Farmers are under increasing pressure to improve their environmental credentials with the opening of the Sustainable Farming Incentive in 2022.
Three livestock producers share their experiences with environmental management and the plans they have for the future.
Also see: How an upland farmer adapts to survive without subsidies
Sheep
Rich Thomas, Risbury Court in Herefordshire
Rich Thomas Russell Lewis Photography
Facts about farms
Risbury Court
- 120ha (300 acres), in Higher Level Stewardship and Mid Level Stewardship
- 300 Romney cross Aberfield ewes given to a Romney / Focus Prime tup
- Lambs are sold deadweight, mainly to Tesco, but also to local butchers and restaurants
- 50 Hereford cows with pedigree
- 12ha (30 acre) apple orchard; 10ha (25 acres); arable:
What steps have taken you to be a leader in environmental management?
We were farming holistically. We aim to graze in a 30-to-90-day rotation depending upon the season and how many fields are needed. In winter we aim for 150 days. This results in more roots and soil organic matter, which improves the carbon cycle.
We can improve the soil carbon and, perhaps, the active carbon of our soils, which will lead to a better soil and grass growth.
We have reduced the amount of hedgetrimming and planted hedgerows to encourage wildlife. We also continue to use chicory and plantain to establish temporary grassland.
We didn’t have the right conditions last year to use bagged nitrogen in spring because it was so wet. I put it in the shed. We grew more grass because of better grazing management.
It was not something we could do without. It has also helped to increase the grassland legume content.
These steps have benefited your company in many ways.
We have seen the farm ecosystem become more balanced by allowing nature to flourish. More insects equals more birds, more bats, and more predatory insects like the dragonflies.
It has also decreased our costs. Low input does not necessarily mean low output. Although we may initially lose output, in the long-term, it will rise and our stocking rate increase.
What are you pledging to do in 2022
We plan to plant more trees in the Woodland Trust’s agroforestry project. Well plant willows and hazel, as well as fruit and nut trees.
The possibility of bolusing and drenching cattle and sheep by letting them explore the trees could be prevented by allowing them to browse the trees. Willow is rich with cobalt and tannins. The latter can be used to help animals self-medicate for parasites.
Cobalt must be mined. This process is known to be both environmentally and socially destructive.
Beef
David Barton Manor Farm Cirencester, Gloucestershire
David Barton AHDB
Farm facts
Manor Farm
- 100ha (255 Acres) 45ha (1111 Acres) GS4 mix and 12ha (30 Aces) cereals. Rest is permanent pasture or woodland
- 70 spring-calving Salers cross cows, served to Sussex bulls and Salers
- Dovecote Park purchased calves
- 50/50 beef and arable, now moving to beef because it is more sustainable on marginal arable lands
What steps have taken you to be a leader in environmental management?
We moved on to Countryside Stewardship after our Higher Level Stewardship ended. We have planted 45ha (111 acre) of GS4 legume rich leys to help build soil organic matter.
This will help reduce our carbon footprint. For every 0.1% increase of organic matter, we sequester 9t of carbon/ha (3,6t/acre).
The leys provide feed for cattle and financial stability over five year as we were paid 309/ha (125/acre). We rotated grazing to improve silage quality. This should reduce our carbon footprint.
My goal is to be completely carbon-neutral with beef. Our carbon footprint in March was 26.77kg carbon dioxide (CO2e/kg) for beef (excluding soilcarbon) compared to the 38.05kg CO2e/kg national average from Agrecalc.
These steps have benefited your company in many ways.
Our average age at completion has been reduced from 27 to 20 months to 20 months. We should be able reach 18 months this year. This is good for me and the environment, as well as financially.
We’ve generally cut down on the number of cattle that eat grass and have reduced our reliance on barley. It will reduce the number that we have to house in a second season, which will lower our costs.
What are you pledging to do in 2022
We will reduce nitrogen fertiliser consumption, as that is a major emitter. This can be done by planting legumes.
We will also explore direct-drill grasses and determine if we can do it with cereals.
Dairy
Tom Pattison, Willow Tree Farm Thrintoft (North Yorkshire),
Tom Pattison Arla Foods/Chris Rout
Facts about farms
Willow Tree Farm
- Family farm
- About 162ha (400 Acres) are farmed
- Herd of 290-cows
- 12,000 litres per cow per year at 4.2% fat & 3.42% protein
- Arlagarden milk contract
- You can grow winter wheat, maize, and grass.
- Cows are housed and calve all year
What steps have taken you to be a leader in environmental management?
Arla, our milk buyer conducted a climate assessment last year. It showed that we had 0.87kg CO2e/kg milk fat- and protein-corrected.
It is important to lower the age of first calving to decrease this risk.
We have changed our policy on pneumonia vaccination, which has helped reduce pneumonia by more than half and improved growth rates.
This means that heifers can now be served as young as 12 months and calved as young at 23 months. It has also reduced the use of antibiotics.
I have begun genomic-testing heifers, and breeding the top heifers to sexed semen, and the rest to Aberdeen Angus.
We use a mating program and breed for profitable lifetime indexes, mastitis resistance yields, fats, and proteins.
We also have solar panels as well as a heat exchanger that uses heat from the milk cooler in order to warm the plant-wash water.
These steps have benefited your company in many ways.
We will make the herd more healthy by selecting for mastitis resistance.
The longer cows live, the healthier they are, which will be good for the business and reduce our carbon footprint.
Calving heifers sooner means that they will produce milk quicker and that the cost of getting them there is lower. We will have fewer heifers that don’t produce, which will increase our carbon footprint.
The solar panels have reduced our summer electricity bills by half.
What are you pledging to do in 2022
To help Arla reduce carbon emissions by 30%, we are working towards a 3% reduction each year.
Next year, we will be totally soya-free. Soya is well-known for its high carbon footprint. It’s unlikely that we will ever be able to use it again. So, we are already planning for that.
We’ve begun to feed heat-treated Rapemeal. We’ve also removed soya shells and moved on with pressed sugarbeet pulp.
We want to reduce fertiliser use and make better use slurry and muck. This is done by targeting fertiliser to the fields that are most in need using soil analysis.
