Farmers being challenged on their environmental performance

PRESS RELEASE
(Embargoed until 23rd April 2010)

A new survey released by Farming Futures – an industry-led project which helps farmers respond to climate change – reveals that one in four farmers have noticed increased interest from customers in their environmental performance over the past year.

The release of the survey findings coincides with today’s launch of Farming Futures’ new website and blog.

53% of those surveyed recognise that addressing climate change offers potential business opportunities – a significant rise on last year – and the number of farmers producing their own energy has doubled. Almost half are taking action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from their land (48%), and one in three (31%) farmers are doing something to adapt to the impacts of climate change.

Encouragingly, almost half (47%) of farmers are confident that the industry’s target to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 11% by 2020 can be met . And a massive 47% are improving energy efficiency on their farm.

Other key findings from the survey are:

• Pig and poultry farmers came out top in reducing GHGs from their farms, with 63% and 58% respectively saying they were taking action.
• The East Midlands and Yorkshire & Humber came out top in terms of reducing GHGs from their farms, with 61% and 56% respectively saying they were taking action.
• Veg and potato growers and pig farmers came out top in adapting to the impacts of climate change, with 47% and 45% respectively saying they were taking action.
• The West Midlands and the East Midlands came out top in adapting to the impacts of climate change, with 45% and 39% saying they were taking action.
• 74% think that producers should work more closely with processors and retailers to combat climate change.
• 82% think that farmers should work together and share ideas more to combat climate change, which could include setting up buying/sharing cooperatives, or ‘knowledge’ cooperatives.
• 88% said that rising input prices were making them more efficient with their resources, an increase on last year.
• Farmers are increasingly interested in measuring their farm’s carbon footprint – 36% compared to 31% last year.

The survey comes on the back of a big year for farming, during which Government legislation, the Feed-in Tariffs, media debates on the environmental impact of food production, and rising energy and input costs have put farming in the spotlight.

Madeleine Lewis, Farming Futures Strategic Advisor says: “The last year has brought a lot of developments in the agricultural sector and climate change is now firmly on the agenda. Government targets around greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, renewable energy and food security are challenging us to rethink the way we farm. These issues aren’t going to go away – by engaging with them and making changes, you can take advantage of the opportunities and manage the risks.”

“Like every sector of the economy, farming has its role to play in the shift to a low carbon economy, but the good news is that a lot of the things farmers can do are good for their bottom line too. And it’s not all about big investments – as we can see from the survey results, almost half of farmers are improving the energy efficiency on their farm – these smaller actions are just as important.”

The new Farming Futures website and blog has been designed as a ‘one-stop-shop’ to help farmers discover and share what actions they can take on their farm that will reduce their environmental impact.

The new website has five video case studies of farmers who are exploring new technologies and ways of working to reduce their environmental impact. There’s also a film outlining the business case for engaging with the issues, featuring Sir Don Curry and the Rt Hon Nick Herbert MP. Farmers are encouraged to contribute to the blog to share ideas and information with other farmers. The website will also list Farming Future’s series of free on-farm events across England which begin in the summer.

ENDS

For more information, please contact: 
Madeleine Lewis, Strategic Adviser, Forum for the Future
07966 042535 / 020 7324 3682 / m.lewis@forumforthefuture.org

Case studies are available on request.

Notes to editors

Survey statistics

1.    More farmers in the South East had noticed an increased interest in their farm’s environmental performance by customers in the last year than other regions (36% had noticed increased interest in the last year). In terms of sector, vegetables and potatoes growers had noticed this the most (34%) and horticulture (29%).
2.    In 2009, 48% of farmers thought that climate change presented more risks than opportunities and 35% of farmers thought that it presented equal opportunities and risks. In 2010, the percentage of farmers that thought there were more risks had decreased to 31% and the percentage that believed there were equal opportunities and risks had risen to 53%. The number of farmers who thought that there were more opportunities than risks remained roughly the same (16%).
3.    The opportunities from climate change that farmers cited included: ability to grow new crops warmer weather, generating energy, longer growing seasons, new markets, and better prices for products.
4.    The risks from climate change that farmers listed included: floods, unpredictable weather, and droughts.
5.    The best-performing regions in terms of adapting to climate change were the West Midlands (45%) and the East Midlands (39%). The best-performing sectors were vegetables and potatoes (47%) and pigs (45%). The worst performing regions were the South West and East Anglia (both 27%) and the worst performing sectors were arable and horticulture (both 20%).
6.    The best-performing regions in terms of taking action to reduce GHG emissions from the farm were East Midlands (61%) and Yorkshire & Humber (56%). The best-performing sectors were pigs (63%) and poultry (58%). The worst performing regions were East Anglia (33%) and the West Midlands (43%). The worst performing sectors were veg and potatoes (43%) and sheep (44%).
7.    The most common actions to reduce GHG emissions that farmers cited were reducing fuel use/using more efficient machinery, using or producing alternative energy, energy efficiency, and reducing fertiliser/chemical usage.
8.    Farmers in the dairy sector were most confident that they could cut GHGs from their farm by 11% by 2020 (62%). Regionally, farmers in the North West (53%) and Yorkshire & Humber (51%) were most confident.
9.    58% said that the current economic situation had not made climate change seem less important.

About the survey

10.    The Farming Futures Climate Change Survey was conducted by Associa Research. A sample of 414 farmers from England was surveyed from the NFU database offering statistical reliability of 95% with a margin of error of +/-5% (based on approximately 55,000 NFU members).
11.    Target sub-sample quotas were set at 40 farmers from each region of England and 40 from each farm type in order to ensure representation.
12.    Interviews were carried out by telephone and Computer Aided Telephone Input (CATI) between the 15th February and 3rd March 2010.

About Farming Futures

13.    Farming Futures provides information and inspiration for farmers and land managers via fact sheets, case studies and a series of practical, on-farm events. See www.farmingfutures.org.uk for more information.  
14.    Farming Futures is an industry-led collaborative project between the NFU, CLA, AIC, AHRF, Forum for the Future and Defra to communicate practical action on climate change. Farming Futures is funded by Defra’s Farming for the Future Programme and Act on CO2 until March 2011. The Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) and Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) joined the partnership in March 2010.
15.    The farming and land management sector was responsible for 48.4MtCO2e in 2008, or about 7.7% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions. Most of these emissions are caused by livestock, fertilisers, and fuel use in farming.