Good for the planet is good for your pocket

We heard speakers from the Farm Advisory Service talk about profitable ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from agricultural businesses.

Scotland has a reputation as a climate change leader and our farmers and crofters already play a vital role as custodians of our land and environment.

Though it can feel like it’s a long way away, the impacts of climate change are real and evident, and farmers are among the first to see them.

A warmer, wetter climate brings new diseases like bluetongue, and the wider spread of old diseases like liver fluke. Extremes of heat and cold, storms and droughts, at unseasonable times of year, are becoming more frequent, and 2016 looks certain to be the world’s warmest year since before the last ice age. There’s no question that weather patterns are changing, and that farmers are on the front line.

There are two factors farmers need to consider – adapting to a changed and changing climate, and mitigating climate change by reducing emissions too.

Agriculture suffers more than most from climate change, but it is also the source of almost a quarter of all of Scotland’s greenhouse gas emissions. One of the big problems is the types of gas that are a by-product of farming practices. Methane makes up almost half of Scottish agriculture’s emissions, because it is 25 times worse than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. Nitrous oxide accounts for over a quarter of our emissions, because it is almost 300 times worse than carbon dioxide. So our challenge is to reduce these gases without reducing the amount of food we produce.

The good news for farmers is that the secret to reducing these emissions is efficiency. Tackling greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture is one of those rare times when everyone really can win: because what’s good for the planet is good for your pocket.

Last year, farmers spent £169 million on fertiliser and lime. If you can get your pH and nutrient balance right, make best use of organic fertiliser and incorporate clover into your grassland, you will cut emissions and bills at the same time.

The single most important factor in cutting emissions from cattle and sheep is how many days it takes to get them to the abattoir. Getting them to slaughter weight a month or two earlier will reduce emissions and cut your own costs.

The key to knowing where to look for inefficiencies is to find out your carbon footprint. That’s the starting point, and it’s why we’re funding around 1200 free carbon audits over the next 5 years through the Farm Advisory Service.

This is an example of our commitment to help you in ways that work for your own farm. We are spending £4.6 million on the Farm Advisory Service each year, £45 million on the Beef Efficiency Scheme, and millions more through a range of SRDP schemes and advisory programmes.

Steps like these have helped us meet our world-leading emissions reduction target six years early, but we cannot afford to be complacent.

In January we will publish a draft Climate Change Plan, setting out how we intend to meet our statutory emissions reduction targets, covering all the emitting sectors such as transport, housing, energy and so on. For agriculture, we will propose new policies which build on the successes so far, to support you in cutting your emissions and making more money at the same time.

Agriculture is the bedrock of the rural economy. The sector’s many iconic brands are a vital part of our global reputation. I greatly value the work of Scotland’s farmers and the Scottish Government is determined to help you make choices which increase profits and cut emissions."