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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: footprinting
Dr Karen Wonnacott spoke at the Dairy and the 21st Century Diet: Nutrition and Sustainability conference on the 27th January. We managed to catch her for a few minutes to ask how the dairy road map is progressing and what her one wish for the sector...
Karen Wonnacott~Tuesday, 15 March, 2011 - 13:46 | 0 comments
Farmers, landowners and hundreds of communities across the country will be the biggest losers following the Coalition Government’s threatened backtracking over funding for community scale solar energy schemes. That’s why we’re launc...
Mark Shorrock~Tuesday, 22 February, 2011 - 09:30 | 0 comments
The last year has seen tectonic shifts in the way we will live our lives. The new government has heralded a new dawn of politics and with it slipped in a few words that we have all been challenged to define in the next five years. It is like being gi...
Paul C~Wednesday, 26 January, 2011 - 11:12 | 3 comments
A material produced from cow milk protein that is strong enough for commercial use, yet biodegradable, could replace traditional Styrofoam packaging say US scientists. The casein protein found in milk is already used to make adhesives or paper coatin...
Madeleine Lewis~Thursday, 30 December, 2010 - 09:00 | 0 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
There is one critical issue in securing our future food security that is missing from the global policy agenda: we are facing the end of cheap and readily-available phosphate fertilizer on which intensive agriculture is totally dependent. The supply...
Dr Isobel Tomlinson~Tuesday, 30 November, 2010 - 11:43 | 3 comments
Let’s be clear – big livestock units are not bound to be bad. It depends, as with small units, how well designed they are and how well run they are. The vast majority of the UK public enjoys eating livestock products and values them as an...
Dr Duncan Pullar~Friday, 22 October, 2010 - 16:35 | 0 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
Along with others from the Committee on Climate Change (CCC), I recently visited Crouchlands Farm, a 750 cattle dairy business in West Sussex. It’s home to Gwyn Jones, the NFU’s Vice President. We were there to tour the farm’s newly...
Kavita Srinivasan~Wednesday, 29 September, 2010 - 16:04 | 0 comments
Efficient farming or factory farming? In the last 12 months, several proposals to create ‘super dairies’ or ‘super piggeries’ have hit the headlines. It’s creating a stir in both the farming community and the general pub...
Jules Hayward~Monday, 27 September, 2010 - 11:22 | 0 comments
New technology has, throughout history, brought significant changes to the way we farm and RTK GPS is no exception. It brings pass-to-pass, year-on-year precision to within 2cm, a substantial improvement on previous GPS technologies. Within agr...
Edd Banks~Thursday, 9 September, 2010 - 10:22 | 0 comments
I am currently on a study tour in New Zealand looking at how they are dealing with the issues of greenhouse gas (GHG) production from beef and sheep systems.Like many visitors, my first impression of New Zealand is just how green it is, even in their...
Dr Duncan Pullar~Thursday, 26 August, 2010 - 10:32 | 0 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
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
With the Fuel Quality Directive coming into force in early 2011, growers supplying wheat and oilseed rape for the biofuels market could be missing out on financial rewards by not having control over the information that they own.
The Directive is dr...
Richard Martin~Tuesday, 22 June, 2010 - 12:11 | 0 comments
The world has gone Carbon crazy – and for good reason. But with all the talk of carbon reduction commitments, greenhouse gas action plans and carbon labelling on crisp packets have we missed a bigger issue looming on the landscape?
Water...
Claire Wyatt~Wednesday, 2 June, 2010 - 14:41 | 2 comments