In a report of this nature that seeks to highlight the technical as well as practical implications of the emissions reduction task facing farmers and landowners, it is hard to cover all the production systems on UK farms. There will always be sections of the increasingly diverse food production and supply chain that are less well covered.
These include emerging sectors that may be harder to classify within traditional sectors, given the huge transition that is taking place in the industry. These are covered briefly below but may deserve more detailed papers in future.
Multifunctional land use
There are increasing opportunities for novel crops and more innovative supply systems to be set up on farms or at other locations. This applies to a range of systems from urban micro-farms to the wider opportunities for mixed farming operations that became somewhat unfashionable in the latter half of the 20th century but have real benefits as part of systems to support carbon efficiency or sequestration. Examples of novel crops and changing land use include:
- Novel or high value crops such as pulses and ancient grains (e.g. spelt, einkorn), saffron and hemp. With some species of hemp, the entire plant can be used for plastic-free, sustainable and durable products, including fabric. Other niche plants successfully grown in the UK include as chia, soybeans, quinoa, wasabi and lentils. There is a small market for herbs and medicinal plants which, like cut flowers, are often grown at ‘artisan’ scale. With a projected increase in field margin planting for biodiversity and integrated pest management (IPM), there may be a growing market to produce seeds for such mixes. Plants such as oats, not normally considered to be ‘novel’, are increasingly grown for novel uses such as dairy-free plant milk. Plant milks can also be made from a wide variety of crops suitable for growing in parts of the UK including quinoa, flax, walnuts, yellow peas, spelt, hemp and soy.
- Energy crops represent a specific group of non-food crops grown primarily as a source of bioenergy. They include crops such as sugar beet, wheat and oilseed rape used for producing biofuels, maize grown to feed anaerobic digesters (AD) and densely planted, high yielding perennial crop species such as miscanthus and short rotational willow coppice (SRC). Defra report that in 2019, 121,000 ha of UK agricultural land were used to grow crops for bioenergy – representing around 2% of the total arable area – comprising:
- 29,000 ha of wheat and 7,000 ha of sugar beet used for biofuels
- 75,000 ha of maize used for anaerobic digestion
- 8,000 ha of miscanthus and 2,000 ha of short rotation coppice used as biomass
Field of miscanthus
Bioenergy crops provide farms with the opportunity to generate income from non-food crops as part of their activities. Some energy crops can fit within an arable rotation and bring added benefits of soil improvement and weed control.
Perennial biomass crops such as miscanthus can generate income from poorer marginal land – and are often considered to be ‘carbon neutral’ as the emissions from burning is balanced by the emissions being absorbed by the growing crop.
The potential for bioenergy crops will form an increasing contribution to the UK’s energy mix for electricity, heat and transport fuel – thereby replacing fossil fuels.
- Mixed arable and arboriculture – on-farm tree planting is receiving more support from incentive schemes (both from DEFRA and the devolved administrations) as part of efforts to encourage landowners to improve biodiversity, soil quality and carbon sequestration. However, with pressure on farmers to combine land use diversity with enhanced outputs, taking land entirely out of production may not always be the most desirable option. Hence, there is growing interest in including trees within arable farming systems.
Integrating trees (and hedges) into arable systems can improve productivity, farm output diversity and resilience, while saving costs, and offering wider environmental benefits such drought mitigation and water conservation, mitigating erosion or pollution, and supporting crop pollination, biodiversity and wildlife conservation145. Tree planting within farm systems should extend beyond managing or planting shelterbelts, riparian strips and hedges.
- Fruit and nut trees – silvo-pasture can extend to integrated production of specific premium crops including the location of fruit and nut orchards within or alongside other cropping or livestock in more mixed farming systems, plus an ability to provide additional revenue. This can include wine production as we as fruit and nut varieties that may thrive in increasingly warm UK climate.
Urban and vertical farming – such systems include hydroponics and production in below ground tunnels as well vertical systems. These present an opportunity for local production of high value crops that may currently be imported (adding to food miles). Such systems can produce premium crops 365 days a year, without the requirement for pesticides, while being unaffected by the weather. They can be located in urban sites, closer to processors, and can use zero
Vertical growing
There are plans to support the creation of woodlands with new grant schemes – e.g. the England Woodland Creation offer, where landowners and farmers will receive a grant of up to £8,500 per hectare to cover planting costs, (plus an annual maintenance payment of £200 for ten years and potential for more support if they can prove additional ‘public benefit’ from their tree planting) this needs to include production of fruit and nut crops.
Novel protein sources
Alongside the impact of dietary trends, there is an increasing interest in novel and artificial forms of protein that create opportunities for farmers and the wider agribusiness sector. These include a range of methods of protein production that can have a more limited impact on the environment – but where the overall impact on emissions may need to be better assessed.
- Vegetable proteins – increased adoption of plant-based diets will impact on supply chains, with demand rising for nuts, seeds, fruit and pulses and more UK farmers should be growing these crops. Hodmedods, set up in 2012, is expanding the market for UK grown beans and pulses – which are not only nutritious but also good for the soil health and biodiversity. New crops like lentils are a low-input, fix their own nitrogen and suffer few pests and diseases and require less water than other novel crops.
- Meat substitutes – with a gradual policy-supported consumer shift to eating less meat, there will be increasing opportunities for growing plant-based options, at both small and large scale, that can supply the production of foods such as tofu.
- Insect proteins offer low environmental impact protein sources for animals or people. Edible insect production can be undertaken at relatively small-scale on farms. Some models use insects as a high protein animal feed and frass (excrement) as a chitin-rich fertiliser. Companies such as InsPro use black soldier fly larvae to recycle food waste, with larvae providing protein for fish food. Frass can be used as a soil reconditioner and fertiliser product. Such a process could be integrated with an anaerobic digestion plant by using heat from the AD to provide an optimal growing environment, shared permits and transport and by putting waste from the process into AD and vice versa (digestate).
- Plant milks – although some plant milks are not high in protein, their popularity continues to grow, providing farmers with the opportunity to grow crops suitable for the production of these milks from crops such as oats, flax, hemp and peas. A recent survey indicated that nearly 1 in 3 people in the UK now drink plant-based milk, up from 25% in 2019, with the rate rising to 44% in those aged 25 to 44.
British cut flowers
The growth of demand for home-grown cut flowers represents a real trend from consumers – one that is making an increasing contribution towards the UK’s commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and in particular CO2.
The British ornamental horticulture sector employs over 15,000 people directly and almost 30,000 indirectly. According to the Horticultural Trades Association (HTA), the total wholesale value of the 2020 ornamental crop (flowers and bulbs, pot plants and hardy nursery stock) is estimated to be £1.4 billion. £121 million of this comes from the UK’s annual flower production industry, which has seen an increase of £39 million since 2015.
Traditionally, commercial flower growing has taken place on farms producing for the wholesale market in areas such as Scilly Isles, Cornwall, Lincolnshire and East Anglia. More recently, the UK has seen a rapid expansion in small scale flower enterprises. Much of the burgeoning cut flower sector is at ‘artisan scale’ – with most flower farms of between 0.5ha – 5ha.
One of the leading small flower grower networks is Flowers from the Farm – an award-winning not-for-profit organisation which aims to promote British grown flowers. Co-chair Meg Edmonds says: “We are gaining attention for raising the ‘local’ focus on trade – a deliberate aim because this surely has to be the most sustainable way of providing flowers – and food. Our aim is to expand the demand for premium home-grown flowers which also represent the true production value.”
There are a number of key issues which UK flower growers will have to face in the next few years – in addition to competition from imports with their much higher carbon footprint! These include transport reliability and supply chain issues, seasonal workforce, rising energy costs, and sourcing specialist seeds and bulbs. In response, growers – whether large scale or artisan – will need to review their production techniques, save home grown seed, and produce replacement stock themselves. This will require funding support to improve skills and knowledge across the industry.
Low Carbon British flowers – ‘grown not flown’
In 2018, Rebecca Swinn carried out a study of the carbon footprint of imported and home-grown flowers, using Life Cycle Analysis. Her premise was that the sustainability of imported cut flowers rarely receives the media attention given to other retail produce despite their much higher carbon intensity.
Her results, shown in Table 11 below, evidenced the environmental costs of importing flowers from abroad – whether grown under intensive climate-controlled conditions such as in Holland or in warmer climates such as in Kenya. Using the functional unit of kg CO2e/stem, the study concluded that an imported mixed bouquet of cut flowers produces 10 times greater carbon emissions than a British locally grown equivalent – taking account of emissions from water use, transport, heating and electricity.
| Flower mix | CO2e Emission |
|---|---|
| 5 Kenyan roses + 3 Dutch lily + 3 Kenyan gypsophila | 31.132 kg |
| 5 Dutch roses + 3 Dutch lily + 3 Kenyan gypsophila | 32.252 kg |
| 5 outdoor grown UK snapdragons + 3 UK lily + 3 UK alstromeria | 3.287 kg |
| 15 stems mixed outdoor UK flowers, grown and sold locally | 1.710 kg |
CO2 emissions from imported and UK flowers