. This has laid the foundations

to gear u#% and in 201 we ho#e to encourage more farmers to engage inacti$ities to mitigate the effects of climate change on *+ farming

Farm Carbon Calculator

'n 200, the CFF Carbon Calculator was created% enabling farmers and growersto calculate their carbon foot#rint was created.

The Farm Carbon Calculator

'n 2013% renamed as the Farm Carbon Calculator and now a #art of FCCT% thisonline tool for farmers was com#letely o$erhauled and reworked. 't was



relaunched in February at -uchy ome Farm in /loucestershire.

't is one of the *+s leading farm carbon calculators% with a re#utation foraccuracy% good user e!#erience and the most com#rehensi$e assessment ofcarbon seuestration of any carbon calculator.

uilding on the basis of the #re$ious $ersion of the Calculator% the new $ersionhas fully u#dated emissions and seuestration factors drawn from the latestscientific studies% a new section to encom#ass nonorganic in#uts% e!#andedfactors and a better user e!#erience and inter#retation of results.

This is a maor achie$ement for the organisation and is a core ser$ice thatFCCT can offer. The launch of this $ersion of the Calculator re#resents manyyears of work towards a tool that offers all farmers and growers a chance toaccurately work out their carbon emissions and seuestration.

FCCT created a dedicated new website www.farmcarboncalculator.org.uk tohouse the new Farm Carbon Calculator.

Toolkit

The other maor #illar of FCCT is the Toolkit% offering farmers and growersinformation% insight and ad$ice on all issues associated with greenhouse gasesand farming. 't has been written in a userfriendly way% making sense of oftencom#licated issues.

'n conunction with the relaunch of the Carbon Calculator% the Toolkit wascom#letely o$erhauled% rewritten and e!#anded o$er the course of winter201213. This is another maor achie$ement for the organisation andre#resents weeks of work.

4$ailable free on the FCCT website% it is a useful resource for farmers to getdirect and uncom#licated information of use to their businesses.

http://www.farmcarboncalculator.org.uk/

http://www.farmcarboncalculator.org.uk/



A page from the Toolkit

Website

The websitewww.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk had acom#lete o$erhaul with new design%structure and content. This hasim#ro$ed the uality of content% userinterface and management o#tions. 'twas launched at the end of 5anuary.

4 considerable im#ro$ement on the

#re$ious website% it also allows us agreater degree of daytoday contentmanagement and a greater ca#acityfor web traffic.

Communications

2013 has seen the establishment of a Twitter account% now with o$er 2%100tweets and 160 followers. That% andour Facebook #age% are reaching outto new followers e$ery week anddri$ing traffic to our website.

http://www.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk/




"e ha$e #ublished o$er 60 blogs% with the freuency increasing to three #erweek through the autumn. 7ur e$ents #age details any e$ent in the *+rele$ant to our audience% listing o$er ,0 e$ents for 2013.

-ecember saw the launch of the first newsletter to o$er 180 #eo#le who ha$esigned u# for the newsletter or attended e$ents in the #ast. This is anim#ortant strategic de$elo#ment going forward to kee#ing #eo#le in touch withwhat we do.

Traffic to the website has been growing steadily through the year. From around80 $isits #er week in the s#ring it more than doubled to o$er 120 uniue $isits#er week. 'n addition the Farm Carbon Calculator has a$eraged o$er 30 uniue$isits #er week.

Events

7n February 1st we hosted the launch of the Carbon Calculator at -uchy omeFarm in /loucestershire% attended by 38 #eo#le and re#orted on in Farmers"eekly% and by 9"4:; ub% the 9oil 4ssociation% 7rganic /rowers 4lliance andothers.

Group discussion at Duchy Home Farm, Farm Carbon Calculator launch event

"e attended the Oxford Real Farming Conference in 5anuary< the maor 9:*C

conference Sustainable ntensification in 9e#tember< hosted a trade stand atthe 9oil 4ssociations Soil Symposium< attended a min till e$ent with Frenchfarmer Frederic Thomas in =ortham#tonshire< and !orld Soil Day e$ent at



:eading *ni$ersity.

Networking

>inking with organisations doing similar work is im#ortant for FCCT so that we

can use our resources to ma!imum effect and widen our outreach. "e ha$emade good working relationshi#s with many organisations% including 9oil4ssociation >ow Carbon Farming (#roect now finished)% 9"4:; ub% 9:*Cclimate farming grou# and /arden 7rganic.

"e also ha$e a grou# of o$er 180 farmers and growers on our mailing list.

Staff

7ur -irectors% 4dam Twine and 5onathan 9mith are also both full time farmers%

so ha$e limited time to #ut in to FCCT. *ntil February we had the ser$ices ofcontractor Frank /ordon and from ;arch to =o$ember contractor /raham9haw% each for ust one day #er week.

"ith $ery limited human resources we ha$e com#leted a large amount of workand feel we are #unching abo$e our weight.

e!resentations

FCCT has made an official re#resentation to the recent -efra C4? consultationon s#ending #riorities% #utting forward the case for inclusion of carbonemissions and seuestration as a criteria for determining 9ingle Farm#ayments.

"ress#!ublications

"e continue to #ublish articles and letters in trade maga@ines% includingFarmers "eekly% Farmers /uardian% 7rganic Farming and The 7rganic /rower.

$ooking forwar% to 201&

7ur #riorities are to grow the organisation% find ways to better connect withfarmers and im#ro$e our resources and effect greater changes.

't will be a year where we build on the solid foundations that ha$e been laidand try to engage more farmers and growers in the essential task of no ustreducing carbon emissions from our farms% but also seeing them as a huge#otential carbon sink.

The maor #roect for 201 will focus on soil carbon% encouraging more farmersand growers to engage in building the health of% and carbon in% their soils. 't#romises to be an e!citing year.



?ublished in February 201

Farm Carbon Cutting Toolkit is registered in the *+ as a Community 'nterest Com#any:egistration number 0A220,63

Colleymore FarmColeshill

ighworth9windon

9=6 A?*

www.farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk0136A A00616



FCCT Annual Review 2013

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Transcript of FCCT Annual Review 2013