The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
NFU sets out its plans to tackle gas emissions
Proposals to make UK net-zero by 2040
Bigger hedgerows, precision delivery of fertilisers and improving the health of cattle and sheep are among plans from farmers to slash greenhouse gases.
The NFU in England and Wales has ambitions for Britain’s farming sector to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040, a decade ahead of the UK economy as a whole, and has published a report on how to achieve it.
It aims to cut emissions from farming practices, increase the ability of land to store more carbon, and focus on renewable energy and products that remove carbon from the atmosphere.
Farms produce about a tenth of UK greenhouse gases but only 10% of that is carbon dioxide, while 40% is nitrous oxide from things like fertilisers and 50% is methane from livestock.
Agricultural emissions are down 16% overall since 1990 but progress has been “modest” since 2011 the report says.
Action taken on farms could include improving cattle and sheep health to cut methane emissions, precision farming for crops to deliver nutrients and pesticides more efficiently, and reducing soil compaction to reduce the need for cultivation and cut nitrogen emissions.
Ways farms can store more carbon include bigger hedgerows, more woodland and boosting the carbon storage of soil.
NFU president Minette Batters said: “We aspire to be producing the most climate-friendly food in the world.
“The NFU is calling for government support for improving productivity, enhancing hedgerows, planting trees, restoring peatland and backing for landbased renewables and new building materials.”