The first results of the government’s Farm Practices Survey, which were included as part of Defra’s Agricultural Statistics and Climate Change report last week, show less than half of the 2,000 farmers surveyed are considering emissions in the land management decisions they make. The survey, conducted in February, included livestock and crop farmers and found that large farms were taking more action on climate changing emissions than smaller holdings.

Only 48% of farmers attached any importance to greenhouse gas emissions in decisions on their land, crops and livestock, compared to 52% in 2015. Of those who said they were taking action to reduce emissions, most gave increasing energy efficiency, recycling waste materials and improving the accuracy of nitrogen fertiliser applications as examples.  

As has been the case for the last few years (the emissions survey has only been running since 2013), the main motivation for adopting any strategies to reduce emissions was that farmers considered it good business practice. However, overall most farmers (51%) disagreed that reducing greenhouse gas emissions from a holding would improve profitability.

At 9%, the number of farmers who considered taking action on climate changing GHG emissions to be “very important” was equal to those who thought their farms did not produce any greenhouse gasses whatsoever. In fact, almost half of those not taking any action (and 30% of the total number questioned) deemed it unnecessary to do so, with significant numbers reporting that they aren’t taking further action on emissions because they feel they’ve done all they can, or that there is a lack of information available.  

Worldwide, farm emissions make up about 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions from human activity. In the UK, farming accounts for about 9% of emissions, but government advisors at the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) have noted that “There is no indication that reductions [emissions] have been driven [by] changes in farming practice” and warned “The voluntary nature of the industry-led GHG Action Plan to reduce emissions in this sector and the lack of effective monitoring do not provide confidence of future abatement.”

Even so, Defra believes that it will be possible to achieve a ten percent reduction in emissions from farming by 2020. In terms of emissions from the agriculture sector, climate scientists are most concerned about methane emissions from the livestock sector and nitrous oxides from fertiliser use and crop production, as both of these gasses have a much higher global warming potential than carbon dioxide.

According to the survey, though the proportion of farms with a nutrient management plan had increased from 46% to 60% in the last ten years, the area covered by nutrient management plans fell by 4%, from 76% of the farmed area in 2015 to 72% in 2016. These plans can help farms meet regulatory requirements, make efficient use of fertilisers and boost environmental performance. 

The survey was sent to 6,000 farmers earlier this year, though only 38% of those selected replied.

Responding to the revelations in Defra’s survey, NFU’s climate change adviser Dr Ceris Jones said, “Agriculture in the UK has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 16% and since 2011, organisations in the Greenhouse Gas Action Plan have helped and supported farmers in England to improve productivity and therefore continue to make a realistic contribution to tackling climate change. We are committed to this for the long-term because agriculture is on the frontline of climate impacts.”

However, though government figures do show that agricultural emissions have fallen by 16% since 1990, there has been little change over the past ten years, and farm emissions actually increased by 2% in 2014, the last year for which figures are available.