GFC was to go ahead - now not going ahead

Clive

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
slackjawedyokel said:
It’s quite complicated so where to start… 🤔

In 2020 Dave Lewis (CEO Tescos) moved to a senior position at World Wildlife Fund UK (WWF). There he set to work on the WWF Basket which aims to halve the environmental impact of UK shoppers ’baskets’ by 2030. He then set about signing up the supermarkets to this pledge (I think most have now signed up).
It’s been organised in this way because if supermarkets got together to decide amongst themselves how they will deal with their suppliers, that would fall foul of rules on cartels… however if they each independently sign up to a 3rd-party pledge, then that’s fine.
Amongst other things,:
View attachment 1166333

For the past few years, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) which works on behalf of supermarkets and which is a co-owner of RT has had RT develop the GFC, apparently with almost the full support of other RT governors (principally NFU and AHDB).

To be accepted onto GFC, you have to undertake various activities which are expensive in terms of your time and money. You must undertake things such as carbon audits and biodiversity surveys (or rather pay professionals to do them for you) and probably continue to do these things annually. You’d have to undertake various activities to improve on these things year on year (this would likely mean taking some land out of production in order to meet the threshold gains). There isn’t expected to be money available for doing this- you can pay for it out of your SFI money. Any premium the supermarkets may pay initially will melt away once they get a certain number of farmers doing GFC and RT decides it’s no longer voluntary but compulsory.

RT would run GFC directly, rather than have third party inspection firms do it as with Farm Assurance. They want you to pay to generate assets then hand over that data/asset to the retailers. Carbon credits and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) credits are tradeable commodities.

I think that covers the main points but I’m probably missing bits and certainly a lot of background detail.

For me, an absolute red line is that I refuse currently to undertake carbon auditing. The calculations can be done in a number of different ways, but the ones that count use a metric called GWP100. This compares the Global Warming Potential of different gasses in the atmosphere relative to carbon dioxide. It massively overstates the contribution of enteric (ruminant) methane to climate change. Other metrics (mainly GWP*) are available and model ruminant methane better, showing it as relatively climate neutral in a stable UK herd, but the powers that be don’t want to change because GWP 100 suits other interests better and takes the spotlight off the really big polluters.

What is GWP*? | AHDB

Explaining GWP-star, an alternative measure for calculating the impact of methane on the climate.
ahdb.org.uk ahdb.org.uk
Click to expand...

excellent summary 👍
 
V

vantage

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Pembs
slackjawedyokel said:
It’s quite complicated so where to start… 🤔

In 2020 Dave Lewis (CEO Tescos) moved to a senior position at World Wildlife Fund UK (WWF). There he set to work on the WWF Basket which aims to halve the environmental impact of UK shoppers ’baskets’ by 2030. He then set about signing up the supermarkets to this pledge (I think most have now signed up).
It’s been organised in this way because if supermarkets got together to decide amongst themselves how they will deal with their suppliers, that would fall foul of rules on cartels… however if they each independently sign up to a 3rd-party pledge, then that’s fine.
Amongst other things,:
View attachment 1166333

For the past few years, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) which works on behalf of supermarkets and which is a co-owner of RT has had RT develop the GFC, apparently with almost the full support of other RT governors (principally NFU and AHDB).

To be accepted onto GFC, you have to undertake various activities which are expensive in terms of your time and money. You must undertake things such as carbon audits and biodiversity surveys (or rather pay professionals to do them for you) and probably continue to do these things annually. You’d have to undertake various activities to improve on these things year on year (this would likely mean taking some land out of production in order to meet the threshold gains). There isn’t expected to be money available for doing this- you can pay for it out of your SFI money. Any premium the supermarkets may pay initially will melt away once they get a certain number of farmers doing GFC and RT decides it’s no longer voluntary but compulsory.

RT would run GFC directly, rather than have third party inspection firms do it as with Farm Assurance. They want you to pay to generate assets then hand over that data/asset to the retailers. Carbon credits and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) credits are tradeable commodities.

I think that covers the main points but I’m probably missing bits and certainly a lot of background detail.

For me, an absolute red line is that I refuse currently to undertake carbon auditing. The calculations can be done in a number of different ways, but the ones that count use a metric called GWP100. This compares the Global Warming Potential of different gasses in the atmosphere relative to carbon dioxide. It massively overstates the contribution of enteric (ruminant) methane to climate change. Other metrics (mainly GWP*) are available and model ruminant methane better, showing it as relatively climate neutral in a stable UK herd, but the powers that be don’t want to change because GWP 100 suits other interests better and takes the spotlight off the really big polluters.

What is GWP*? | AHDB

Explaining GWP-star, an alternative measure for calculating the impact of methane on the climate.
ahdb.org.uk ahdb.org.uk
Click to expand...
Lewis became CEO after the debacle when it was revealed to the public that Tesco overestimated their profits by £250 million for the year 2014.[31] Tesco had chosen Lewis to replace Clarke due to the many years of experience Lewis has gained throughout his career at Unilever working at various posts for both the national (UK) market as well as the international market.[32] Lewis also has experience working with Tesco directly, being one of Tesco's largest suppliers of brands including Dove, Vaseline and Lynx.[33]
The perfect man for the job, with brand experience!
Surprisingly no mention of WWF on his Wikipedia data.
 
R

robs1

Member
Clive said:
what a load of utter bull

i bet the NFU knew nothing about the double cab rule until the day it was announced - why would the government even bother to consult agriculture about automotive industry issues
Click to expand...
But the change wouldn't have effected many farmers in any case, even of those who are deemed employees of a farming company probably very few use it to drive to and from work or use it for personal use, that's what the range rover is for, it's only peasant farmers like me that use it as my main vehicle and I obey the rules and only claim so much of its costs.
 
D

Drillman

Member
Mixed Farmer
I haven’t read all of the Campbell ticknell review however they can make all the recommendations they like but getting the arrogant management of red tractor to go along with it when they already think there perfect is another matter altogether.

Someone let me know what day are we resigning?
 
Clive

Clive

Staff Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lichfield
robs1 said:
But the change wouldn't have effected many farmers in any case, even of those who are deemed employees of a farming company probably very few use it to drive to and from work or use it for personal use, that's what the range rover is for, it's only peasant farmers like me that use it as my main vehicle and I obey the rules and only claim so much of its costs.
Click to expand...

indeed and maybe the case - but the idea our treasury is in anyway influenced by the NFU is beyond laughable
 
E

Eronce

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
Cheshire
robs1 said:
But the change wouldn't have effected many farmers in any case, even of those who are deemed employees of a farming company probably very few use it to drive to and from work or use it for personal use, that's what the range rover is for, it's only peasant farmers like me that use it as my main vehicle and I obey the rules and only claim so much of its costs.
Click to expand...
To be fair the on of the changes was taking the 100% capital allowance off double cabs so it would affect everyone in business who wants to buy a new pick up,
But I should imagine some pressure from Toyota,Isuzu and Ford had a tad more influence than the NFU 😂
 
neilo

neilo

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Montgomeryshire
Clive said:
indeed and maybe the case - but the idea our treasury is in anyway influenced by the NFU is beyond laughable
Click to expand...

Yet Hunt stated from the dispatch box that the reason Ag managed to keep red diesel, while construction lost that rebate, was down to lobbying from the NFU?

I know you have a blinkered hatred of all things NFU, but credit should be given where it's due, even if that's not very often.
 
J 1177

J 1177

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Durham, UK
neilo said:
Yet Hunt stated from the dispatch box that the reason Ag managed to keep red diesel, while construction lost that rebate, was down to lobbying from the NFU?

I know you have a blinkered hatred of all things NFU, but credit should be given where it's due, even if that's not very often.
Click to expand...
Yes they did and thats a credit to them, so why undo all that good work and shaft farmers with their support for the gfc?
 
H

Homesy

Member
Location
North West Devon
neilo said:
Yet Hunt stated from the dispatch box that the reason Ag managed to keep red diesel, while construction lost that rebate, was down to lobbying from the NFU?

I know you have a blinkered hatred of all things NFU, but credit should be given where it's due, even if that's not very often.
Click to expand...
Cobblers. The threat of taking away the red diesel rebate is just a stick to beat us with and keep the farmers onside. Taking it away would just push up food infaltion. Never were going to do it.
If the NFU had any sense they would call Hunt's bluff and tell him to do it. Hunt has a rural seat in danger of being lost. Hardly wise to pi$$ off the farming vote any more than the Tories have already.
 
Vader

Vader

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
People's Republic of South Yorkshire
slackjawedyokel said:
It’s quite complicated so where to start… 🤔

In 2020 Dave Lewis (CEO Tescos) moved to a senior position at World Wildlife Fund UK (WWF). There he set to work on the WWF Basket which aims to halve the environmental impact of UK shoppers ’baskets’ by 2030. He then set about signing up the supermarkets to this pledge (I think most have now signed up).
It’s been organised in this way because if supermarkets got together to decide amongst themselves how they will deal with their suppliers, that would fall foul of rules on cartels… however if they each independently sign up to a 3rd-party pledge, then that’s fine.
Amongst other things,:
View attachment 1166333

For the past few years, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) which works on behalf of supermarkets and which is a co-owner of RT has had RT develop the GFC, apparently with almost the full support of other RT governors (principally NFU and AHDB).

To be accepted onto GFC, you have to undertake various activities which are expensive in terms of your time and money. You must undertake things such as carbon audits and biodiversity surveys (or rather pay professionals to do them for you) and probably continue to do these things annually. You’d have to undertake various activities to improve on these things year on year (this would likely mean taking some land out of production in order to meet the threshold gains). There isn’t expected to be money available for doing this- you can pay for it out of your SFI money. Any premium the supermarkets may pay initially will melt away once they get a certain number of farmers doing GFC and RT decides it’s no longer voluntary but compulsory.

RT would run GFC directly, rather than have third party inspection firms do it as with Farm Assurance. They want you to pay to generate assets then hand over that data/asset to the retailers. Carbon credits and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) credits are tradeable commodities.

I think that covers the main points but I’m probably missing bits and certainly a lot of background detail.

For me, an absolute red line is that I refuse currently to undertake carbon auditing. The calculations can be done in a number of different ways, but the ones that count use a metric called GWP100. This compares the Global Warming Potential of different gasses in the atmosphere relative to carbon dioxide. It massively overstates the contribution of enteric (ruminant) methane to climate change. Other metrics (mainly GWP*) are available and model ruminant methane better, showing it as relatively climate neutral in a stable UK herd, but the powers that be don’t want to change because GWP 100 suits other interests better and takes the spotlight off the really big polluters.

What is GWP*? | AHDB

Explaining GWP-star, an alternative measure for calculating the impact of methane on the climate.
ahdb.org.uk ahdb.org.uk
Click to expand...
slackjawedyokel said:
It’s quite complicated so where to start… 🤔

In 2020 Dave Lewis (CEO Tescos) moved to a senior position at World Wildlife Fund UK (WWF). There he set to work on the WWF Basket which aims to halve the environmental impact of UK shoppers ’baskets’ by 2030. He then set about signing up the supermarkets to this pledge (I think most have now signed up).
It’s been organised in this way because if supermarkets got together to decide amongst themselves how they will deal with their suppliers, that would fall foul of rules on cartels… however if they each independently sign up to a 3rd-party pledge, then that’s fine.
Amongst other things,:
View attachment 1166333

For the past few years, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) which works on behalf of supermarkets and which is a co-owner of RT has had RT develop the GFC, apparently with almost the full support of other RT governors (principally NFU and AHDB).

To be accepted onto GFC, you have to undertake various activities which are expensive in terms of your time and money. You must undertake things such as carbon audits and biodiversity surveys (or rather pay professionals to do them for you) and probably continue to do these things annually. You’d have to undertake various activities to improve on these things year on year (this would likely mean taking some land out of production in order to meet the threshold gains). There isn’t expected to be money available for doing this- you can pay for it out of your SFI money. Any premium the supermarkets may pay initially will melt away once they get a certain number of farmers doing GFC and RT decides it’s no longer voluntary but compulsory.

RT would run GFC directly, rather than have third party inspection firms do it as with Farm Assurance. They want you to pay to generate assets then hand over that data/asset to the retailers. Carbon credits and Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) credits are tradeable commodities.

I think that covers the main points but I’m probably missing bits and certainly a lot of background detail.

For me, an absolute red line is that I refuse currently to undertake carbon auditing. The calculations can be done in a number of different ways, but the ones that count use a metric called GWP100. This compares the Global Warming Potential of different gasses in the atmosphere relative to carbon dioxide. It massively overstates the contribution of enteric (ruminant) methane to climate change. Other metrics (mainly GWP*) are available and model ruminant methane better, showing it as relatively climate neutral in a stable UK herd, but the powers that be don’t want to change because GWP 100 suits other interests better and takes the spotlight off the really big polluters.

What is GWP*? | AHDB

Explaining GWP-star, an alternative measure for calculating the impact of methane on the climate.
ahdb.org.uk ahdb.org.uk
Click to expand...
Think we need this out on the bfu social media so can be shared around.
 
yellowbelly

yellowbelly

Member
Livestock Farmer
Location
N.Lincs
bobk said:
Have BRC got an HQ that needs covering in carbon ?
Click to expand...
Looks like it's almost a place on the Monopoly board...
Screenshot_20240224-190145_Google.jpg
 

SFI - What % were you taking out of production?

  • 0 %

    Votes: 105 40.5%

  • Up to 25%

    Votes: 94 36.3%

  • 25-50%

    Votes: 39 15.1%

  • 50-75%

    Votes: 5 1.9%

  • 75-100%

    Votes: 3 1.2%

  • 100% I’ve had enough of farming!

    Votes: 13 5.0%
See comments…

May Event: The most profitable farm diversification strategy 2024 - Mobile Data Centres

Apr 02
  • 1,782
  • 32
With just a internet connection and a plug socket you too can join over 70 farms currently earning up to £1.27 ppkw ~ 201% ROI

Register Here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-mo...2024-mobile-data-centres-tickets-871045770347

Tuesday, May 21 · 10am - 2pm GMT+1

Location: Village Hotel Bury, Rochdale Road, Bury, BL9 7BQ

The Farming Forum has teamed up with the award winning hardware manufacturer Easy Compute to bring you an educational talk about how AI and blockchain technology is helping farmers to diversify their land.

Over the past 7 years, Easy Compute have been working with farmers, agricultural businesses, and renewable energy farms all across the UK to help turn leftover space into mini data centres. With...
News
Continue…

Share this page

Top