Farmers are being urged to take the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to displace imported soya and grow bean crops packed with environmental and agronomic benefits.
 
The Nitrogen Efficient Plants for Climate Smart Arable Cropping Systems (NCS) project will host launch events for farmers next week – at the Cereals event and online – with the goal of instigating a reduction of 1.5Mt CO₂e per annum.
 
NCS is made up of a consortium of UK companies, research institutes and farmer networks, led by the Processors and Growers Research Organisation (PGRO), who are working together to bring about the reduction which is calculated as 54% of the maximum potential for UK agriculture.
 
To do this, the four-year £5.9m research project will work to increase pulse cropping in arable rotations to 20% across the UK (currently 5%) and develop and test new feed rations.
 
This will help livestock farmers to substitute up to 50% of imported soya meal used in feed with more climate-friendly home-grown pulses and legumes.
 
"Everyone knows that pulses and legumes have considerable benefits for UK farming systems," says PGRO Chief Executive, Roger Vickers, who leads the NCS consortium.
 
"But these have never been truly and accurately measured. So their value has been sorely underplayed and their potential to address the climate crisis has gone unrecognised.
 
"Together we can change that. We now have the science, the tools and the know-how among UK farmers, not only to tap into that potential, but to develop it further. Bringing that talent together is what lies at the heart of NCS – it's never been done before, and there's never been a project on this scale with this much ambition."
 
How to find out more
 
In total, the ambitious project, which will be funded by Defra's Farming Innovation Programme and delivered by Innovate UK, will involve 200 farms and 17 industry partners.
 
Farmers interested in taking part are invited to attend the launch event at Cereals on the PGRO stand (303) at 1pm on Wednesday 14 June.
 
The following day (Thursday 15 June) a webinar will take place from 2-3.30pm to provide more information and set out what's on offer for farmers who wish to take part.
 
To sign up to the webinar, visit: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DVfyvhonSsqhkwxT2hY_nQ
 
The 'defining project of our time'
 
The first stage of the project will give 200 UK farmers direct support to establish their business' carbon baseline, using the Farm Carbon Toolkit. The GHG emissions from these farms will then be tracked throughout the project and will form a fundamental part of the dataset.
 
The leading innovators among them, the 'Pulse Pioneers', will then be paid to work with scientists to co-design crop and feeding trials to carry out on their farms.
 
Keen to expand the knowledge exchange beyond this core group of farmers, the project is also launching the PulsePEP (Performance Enhancing Platform), led by ADAS. This will be a hub for the farmer-led community striving to achieve the best from pulse crops and reduce carbon emissions, as well as a place for discussion on best-practice pulse cropping.
 
The project team is urging farmers interested in being involved – or those who just have a passion for pulses – to sign up now.
 
"This will be the defining project of our time," believes Mr Vickers. "It's not just the chance for UK Agriculture to make a seismic shift towards Net Zero, but it'll also deliver a prosperous and resilient way of farming for communities worldwide.
 
"We want farmers to join us and be part of this exciting journey of discovery. You will shape it. Your knowledge and experience will enrich the science we're bringing together. You will inspire others and accelerate the pace of change. And together we'll achieve a farming future that is richly rewarding and immensely gratifying."
 
More information about the project can be found at ncsproject.co.uk