Reaping the rewards

Farmers take climate change into their own hands

It’s official, climate change has arrived in Britain. 60% of the farmers surveyed in a new Defra-funded project say the phenomenon is already affecting their land. Drier, milder or wetter weather than usual is making it harder for them to plan for seasonal activity such as harvesting, sowing and crop storage and the over-wintering of livestock. A third say they’re already making changes to the way they farm [see right].

The point of the project, run by Forum for the Future, the National Farmers’ Union, the Country Land and Business Association and the Applied Research Forum, is to raise awareness and stimulate action on climate change. So it’s encouraging that 70% are doing something about their own impact on the problem. A nursery in Essex has introduced a biomass boiler to heat its greenhouses and reduced its energy bills by 40%. A tomato grower in Sussex has insulated his glasshouses and installed a rainwater collection and reedbed filtering system. Then there’s the farmer who is cutting fuel bills as well as erosion and carbon loss from the soil by opting for low-tillage, and another who has planted cover crops to reduce the need for nitrogen fertiliser.

Jonathon Porritt, founder director of Forum for the Future, hopes these examples will “empower farmers and landowners to take matters into their own hands, to prepare their farms and their businesses to take advantage of the opportunities of climate change, as well as more effectively manage the challenges”. - Hannah Bullock

For factsheets on adapting to and combating climate change through farming, contact Katie Zabel on 0207 324 3670 or visit www.farmingfutures.org.uk

2 May 2007