{"id":2880,"date":"2020-02-05T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-02-05T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/?p=2880"},"modified":"2020-02-05T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-02-05T08:00:00","slug":"back-to-basics-how-uk-farmers-can-achieve-the-governments-clean-air-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www-dev.promar-international.com\/it\/back-to-basics-how-uk-farmers-can-achieve-the-governments-clean-air-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Back to basics: how UK farmers can achieve the government\u2019s clean air goals"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong>By Tom Gill<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\"><strong>After countless delays, the government launched its clean air strategy in January \u2014 only to leave the majority of farmers puzzled about what is actually being expected of them.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It might have been\ndescribed as a \u2018world-leading\u2019 proposal to help farmers cut their business\u2019\nenvironmental impact, but in reality it ended up being little more than bold\nstatements about how change might be achieved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And with pledges to hold\nmore discussions to agree the investments required, the strategy didn\u2019t provide\nproducers with any solid ideas about exactly what they were expected to do, and\nhow they could achieve meaningful change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s no doubt that\ncollectively the industry needs to take action to reduce its impact on air\nquality. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the UK, agriculture accounts for about 87% of ammonia emissions, which is harmful when it interacts with other air pollutants to create Fine Particulates (pm 2.5).\u00a0 PM 2.5 are not just damaging to the environment, but to human health too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"is-style-underline wp-block-heading\">New regulations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>To tackle the problem, the\nstrategy promised new regulation to encourage low-emission farming techniques\nand lower levels of fertiliser use, backed by financial support to help farmers\ninvest in infrastructure and equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As well as making money\navailable for environmental improvements through the Agriculture Bill, the\nstrategy pointed to \u00a33m made available last year through the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/guidance\/catchment-sensitive-farming-reduce-agricultural-water-pollution\">Catchment Sensitive Farming (CSF)\npartnership<\/a>\nto pay for specialist advice, training and grants in \u2018priority areas\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It doesn\u2019t take an expert\nto realise these funds are finite, and unlikely to cover the major\ninfrastructure changes needed to make the significant improvements on the\nstrategy\u2019s wish-list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s more, while advice might be available for priority areas, what support is available to farmers whose businesses fall outside these zones, but are still having an environmental impact?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"is-style-underline wp-block-heading\">Perplexing permits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The biggest challenge for\nfarmers, however, lies the strategy\u2019s plans to extend environmental permits by\n2025 for dairy and intensive beef producers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With no real indication of\nthe objectives of such a scheme &#8211; and no explanation of what constitutes an\nintensive system &#8211; farmers have no clear understanding of what expectations a\npermit scheme will mean, or what type of infrastructure they\u2019ll need to adhere\nto it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That lack of clarity is\ncritical, as the permit will be applied to sectors of agriculture which have\nnever had to do anything like this before, and without proper information, the\nissue risks becoming bewildering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s more, given that adhering to these permits might require investment to improve farm infrastructure, there could be costs that not every business will be able to swallow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"is-style-underline wp-block-heading\">Back to basics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>So does that mean that the\nissue is a lost cause for farmers before they\u2019ve even started to tackle the\nproblem? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Thankfully, no, but it does\nrequire recognition that it\u2019s not just significant, long-term investments that\nwill drive improvements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The answer for many farmers\nis to go back to first principles and identify simple measures they can take\nnow, which will not only drive change, but improve their farm operations in the\nlong-run.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This will involve looking\nat their business strategically, finding where improvements can be made, and\nevolving business plans to factor in those changes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For those that feel they\nneed help doing something like that, calling in an expert &#8211; like your local\nPromar Environment consultant &#8211; can be a good place to start. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"is-style-underline wp-block-heading\">Know your risks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>In essence, however, it requires focusing on three key steps, the first being preparation. It\u2019s important to know your risks, which means understanding your farm\u2019s baseline, and where the pinch points might exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The second step is to\nidentify the low-hanging fruit &#8211; those simple improvements which are in easy\nreach &#8211; and find ways to address them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Making a start with the\nmost obvious issues &#8211; such as checking that protein levels in livestock diets\nmatch animals\u2019 nutritional needs, maximising slurry and manure through\nintegrated nutrient management planning, or using a contractor who has\nlow-emission spreading equipment &#8211; will not only save your businesses money,\nbut help to drive improvements and environmental performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"is-style-underline wp-block-heading\">Planning for change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p> The third step is around building a plan for long-term change, and understanding how you can integrate that plan within your business plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This requires critical\nthinking around how you intend to grow and operate your business in future, as\nwell as the considerations you might need to make to have the right buildings\nand infrastructure in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Whatever you do though,\nlooking at the challenge sooner rather than later is critical, as taking these\nsimple steps now will mean you have as long as possible to start preparing for\nany bigger changes you need to make in the years ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Tom Gill After countless delays, the government launched its clean air strategy in January \u2014 only to leave the majority of farmers puzzled about what is actually being expected of them. It might have been described as a \u2018world-leading\u2019 proposal to help farmers cut their business\u2019 environmental impact, but in reality it ended up [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":258,"featured_media":2881,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[],"abs_type":[7],"pro_group":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.1 (Yoast SEO v19.10) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Back to basics: how UK farmers can achieve the government\u2019s clean air goals - Promar Italy DEV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In the UK, agriculture accounts for about 87% of ammonia emissions, which is harmful when it interacts with other air pollutants to create Fine Particulates (pm 2.5). 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