Joe Seels farms in South Yorkshire with his family, running a beef finishing and arable business, alongside documenting day-to-day farm life through daily YouTube videos for a growing online audience.
The business finishes mainly Aberdeen Angus cattle, supported by wheat, barley and maize grown on farm. Straw is used for bedding, muck is exchanged for straw locally and additional grain is sourced from neighbouring farmers, creating a closely integrated system.
Following his first carbon assessment, Joe took advantage of the PRISM Sustainability Grant to support the reseeding of grassland. Since then, carbon benchmarking has helped identify further opportunities within the finishing enterprise, while reinforcing the importance of farmers measuring and communicating their own carbon performance.
A key focus has been days on farm. Joe is targeting stronger stores that can be finished within around 90 to 120 days, while taking a more decisive approach to cattle that are not performing, rather than carrying them for longer without sufficient gain.
The business has also looked closely at fuel and feed efficiency. On fuel, tractors are now switched off during straw blowing, rather than being left idling while bands are cut. On feed, ration management remains central to achieving efficient liveweight gain and reducing days to slaughter.
For Joe, PRISM 2030 is helping identify where small, measurable changes can support both carbon efficiency and margin. By sharing his farm’s progress through his online channels, he is also giving farmers and consumers greater insight into the decisions behind efficient beef production.