Rural Payments and Services

The Chief Statistician has released new experimental figures on farm greenhouse gas emissions. Results show that gross emissions have been stable for most of Scotland’s main farm types over the last three years.

The results include new estimates of emission intensity and nitrogen use at farm level and for Scotland’s main farm types.

The analysis shows that nitrogen balance, the amount of nitrogen that might be lost to the environment, is lower on average in 2021-22 than the first estimate made in 2019-20.

New data on nitrogen use efficiency, the proportion of nitrogen used, allows for better comparison of farms and a view across types of farming.

Based on a sample of real commercial farms, these new data offer the potential for more detailed analysis of options for improving on-farm environmental performance than has previously been possible.

Background

New estimates explore emissions and nitrogen use on Scottish farms - full press release (gov.scot)