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Farmers View 8th December 2008

From the time I started out in the industry myself, only to be hit over the head by the introduction of milk quotas, to the time I handed over the day-to-day running of the farm to my son while we were coming to terms with Nitrate Vulnerable Zones, farming was simply a series of new regulations and steep learning curves.   On many an occasion, just as I thought I had come to terms with one new set of principles, something completely new would come along to make my life more complicated.   If any of you were beginning to feel comfortable, I have some bad news for you.   It turns out that, along with all our other crimes, we have been causing global warming!

I must admit that I have often joked with farmers, and sometimes with civilians too, that it is hard for anyone who has ever tried to make a living as a farmer in Scotland to see that there is any downside to global warming.   Even the scientists who specialise in the field admit that there is land in Scotland which is currently not farmed but which may become usable in the next 30 to 50 years.   Sadly though, the downside of this for farmers will be another huge raft of regulation.

Having seen the figures for the emission of climate change gases in Scotland, most of the major polluters are the industries which we all could have guessed at.   The generation of electricity is near the top of the league with our overdependence on coal and gas as fuel for our power stations.   Transport is another offender since, unless you are prepared to walk or get on your bike, everything else is burning oil.   Heating our homes is also one of the biggest sources of climate change gases.   Who would have thought, however, that farming would be one of the “big four”?   Surprisingly though, that is where we find ourselves yet, until recently, we had almost avoided the charge.

Our co-accused are all producing high volumes of carbon dioxide, the primary 'greenhouse' gas.   When the Climate Change Bill was first proposed, CO2 reduction was the primary objective and, while farming produces some, we are not in the big league.   As we move closer to the publication of the Scottish Climate Change Bill, expected before the year end, pressure to include a range of other gases has drawn our farmers to the centre of the stage.

On the issue of CO2, farmers have been doing reasonably well in recent years.   The drive for efficiency has meant bigger but fewer tractors and combines.   The reduction of CO2 emissions was not the objective but it seems to have been a useful side effect.

The next most significant polluter is methane and that is where we begin to fall down.   Now, before we all set off to find ways to stop a cow from belching, commendable though the effort might be, the real problem is with intensive livestock production where high stocking density and slurry handling is involved.   My former profession as a dairy farmer made me well aware of the processes involved.

Next on the list is nitrates.   Many of us know full well that we were, to some extent unfairly, blamed for the 'utrification' of our rivers prior to the introduction of NVZ's since we knew that most of the nitrates were leaching into the air, not the water.   This fact has now come back to haunt us and there is nowhere to hide.   The Climate Change Bill will change our businesses and our lives in a number of ways.

Government might have to act to create a livestock industry which is less intensive and therefore less polluting, or alternatively, the industry might find ways to capture and re-use methane turning a waste product into a by-product.

Government might have to take action to reduce the level of cropping in order to stop nitrate leaching, or alternatively, farmers may change their management to make more efficient use of fertilisers and cut their input costs.

Government might sit back and do nothing while breeding sheep and cattle are forced off our hills but farmers, with a little help in the right places, may continue with smaller numbers of stock while exploiting support to diversify into areas like forestry, which actually has the potential to reverse the trend of climate change.

Like every other threat which has come our way from Government, the Climate Change Bill will bring with it opportunities.   I will never underestimate the ability of farmers to adapt and seek out new opportunities when they present themselves.   I am confident that we will rise to this new challenge.