'Soil is powerful': The Leicestershire farm where carbon-rich soil is the source of income

  • Rosie Dowsing visits the farm in Leicestershire that's generating an income from storing carbon in the soil.

A farmer in Leicestershire who became the first in the UK to sell off credits from the carbon in his soil, says time is running out for British agriculture to take action against climate change.

Hylton Murray-Philipson, who runs Blaston Farm near Market Harborough, switched to regenerative farming methods around eight years ago, after noticing the heavily-farmed soil on his land was "lifeless".

Since then, he has been able to rejuvenate his soil so that it stores high amounts of carbon, which is measured and sold as "carbon credits" to companies looking to offset their impact.

Hylton said: "For 50 years, almost no farmers put soil at the centre of their thinking, and took it for granted.

"You really need to look after your soil, and if you do that, the soil will look after you.”

After decades of constant, traditional farming methods on Blaston Farm, Hylton noticed the soil was barren and dry - and the farm even suffered flash flooding because of it.

He said: "It was lifeless, it was absolutely inert - rock solid. It had no life in it at all.

"But then we walked about 50 yards into a wood planted around 50 years ago and it was a totally different story.

"The soil was full of life, there were worms everywhere. I just thought the contrast was so extreme, we can't go on like that."

Hylton made some big changes with a focus on sustainability - from planting hundreds of trees to introducing a crop and livestock rotation system, so as not to tire the soil.

Crops and livestock are rotated at Blaston Farm to keep the soil healthy and fertile. Credit: ITV News Central

The problem with bare soil

Plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through photosynthesis, and it transfers to the soil through a plant’s roots. Soil organisms feed on these roots, locking carbon underground.

But unhealthy soil releases the carbon back into the atmosphere - especially if it has been ploughed, or left bare and dry. Whereas, if healthy soil is covered by grass, plants or cover crops, it’s almost impossible for the carbon to escape.

Typical farms often have bare soil when crops are not in season or the land has been ploughed, but on Hylton's farm it's pretty much always a sea of green.

On expansive fields of wheat and barley crops, Hylton grows a cover crop like clover underneath - so that there is coverage all year round.

It ensures the carbon is locked into the soil "where it belongs".

Hylton said: "Basically this soil is never bare, so at the moment you've got both clover and barley.

"When I remove the barley after harvest, the clover is still there converting sunlight into leaf matter and also feeding the roots.

"All the CO2 that we've been releasing for the last 50 years is being put back into the soil, where it belongs."

Bare and unhealthy soil releases carbon back into the atmosphere, whereas soil covered in plants or grass is much likelier to store carbon. Credit: ITV News Central

A sustainable income

Hylton became the first farmer in the UK to generate income from the amount of carbon he stores, by selling "carbon credits" to businesses.

It fit the sustainable ethos of the men behind Dash Water - a drinks company taking wonky surplus fruit to infuse sparkling water. The business has become one of many to offset their carbon footprint by supporting and investing in Blaston Farm.

Jack Scott, co-founder of Dash, said: "For any business, we believe starting out in should be responsible and should make as little impact as possible on the environment they are in.

"We were so excited when we met Hylton. He really is at the forefront of regenerative farming, something we wholeheartedly support.

"We buy the credits off Hylton here at Blaston, and we know exactly how much carbon we are offsetting at Dash."

Thanks to the investment from local businesses, Blaston Farm generates enough income to keep working on regeneration, rather than having the whole farm under constant pressure to produce profits from crops.

Healthy, fertile soil also means the farm doesn't have to rely on chemicals and fertilisers for their food production, which have seen prices soar after Brexit and the war in Ukraine.

Hylton with Jack Scott, a business owner who invests in carbon storage at Blaston Credit: ITV News Central

Hylton says time is running out to stop climate change, and soil could be a quick solution if more farmers put it as their top priority.

He said: “Soil has the ability to store more carbon than the rainforests and the atmosphere combined.

"So, if we are going to hit our targets of 2030, 2040, 2050, whatever it is - if we don’t harness the power of soil on a global scale, then we are not going to hit those targets.”