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Why a blog?
The Farming Futures blog is for farmers, land managers and their advisers to discuss and debate the issue of climate change and sustainability in agriculture.
We’re interested in how you think we can produce more food for a growing population in the context of Government targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, hotter, drier summers, higher energy and input prices, and the increased consumer interest in 'low carbon' food.
This is your place to take part in the debate. Find out why we think a blog is important by clicking here.
Blogs marked with our weak signals logo explore ideas, trends, technologies or behaviour changes that are as yet unrecognised by the mainstream farming industry. They might have a big impact on future farm practices or they might disappear. They help us to challenge assumptions about the future, navigate risk and seize new opportunities. If you spot a weak signal, get in touch and we'll get it on the site.
Want to contribute? Contact Tamsin: farmingfutures@niab.com (01223 342329).
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Blog: water
Farmers in Yorkshire can apply for RDPE funding for equipment that will help them save money and be more efficient, it was announced this week.Farms can get up to £25,000 to spend on new equipment that will help them use less energy or fewer ra...
Claire Wyatt~Wednesday, 2 February, 2011 - 11:27 | 0 comments
The only way to achieve food security is to have a sustainable food system. That’s the message from Professor Tim Lang of City University’s Centre for Food Policy, who we met at the Inside Government Food Security Conference back in Novem...
Will Frazer~Thursday, 20 January, 2011 - 15:09 | 0 comments
Climate News and Knowledge is our fortnightly round up of some of the main stories covering climate change and sustainable farming. This time there is talk of rising food prices, solar farms (again), satellite observations and whether we will chang...
Will Frazer~Friday, 14 January, 2011 - 09:23 | 0 comments
The issues of food, farming and population are undeniably immense. The combination of population growth, land and water shortages, along with climate change and peak oil are the challenges that our generation of farmers are facing. So I was really ho...
Angharad Evans~Tuesday, 11 January, 2011 - 14:50 | 1 comments
Farmers are notoriously busy and time constrained. From feeding the world, GM crops and new technology, to better communications and different scales of production – there is plenty to think about. And for an eclectic mix of farmers, clerics an...
Alan Spedding~Wednesday, 1 December, 2010 - 16:27 | 0 comments
Climate News and Knowledge is our fortnightly round up of some of the main stories covering climate change and sustainable farming. This time there is talk of the impact of water on how and where we farm, big pledges from some big names, the rise of...
Will Frazer~Friday, 29 October, 2010 - 11:30 | 0 comments
Last week British MI5 officers saved a scientist from being captured by Chinese security services. She’d discovered a new cost-effective desalinization technology that the Chinese wanted, to corner the market in ‘water technology’....
Madeleine Lewis~Tuesday, 26 October, 2010 - 17:48 | 0 comments
A technology that boosts yields whilst using less energy and water, and simultaneously increases soil fertility? Sounds like a magic bullet in our climate changed world, doesn’t it? Some argue that this is what biotechnology offers, but is it t...
Will Frazer~Wednesday, 20 October, 2010 - 08:00 | 1 comments
I was recently fortunate to be invited to a meeting of LEAF farmers and growers in Lincolnshire. I had been asked to talk to them about the challenge of understanding water in the food supply chain. Speaking to farmers about water seems, on the face...
Simon Barnes~Monday, 18 October, 2010 - 14:53 | 0 comments
The first six months of this year were the driest for 80 years in the UK. There were reports of livestock being kept indoors, poor forage production, and farmers using fodder stored for winter to keep things going. With increasingly variable weather...
Howard Campion~Wednesday, 13 October, 2010 - 11:37 | 1 comments
Here in the South East many of our water sources are categorised as ‘over pressurised’ in one way or another. With a changing climate, a growing population and the food security issue looming large, that pressure is set to increase.
In 20...
Charles Carr~Wednesday, 25 August, 2010 - 09:17 | 0 comments
We know that trees are a good thing. Not only can well-managed woodland help prevent flooding, support biodiversity, replace energy-intensive construction materials, and provide biomass for energy generation, but it also is set to play a key role in...
Theresa Andrew~Thursday, 19 August, 2010 - 15:16 | 0 comments
During 2007 and 2008 the world experienced a global food crisis. Possibly the first genuinely global food crisis ever. There were riots in over 30 countries. The UN called emergency summits and meetings. India stopped exporting all rice except Basmat...
Sam Henderson~Monday, 16 August, 2010 - 12:40 | 0 comments
Climate News and Knowledge is our fortnightly round up of some of the main stories covering climate change and sustainable farming.
Here we go again…No one is saying it, but everyone is thinking it – are we going to revisit the food pri...
Will Frazer~Friday, 6 August, 2010 - 16:59 | 0 comments
Increased investment is being poured (excuse the pun) into securing water supplies for farmers and growers in East Anglia. On-farm reservoirs are flying through planning permission and food giants such as PepsiCo are investing heavily in technology,...
Will Frazer~Friday, 30 July, 2010 - 17:10 | 0 comments
A herd of 8,000 dairy cows housed indoors all year round, fed, watered and monitored for optimal health? Is it the future of ‘low carbon’ dairy farming?
You’ve probably heard the mantra: efficiency, efficiency, efficiency – it...
Madeleine Lewis~Friday, 23 July, 2010 - 08:00 | 0 comments
Are high rise farms, vertical farming, and urban farming the solution to feeding our growing population? More and more architects, politicians and urban planners are latching on to the idea that something radical has to be done to feed the world...
Valcent~Wednesday, 21 July, 2010 - 15:36 | 0 comments
In the last couple of weeks there has been talk of uncertainty about investment in AD, innovative responses to the impacts of the dry spell, spiced up sheep and super cows...
Are we getting left behind on AD?Despite encouraging noises from Governmen...
Will Frazer~Friday, 9 July, 2010 - 14:19 | 0 comments
In the North West of England a hosepipe ban is currently looming and farmers are facing restricted abstraction licenses. But despite the dry conditions water is not yet in such short supply elsewhere because of groundwater reserves. Could water trad...
Will Frazer~Friday, 9 July, 2010 - 11:38 | 1 comments
Rainfall in the first five months of 2010 was the lowest in 45 years this blog reported last week! Being located in Cheshire which is famous for green fields and lots of rainfall, water’s not always been something we’ve been worried about...
John Allwood~Friday, 2 July, 2010 - 14:54 | 0 comments