The UK farming sector is well-placed to continue to mitigate against climate change, but there are areas the sector needs to continue to tap into and develop further, says ADAS Research Director James Clarke in June’s NFU British Farmer and Grower magazine.
The farming community has been progressively paying heed to the climate change warnings for decades and investing in valuable scientific research to allow it to adapt. Summer 2022, with its recording-breaking temperatures and below average rainfall (1.1oC above and rainfall 62% of 1991-2020 average), may have been a wake-up call for some, but research and development is already producing some answers.
There is plenty of tried and tested knowledge that should be applied now if it hasn’t already. This starts with thoroughly assessing soil health and quality, using tools like the AHDB scorecard, which has been developed by a team including ADAS in partnership with farmers and agronomists across the UK as part of the Soil Biology and Soil Health Partnership.
Soil quality and management
Understanding soil quality and management is the key to improving rooting and water use efficiency. As we discussed by Sarah Kendall previously, the use of organic matter will improve water-holding capacity and crop performance, with the added benefit of better soil structure and drainage. Soils which are more resilient to wet weather conditions are less likely to suffer overland flow/soil erosion in heavy rain.Other practices to adopt more of include:
- Using irrigation scheduling to ensure water is used when and where it will give best responses
- Ensuring good weed control to prevent competition with crop species for moisture
- Maximising use of farm manures or legumes to ensure resilient forage productivity (especially important when nutrient prices are high)
- Investing in water saving and storage with accurate application technologies to maximise water capacity – we’ve all seen rain guns that inadvertently deliver irrigation water off-target, so look for systems that deliver irrigation where it is needed, when it is needed, minimising wastage and evaporation loss
- Balance stocking (looking at stock numbers and breeds) against forage available on the farm and feed production to reduce reliance on external supplies. Consider how to best match breeds with farm-grown forage and good feed conversion efficiencies.
- Undertake risk assessments and put mitigation in place to reduce risks from extreme dry and heat, such as from fire.
Learn from the past to adapt for the future
Moving from short to medium term measures, farmers need to consider their own experiences and invest this knowledge into their future planning. Most farmers have continued the tradition of excellent recordkeeping of both rainfall and crop performance, and there is great value in assessing recent impacts, such as those of 2022 and 1995, for example. How did your farm cope, what failed and what fared better and best and, based on these lessons, what would help reduce risks or capitalise on the opportunities in future?These lessons and the soil health assessment carried out as part of the short-term measures will help farmers to choose and manage crops and rotations to maximise soil moisture retention, rooting and crop performance. Generally autumn-sown and early maturing crops will be more resilient, although it is important to retain flexibility in operational timings, for instance sowing crops when weather is suitable and changing crop choice options if it is not. This is increasingly important as we see climate change influencing what we thought we knew about seasonal changes. Consider some of the mild weather and temperatures recorded from mid to the end of October this year, for example.
In October 2022 the provisional UK mean temperature was 11.5C, which is 1.8C above the long-term average. Maximum temperatures were nearly 3C above average in parts of south-east England, while minimum temperatures were furthest above average in central Scotland. This was provisionally the seventh warmest October in a series from 1884. Rainfall was broadly near or above average overall, but it was rather dry in many east-coast locations, and parts of Northern Ireland were much wetter than average.
Water recycling
It also essential to ensure farm practices support better recycling of nutrients and water because water quality is an even greater challenge when flow levels are reduced. Similarly, high rainfall periods need to be managed through planting schedules to minimise run-off on high ground and therefore keep water more available further up the catchment.It is the catchment after all that provides farms with much of its water resources, protecting that resource will go a long way towards ensuring its availability.
Investing in technology
Technology will play a key part. There will be an increasing need to automate manual tasks to ensure lower risks to operators during periods of high heat stress and to reduce long and anti-social hours, such as reducing the need for cooler night working. New technology will enable collection of surplus heat in hot spells (for example through solar and battery energy systems) and storing this for use later in season. This will improve ventilation for housed livestock and to cool protected crops. It will also be valuable in managing supply chains by providing increased storage capacity and cold chain condition during transport to maximise product quality and minimise impact of heat-driven supply chain disruptions.Research to better understand and tolerate the impacts
Applying current knowledge will start greater adaption to mitigate against more extreme weather scenarios in years to come. Additionally, there is also much more to learn. We will, for example, need to continue to research and develop new crop varieties more resilient to moisture stress and continue the work on improving irrigation scheduling and water-saving approaches.We will need a better understanding of the impacts of hot and dry weather on animal welfare, fertility, and productivity along with an improved prediction of crop and animal health pest and diseases risks to prevent emerging risks. Coupled with a greater understanding of how weather impacts on crop protection and animal health treatment efficacy, along with the timing of nutrient applications and formulations to maximise efficacy of use, we can be better ready for future management to maintain and improve productivity.
And, yes, even better weather forecasts, several months ahead will hopefully come. But don’t pin all your plans on having these!
Time for collective action
Finally, agriculture has progressed through industry-wide collective action when this has been called for and this will be required more than ever. It is vital that we engage within supply chains, including supermarkets, to ensure consumer acceptance and understanding of changes to product availability and quality. ‘Wonky veg’ has been a great start, but there will be more than that to do. The variety and diversity of what food that will be available in the shops, and when, will need to change. Focusing on seasonal fruit and vegetables best suited to growing in the changing weather patterns ensures availability and diversity is maintained even when experiencing reductions in water resources and high temperatures. Livestock production will also be impacted. For example, pigs and poultry eat less in heat and grow slower. Milk supply could be less in summer months if there is less forage to support it.How can we adapt to changing supply, perhaps of lighter weights? Weather will impact on product availability, and this will require changing expectations of consumers.
How do we communicate and prepare markets for the changes that will happen? British farming will continue to feed the nation but there will be changes of what is possible and we need to manage expectations.
More information
For more information about the points raised in this article, please contact author James Clarke at [email protected].This article was first published June 2023 in NFU’s British Farmer and Grower magazine as the final article in a three-part series ‘A climate wake-up call’
Read Part 1: A climate wake up call: how farmers can build resilience against weather extremes
Read Part 2: A climate wake up call: Actions to better manage water resources
