Isle of Man Farm Carbon Calculator

It will show you the total carbon emissions and carbon offsets, expressed as tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e), percentage of total emissions/sequestration, and the carbon balance of your business.

The results also show full detail of the emissions/offsets for every item you enter in the Calculator. Live results also appear as you enter in data, enabling you to compare the results of different items.

Results are shown in varying levels of detail, highlight emissions hotspots, show Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions, emissions of CO2e, nitrous oxide (N2O) and methane (CH4).

As with anywhere where you are entering your farm business information we recommend you take basic steps to ensure a high level of security - we are also doing our part at Farm Carbon Calculator as are all those handling your data through this tool. Choose a strong password when registering your account and set up two-factor authentication from your dashboard for an extra layer of security. Our models allow us to reproduce and benchmark the data you enter but only in anonymous ways as part of a group.

Farm Carbon Toolkit employ regular internal and external testing to ensure our website, systems and servers are regarded as highly secure in line with industry best practice. Our team will never contact you to ask for your password so do not reveal this information to anyone. If you suspect unauthorised usage of your account or any other breaches of security you must let us know so that we can take action to protect your data and to help prevent further breaches. For details of how we handle your data and of our required response in the unlikely event of a data breach see our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

When you create a carbon footprint using the Isle of Man Farm Carbon Calculator your emissions data will be sent to a third party Aether Ltd for the purpose of calculating the Isle of Man Greenhouse Gas Inventory.

Aether will receive your emissions data as calculated by the Isle of Man Farm Carbon Calculator. Your data will be aggregated together with the other users of the calculator's data, ensuring any identifying features or personal information is removed.

For more details of how we handle your data see our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.

Submission of data via the Isle of Man Farm Carbon Calculator is included as an initiative in the updated Agri-Environment Handbook (pdf download) under the Isle of Man Agriculture and Fisheries Grant Scheme. The results shown in your Carbon Calculator Report will not affect your grant payment, as the payment is related to production of the Report as per Schedule 5/06h of the Handbook.

Yes, the tool is available free to use for any farmer in the Isle of Man --even if you are not applying for grant funding through the AES. Your data will still be collected for input in the Isle of Man GHG emissions inventory (see FAQ - How will my data be used?) and the Farm Carbon Officer is available to assist with any queries - (see FAQ What support is available?).

You can use the Calculator to calculate either whole farm or product footprints. To do a product footprint (e.g. wheat), you need to spearate the processes used to produce the various food products from your farm. 

This is an advanced process - read our guide (pdf) to help you through.

For instance, you might have dairy cows, an arable operation, plus beef. First of all, work out what processes and inputs are used specifically for each of the three enterprises. Then work out what is common to all enterprises - e.g. buildings, machinery, office, woodland, hedges, etc. For these common elements, put everything in an Overheads report. Watch video on Overheads reports.

Then create a product report (e.g. 'Wheat 2022') - add in the Overheads report, then all the inputs used for the wheat - e.g. diesel, electricity, fertiliser, distribution, etc. This will give you an accurate footprint for the wheat out of your farm.

Repeat the process for the dairy and beef enterprises.

Behind the Calculator lies a robust and detailed structure to calculate the carbon emissions and sequestration factors that ultimately give you a Carbon Report.

We have outlined what methodology we follow and how various Standards structure our work in the following documents. You will also find an overview of how the calculations work in the Farm Carbon Calculator and references upon which they are based:

Download our Calculator Methodology (PDF) Download our references (PDF)

The scope of the Calculator is scopes 1, 2 and 3 – meaning it is comprehensive and covers direct and indirect emissions. In IPCC Livestock calculations it covers Tiers 1 and 2.

In line with other carbon calculators, we recognise that there is no one national or international standard that covers the exact requirements of a farm carbon report.

PAS 2050 is widely used to calculate the GHG emissions from various products and services. Its methodology is used in the Calculator, however its scope falls short of what is required for a complete farm carbon footprint, in that it doesn’t include Scope 3 (indirect) emissions, nor carbon sequestration. Therefore our reports are only PAS 2050 compliant for the areas of which the Standard covers.

We believe that this wider scope of the Calculator means the Isle of Man Farm Carbon Calculator is far more comprehensive and accurate for the user.

In the Report you will see a reference to Confidence Levels in the results. This refers to how much confidence we have in the actual figures produced by the Calculator for each item, on a range from 1 to 3, where:

1 - lower confidence

2- medium

3 - high confidence

This is because some items are inherently far more reliable and understood than others. For instance, diesel or electricity is high confidence - you know how much you've used and therefore the calculation for what the emissions are is quite mathematical.

Conversely emissions from compost, or sequestration in hedgerows are difficult to be accurate with because they are biological and therefore there are a lot of variables.

We therefore have the Confidence levels to give transparency. Please bear in mind however that every emissions/sequestration factor is backed up by firm science and we aim to provide the most accurate figures available.

You need to enter data about your farm business, and through the Calculator we convert this in to a carbon footprint. We ask you for details about the following areas of your farm:

Fuels, electricity and business travel

Materials, machinery and buildings

Cropping and fertility

Livestock

Inputs (fertilisers and sprays)

Waste and recycling

Distribution (where applicable)

Processing (where appropriate e.g. packhouses, stores and wineries)

Carbon sequestration in soils and biomass

Once you have the information, you fill in your data in our Carbon Calculator. To do this follow the instructions in the video on the home page, or use this guide.

A Farm Carbon Officer supported by DEFA is available to assist you with inputting and interpreting your data.

Contact Emma Corkill, Farm Carbon Officer at [email protected] or by phone at 07624 218241.

If you have any questions about the website or entering your data contact the Farm Carbon Calculator team at

[email protected]

This depends on how complex your business is and how organised your records are! The longest part is collating your data in the first place, which could take anything from two or three hours to a whole day. However, once you know where to get the data needed, subsequent times are much quicker.

Filling in data to the Calculator itself is straight forward once you have the necessary data, between around 30 mins and 2 hours.

Yes - any carbon footprint created using the Farm Carbon Calculator can be moved to show here in the Isle of Man Farm Carbon Calculator. We would recommend that you move your reports and start using this calculator if you are based in the Isle of Man as this tool has been specifically tailored for you, you gain access to increased levels of support, and your report will contribute toward the Greenhouse Gas Inventory of the Isle of Man.

Contact us to request your reports be moved over. In your email let us know if you would like all your reports to move over or just some of them. Note should you wish to continue using both calculators you will need to use a different email address when you register in each calculator.

If you are not sure or you have already created your account in either calculator get in touch so that we can ensure you are set up correctly. If you have created reports in another carbon calculator or carbon audit tool you can re-enter your information into this calculator to receive all your reports in one place. Note you may be able to export your data from another tool to assist you with this.