Beef and sheep industry group EBLEX has added to its ‘roadmap’ work, which aims to promote an industry-led shift towards lower impact farming with better results for farmers, livestock and the environment.

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EBLEX’s third publication in the roadmap series, Down to Earth, was launched this week and includes sections on emissions benchmarking, carbon sequestration, waste in the supply chain and retailer activity, alongside farmer case studies. The report claims that enhancing on farm efficiency will also benefit the environment.

It suggests farmers

• Achieve optimum daily liveweight gains
• Select animals for slaughter at optimum weights and specifications
• Feed good quality grass or ration to maximise rumen efficiency
• Achieve best output per breeding animal.

Chris Lloyd, EBLEX industry development manager, added: “Once again this work is showing that carbon efficiency goes hand in hand with economic efficiency so improving the areas highlighted will bring double rewards. This is an important message for farmers.”

The report follows on from Decembers “Landscapes without Livestock”, which cherry picked landscapes that benefit from, or are maintained in their current state, by livestock production. The report was criticised for ignoring some of the realities of farming and land use.

In some areas, such as parts of the Yorkshire Moors, the switch from grazing specialised breeds of livestock to sheep farming has resulted in biodiversity loss and the 2011 government NEA report recommended that farmers be encouraged to reforest land in certain areas, rather than produce high-input, low value product such as lamb, much to the ire of the livestock industry.

EBLEX maintains that livestock farming could provide benefits in the face of climate change, by storing carbon in pastures and other grassland and claims this area needs greater exploration. Nevertheless, 90 per cent of emissions in the beef and lamb supply chain occur on farm.

The group’s Roadmap does identify a number of activities that are likely to lead to an increase in soil organic carbon, including introducing more legumes into permanent grasslands, incorporating organic materials during cultivations in the establishment of leys.

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