Agribusiness News November 2024: Sector Focus – Extreme Weather
1 November 2024Farming with Extreme Weather Events
It is well known that productive farming can be heavily dependent on the weather and with more extreme weather events occurring, it can be increasingly challenging to plan ahead and build resilience.
In 2017-18 alone, extreme weather events cost Scottish farmers £161 million due to livestock losses and lower crop yields. Scotland has already experienced changes in climate, and these are projected to continue and intensify with further episodes of persistent rain, storms and drought.
Alternative management practices (commonly described as regenerative agriculture) are often promoted to help build resilience, with Scottish Government including these principles (Agricultural Reform List of Measures) within the Agricultural Reform Route Map and, as such, will be linked to future rural payments. But how much of an impact can these methods really have in practice? SAC Consulting’s Environment Team investigated this by surveying Scottish farmers to learn more about their experiences of extreme weather events through a WWF Scotland funded project.
Regenerative Agriculture
Firstly, what do we mean by alternative management practices or regenerative agriculture?
There are five main principles for regenerative agriculture, which puts soil health at the centre of agricultural practices:
- Maintaining a living root within the soil
- Minimising soil disturbances
- Maximising crop diversity on farm
- Keeping soil covered throughout the year, and if possible
- Integrating livestock into an arable system.
A total of 37 farmers responded to our survey, which asked farmer’s opinions regarding their experiences with past weather events and whether there are any particular practices that they feel have contributed to farm resilience and productivity through those challenging episodes of weather.
When asked if weather related events in the last 5 years have impacted the economic viability of their farm, 49% said they had experienced a decrease in profitability, 35% had not experienced any negative economic impact and a small proportion (11%) said they had experienced an increase in profitability.
Within the 49% of farmers that experienced decreased profitability due to weather events, 29% had already made changes to the way they farmed in an attempt to alleviate or mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events specifically. Twenty percent had not made any changes).
When asked what potential different land management practices can have on farm resilience to weather impacts - the top 3 responses for having a ‘significant positive impact’ were:
- Optimising grazing management
- Reduced bare soil
- Increase/ conserve soil organic matter
There did not seem to be any correlation between location or farm type with the number of farmers that had made changes to the way they farm due to weather events.
The survey showed that understanding the impacts of weather events across different farm types can be difficult due to may complex interlinking factors such as geographical location, land use history, farm type, management practices and personal attitudes. This poses challenges in terms of proving guidance with respect to how changes in farming practices could impact farm resilience. However, the survey did highlight some common concerns across farmers in relation to the future of UK agriculture, including international, political, governmental and societal pressures.
A common concern raised within the survey was farmers receiving a fair price for their products to ensure a viable business is possible and sustainable.
Additionally, it was raised that more support and clearer guidance could be provided as well as a need to address negative language used in the context of farming and climate change.
The short study provided some qualitative evidence that making changes to land management practices can positively impact the productivity and resilience of farms, but the extent to which this may occur differs across farms.
For more information and the full report https://www.wwf.org.uk/our-reports/impact-extreme-weather-events-scottish-agriculture
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