Scottish Government statistics show a fall in agricultural greenhouse gas emissions by 2.9% (0.2 MtCO2e) between 2019 and 2020. This means Scottish farming's total emissions are down 14.9% since 1990.

The reductions can be seen across all of the three main types of greenhouse gases created by food production – CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide.

Welcoming the news, NFU Scotland’s climate change policy manager, Kate Hopper, said: “It is fantastic to see the hard work already ongoing across Scotland by our farmers and crofters to mitigate GHG emissions on farm reflected in the statistics published today.

“Unlike other industries which may be expecting a bounce back in emissions as they move on from the impacts of Covid-19, Scottish agriculture maintained production in challenging times and kept the nation fed during the pandemic. This means the fall in CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide announced today are a clear sign of the industry's commitment to meeting its climate change goals.

“NFUS is working with the Scottish Government on how best to support Scottish farms and crofts to reduce their emissions. While there is still a lot more work to do to get to net zero, these figures show that with the right future policy support Scottish agriculture can get there," said Ms Hopper.

Read more: Watching our step on carbon footprints…

“This includes the Scottish Government’s recently launched National Test Programme which is working towards baselining and more accurate reporting of on-farm GHGs. The programme will also be leading work into what on farm actions best reduce emissions.

“Our members have been working hard carrying out carbon audits to identify where improvements can be made, along with their on-farm energy use, switching to renewables, and looking at how to reduce the inputs they use.

“Going forwards we also need to look at how the UK’s national inventory records GHG emissions. All carbon sequestration is currently recorded against the land use sector, including measures such as tree planting carried out on our farms. Farms have huge potential to store carbon, and we would like to see this balanced against our emissions, whilst we continue to produce high quality, sustainable, healthy Scottish food.”