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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 Farming Futures at farmingfutures@niab.com or phone 01223 342313.
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Climate news and knowledge #1
Climate News and Knowledge is our fortnightly round up of some of the main stories covering climate change and sustainable farming. This week there’s talk of water, light and super pig farms… as always, we value your comments – post them below.
Why Farming Matters in the Broads
The NFU launched its Why Farming Matters in the Broads Report, which highlights the risks that climate change and resulting sea level rise (projected to be 6mm/year) poses to East Anglian farmers. Hotter, drier summers, extended periods of low rainfall, and more extreme weather events will also mean floods, droughts, and resulting yield loss become more of a risk.
Water restrictions in Wales and the North West
Rainfall in the UK from the first five months of 2010 has been the lowest for 45 years. Some farmers may have to stop abstracting water if the dry spell continues and rivers dependent on surface water run-off, such as the River Wye, already have formal restrictions in place.
Understanding the true price for water
By 2030 global water abstraction will exceed natural renewals by 60%, according to a McKinsey Report for the Water Resources Group. Agriculture accounts for 70% of global fresh water use and so has a crucial role to play in ensuring the world and especially the poor don’t go thirsty. Australian farmers, who are considerably more used to drought conditions, have already managed to cut water use for irrigation by half without affecting output.
Lighter Later - what does it mean for farmers?
The campaigning group 10:10 launched their ‘Lighter Later’ campaign this week – they propose to put the clocks forward an extra hour in winter (GMT+1) and two hours in summer (GMT+2) to better align our working hours with the hours of daylight. This could save almost 0.5 million tonnes of carbon emissions per year, but could also provide untold knock-on benefits. An extra hour in the day is useful for any farmer (and supports a healthy life outside of the daily farming rigours) but could it also make an industry struggling for new entrants seem much more attractive?!
Zero-grazing – will it arrive?
Following on from the two ‘super dairy’ proposals in Lincolnshire, Midland Pig Producers are proposing a 2,500 sow pig farm in Derbyshire. Many argue that American-style factory farming is knocking on our door. However the industry argues it is an inevitable consequence of retailers squeezing farmers down to operate on very slim profit margins. And they claim carbon is on their side – the Carnegie Institute reported that intensive farming has actually slowed climate change since the Industrial revolution.
The findings from the
The findings from the Carnegie Institute are interesting and makes some interesting comments but it is narrow in its assessment as pointed out in the article. Intensification may have saved emissions in the past but the challenge is looking at what the emissions are now and how we can improve on that as well. We are also trying to deal with other environmental challenges such as limited natural resources, water quality and biodiversity which aren't mentioned.
Segregating the countryside so that animals live in sheds and fields grow crops on an industrial scale with areas set aside for wildlife surely isn't the right way to go. How does that support rural communities with small family farms supporting local contractors, merchants, retailers and be on a scale where the farmer can be aware of the environment around them? Otherwise we end up relying on computers telling us today to go spraying and that the crop is ready to harvest. We'll end up being the robots responding to computers rather then part of our environment.
There are more things in life then producing food as cheaply as possible for hoards of inactive people sat infront of computers all day consuming things that are completely unecessary and just creating more carbon emissions.
I do accpet though that unless the farm business can be profitable the incentive can often be to industrialise and that the answer lies with society as a whole. Whether we pay for our environment indirectly through our taxes to pay farmers to do the right thing for the environment or whether it can come through the supply chain I don't know but it has to come from somewhere.
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