This project will establish a **Centre for High Carbon Capture Cropping** (**CH Cx3**). The diverse team will work together on a selected set of four crop groups (already known to be associated with high carbon-capture potential). The team will ensure Project outcomes and outputs will be made available to farmers and government via a central knowledge hub dealing with dissemination and outreach. CHCx3 will evaluate and develop the potential for increased carbon (C) capture within UK agriculture by improving these crops' ability to capture and store Carbon-dioxide. In addition to capturing atmospheric Carbon-dioxide from the air and storing it in the soil, we will consider how the crops themselves can be used in production of: new products made from those crops. These include substitutes bricks/breeze blocks, fabrics and chip-board. Energy-crops substitute for gas/oil. In short, replacing non-renewable, carbon-intensive production materials where possible. Diversifying crop species (e.g., hemp and flax in sustainable building materials) and crops to feed livestock production systems (e.g., diverse grass and flower mixtures) has the potential to increase farm resilience, reduce crop inputs and help improve the environment. Addressing climate change goals requires that farmers and industry using and selling crop products (known as value-chains) have confidence in economically viable crop production. strengthening and piloting components of value-chains is a major component of the project. We will help farmers to deliver government incentive schemes, such as the 'Environmental Land Management' scheme (ELM) which, through payments, enables farmers to hit targets for broader public good.  CHCx3 brings together businesses, growers, industry-experts and other stakeholders; evaluates economic returns and validates anticipated climate-change mitigation and emissions reductions on-farm and through product-use by discussion, rigorous testing and life cycle analysis. Farmers and other stakeholders will be able to access data from the project through two user friendly Webpage-based 'Apps', one of which is already being developed in a recently funded sister project. Networking, knowledge exchange grower/user interaction and engagement with policy-makers are at the heart of the **CHCx3** hub; continued activity and growth is guaranteed through App development and recruitment of farmers; assisted by national membership groups such as the National Farmers Union, FarmED, NIAB and the British, Northern-Irish and Scottish Hemp Associations. Breeding work will continue too following completion The main 'Green House Gas (GHG) emission considered is carbon-dioxide, but a second key GHG will be reduced through reduced use of nitrogen-based fertilisers; namely nitrous-oxide emissions; this will also be quantified.

The UK Processors and Growers Research Organisation will lead this ambitious national research programme with 200 UK farms and 18 partners to design an environmentally transformative, economically sustainable arable rotation system to optimise crop rotations for climate benefit. UK farming accounts for 10% of the UK's total GHG emissions p/a (46.3 MT), 68% of total UK nitrous oxide emissions, 47% of total methane emissions and 1.7% of total CO2\. Arable cropping significantly contributes to these figures, utilising 596,496T of Nitrogen fertiliser p/a. Existing emission estimates are for individual crops, and the impact of these in successive rotational cropping remains unquantified. This project will investigate three opportunity gaps: (i) replacement of 20% of national grain crops with pulses and legumes rotations to establish a net zero farming pathway, (ii) the nutritional and financial feasibility of replacing feed grains (currently representing 70% of the UK grain market) with legumes in 30% national livestock feed and (iii) create a market for this additional yield. The proposed system outputs would contribute to UK Net Zero goals with a total potential reduction of 1.5MT CO2e p/a of the maximum potential 2.8MT for UK agriculture (Defra Agri Climate Report, 2021) in the following ways. * Removal of 233,000T of nitrogen fertiliser and 0.55MT (CO2e) - a 1.2% national reduction - by increasing pulse and legume cropping areas to the rotational optimum of 20% (1M Ha) across UK farms. * Use of subsequent produce in animal feed substitution (replacing 50% of imported soya meal) delivering a further 0.7MT CO2e reduction. * Delivery of a residual N benefit to following crops, leading to an additional 0.25MT CO2e (0.5%). * Delivering a national cost saving to farming of £1032M p/a, by removing 20% of N fertiliser across UK growers and 1.8MT soya imports respectively from the UK farming supply chain. * A policy tool that leads to the adoption of more measures and cost-effective solutions for reducing agricultural GHGs that fit with the farm business' (source: Defra Agri-Climate Report, October 2021). * A set of farmer and grower case studies that can be used to educate and inform the national farming community of the environmental and financial benefits of the research solution. We propose a technologically and financially accessible system for farmers/growers to achieve 100% uptake of a nationally resilient and sustainable food system. Secondary benefits will be the reduction of carbon footprint associated with the domestic replacement of 1.8MT of soya imports p/a.

Agriculture provides 61% of the raw materials for the wider UK agri-food industry which is worth ~£108bn of GVA to the national economy and provides \>3.7 million jobs. The agri-food sector generates ~£18bn of gross export earnings for the UK per year (NFU,2017). Agriculture accounts for 10% of total GHG emissions in the UK (CCC,2020). Globally, agriculture, forestry and land use accounts for 18% of GHG emissions. Organisations such as the NFU have set a goal for net-zero GHG emissions from agriculture in England and Wales by 2040 to support the UK's ambition of achieving net-zero by 2050 (NFU,2020). Farm Carbon Toolkit, Agrimetrics, Velcourt and Crop Health and Protection Limited (CHAP) fuse together expert agronomists and data scientists with global-leaders in farm GHG emissions to create Farm Carbon Connect. This Industrial Research project will exploit new ways to innovate and deliver an advanced carbon calculator for modelling the whole-farm carbon footprint as well as improving access to and interoperability of data between digital tools used by the agri-sector. The consortium's approach to developing meaningful, accurate and engaging farm carbon data, supports FCT's long-term goal of empowering and inspiring farmers and the wider food system to meet its net-zero goals, while building resilient, equitable businesses. This project is anticipated to deliver transformative effects for FCT by opening new markets, generating revenues and team growth through partnerships with farmers, agronomists, and businesses by providing innovative solutions that will benefit the UK economy.