Despite opposition from the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU), policy officials within DAERA have pressed on with plans to carbon audit NI farms, with a contract awarded to supply and maintain a carbon calculator.

The contract, worth £2.5m excluding VAT, has been won by Sans Souci Consulting Ltd, a small Belfast-based company, who will work alongside English-based Ricardo-AEA to deliver the service.

Ricardo will be familiar to some NI farmers through its work on the Renewable Heat Incentive scheme on behalf of the Department for the Economy.

The estimated contract dates for the carbon footprinting project run from 4 July 2026 to 3 July 2028, with a possible extension to 3 July 2030. Over that period the DAERA contract notice states that the calculator will be used “on all NI farms and requires 28,400 farm carbon footprints to be completed.”

Delayed

A contract to supply a carbon calculator was originally published in 2024, but the process was delayed due to a legal challenge after a preferred supplier was identified.

The tender notice was finally published again on 2 December 2025.

Since 2024, the UFU stance on carbon auditing has hardened, with its president, John McLenaghan recently making clear that members do not support carbon auditing being imposed on farmers, or it becoming a condition for future farm support payments.

With the UFU not onside, it makes it more difficult for the department to achieve audits across all farms, although there is still the potential it could become a future condition of farm support.

Requirements

Written into the current Farm Sustainability Payment regulations are requirements that farmers must sign up and do training in the Soil Nutrient Health Scheme by 15 May 2027 and the Bovine Genetics Project by 15 May 2028, or risk penalties being applied.

However, the regulations do not currently mention carbon audits, so if it is to be linked to future support, an amendment will be necessary – to do that will require support from politicians at Stormont and without farmer backing, that looks very unlikely at this stage.