West leads way on ‘greener farming’

FARMING is poised to step up its effort to tackle climate change with a raft of emissionbusting measures, according to a new report.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has set out three pillars that will help the agricultural industry to reach its ambitious goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 a whole decade ahead of the UK economy’s 2050 target.

Bigger hedgerows, planting more

woodland and improving the health of cattle and sheep are among the plans outlined in the report, titled ‘Achieving Net Zero: Farming’s 2040 Goal’ and launched in London yesterday.

Westcountry farmer and president of the NFU, Minette Batters, said British farming aspires to produce the “most climate friendly” food in the world. “Representing British farming, we recognise our unique position as both a source and a store for greenhouse gas emissions and, importantly, how we can build on our work so far to deliver climate neutral farming in the next 20 years,” she added.

And the South West, dominated by livestock farms, is “well-placed” to support the NFU’s climate change ambitions according to David George, from the South West NFU.

He told the WMN: “Many farms have solar panels or wind turbines, doing their bit to generate renewable energy. We [the South West] are at the forefront of the latest agricultural technology, propelled by the research done at places like the North Wyke Farm Platform in Devon and South West Dairy Development Centre in Somerset, among many others.”

BIGGER hedgerows, planting more trees and improving the health of cattle and sheep are among plans farmers have for slashing carbon emissions.

In a new report, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has set out three pillars that it believes will help the agricultural industry reach its ambitious goal of netzero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040 – a whole decade ahead of the UK’s 2050 target.

British farms are responsible for around a tenth of UK greenhouse gas emissions, according to the report titled ‘Achieving Net Zero: Farming’s 2040 Goal’, but only 10% of its output is carbon dioxide, while 40% is nitrous oxide from things such as fertilisers, and 50% is methane from cows and sheep.

Agricultural emissions have dropped by 16% overall since 1990, but there has been only “modest progress” since 2011, the report adds.

President of the NFU, Minette Batters, explained: “There is no doubt that climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our time and rising rapidly on the political agenda both at home and globally.

“Representing British farming, we recognise our unique position as both a source and a store for greenhouse gas emissions and, importantly, how we can build on our work so far to deliver climate neutral farming in the next 20 years.

“We aspire to be producing the

most climate-friendly food in the world.”

Setting out three pillars, the NFU aims to meet its 2040 target by:

Improving farming’s productive efficiency;

Improving land management and changing land use to capture more carbon;

Boosting renewable energy and the wider bio-economy.

The first is about reducing our own emissions, the report said, using a variety of techniques to enhance productivity and deliver the same output or more from every farm. This includes precision farming to deliver nutrients and pesticides more effectively, and reducing soil compaction to cut the need for cultivation and lessen nitrogen emissions.

Ways farms can increase their ability to store more carbon on the land include providing bigger hedgerows, more woodland and boosting the carbon storage of soils, including both peatland and wetland restoration.

The report’s third theme involves displacing emissions from fossil fuels and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere through bioenergy and bio-based materials like hemp fibre and sheep’s wool.

David George, from the South West NFU, said the region is “at the forefront” of the latest agricultural technology, propelled by cuttingedge research being done at the North Wyke Farm Platform in Devon and the South West Dairy Development Centre in Somerset, among many others.

“The South West is well-placed to support the NFU’s climate change ambitions,” he explained. “Many farms have solar panels or wind turbines, doing their bit to generate renewable energy.

“The region is ideally suited to growing grass, a very sustainable crop which cattle can then graze and turn into meat and milk.”

Mr George also cited a report compiled by the Rural Business School at Duchy College, which highlighted how sheep farming can help the environment.

“The authors found that almost 111,000 hectares of land involved in sheep production is in environmental schemes and that song birds prefer the ‘mosaic of habitats’ it creates,” he said.

“Sheep farmers have planted 627km of hedgerow and our sheep produce wool worth £2.2 million annually, a natural, sustainable fibre.”