Charles Abel • BCPC/Farmers Club Technical Seminar
Climate response Climate change will remodel UK agriculture and the countryside. The fourth Farmers Club/ British Crop Production Council seminar investigated the challenges and opportunities Dr Ceris Jones
“Farm businesses – supported by Government – must be proactive about forward planning and futureproofing for a changing climate” Environment Minister Rebecca Pow MP.
Prof Steven Penfield
Stephen Howe
Ross Newham
Rebecca Pow MP
FARMING can adapt to climate change, and be a big part of the solution, if it proactively pursues a balanced approach, delegates heard at a key on-line seminar organised by The Farmers Club and the British Crop Production Council, chaired by BCPC’s Stephen Howe. Defra twin-track Whilst Government recognised farming was especially vulnerable to what is now inevitable climate change, farmers needed to play their part in responding to the challenge, and there is ‘much more to do’ , insisted Defra Under Secretary of State Rebecca Pow, via video link. Government will take strong action on climate change, through the Agriculture Bill, Environment Bill, Clean Growth Strategy and National Food Strategy (Part 2). So, whilst technological fixes are part of the solution, integrating responses with biodiversity and nature is ‘very important’. “Adapting to this climate crisis in a fast-changing world, and being able to protect and enhance our environment, whilst at the same time producing food healthily and sustainably, is really important. “This means de-carbonising while using nature-based solutions and promoting biodiversity, for example, trees planted alongside farmland
08 • The Farmers Club Winter 2020
to sequester carbon to offer benefits for flood management, soil stability, biodiversity and recreation, making farming livelihoods more diversified and resilient,” she suggested. The Environmental Land Management scheme would be the ‘cornerstone’ of agricultural policy, paying farmers to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and sequester carbon. Benchmarking and carbon accounting tools could help pinpoint emissions on individual farms. She noted that 570,000ha of the best and most versatile land was currently at considerable risk of flood-related damage. That was expected to rise to 750,000ha if temperatures rise by 2°C, and 940,000ha if they rise by 4°C. Net Zero achievable Net Zero agriculture emissions can be hit by 2040 – a full decade ahead of the Government’s national target – if a three-strand approach is pursued, countered NFU Climate Change Adviser Dr Ceris Jones. The journey had only just begun, and was an industry-wide effort, which may not mean every farm could hit the goal, she noted. And while the Environmental Land Management scheme could help, it was not enough on its own.
