Peatland protection, Vegan chicken, ESG innovation

Lots of bank holiday “green” reading in this week’s update, including a special Climate change focus in our “Overseas news” slot. Livestock farmers feel as if they are hit with a disproportionate amount of the criticism regarding agriculture’s contribution to climate change, so it’s good news that Defra is looking at ways to help producers cut their animals’ carbon emissions. But why was the initiative not announced earlier when the government was setting its net zero targets? The Dutch government is meanwhile adopting a big stick/large carrot approach to its own emission-cutting plans. Farmers in certain parts of the country are being hit by harsh emission cuts, but almost €500 million has been made available to buy up some of the most polluting farms that will no longer be viable. Could such a scheme work here? Would be interesting to hear your thoughts.

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Andrew Shirley, Head of Rural Research

In this week’s update:

• Commodity markets – Maize adds to market volatility
• Agri-innovation – New cash released
• Moorland – Peatland protection package launched
• Carbon emissions – Livestock feed consultation opens
• Residential development – Newt study option offered
• Overseas news – Climate change focus
  1 - Texas ESG backlash
  2 – Dutch “terminate” livestock farms
  3 – GM trees to capture more carbon?
  4 – KFC vegan chicken called out

Commodity markets – Maize adds to market volatility

A drought-affected maize harvest in the EU and US is the latest factor to inject some volatility into the grain market. The European Commission has dropped its yield forecasts to just over 6.6t/ha, almost 10% down on its July forecast and 16% below the bloc’s five-year average. If correct, the drop would mean the EU delivering its smallest maize harvest since 2015 – just over 60 million tonnes. Across the Atlantic, hot and dry conditions in the US have also seen the USDA downgrade its crop condition scores again for this year’s harvest. Maize acts as a price floor for other cereals including feed wheat, which has seen spot and futures prices rise this week.

Read the AHDB’s latest analysis for 2023 and 2024 futures prices. Meanwhile, a growing number of European fertiliser plants are temporarily shutting up shop due to high gas prices. This will push up prices for farmers, but could also affect output over the next few years if growers pare back on their NPK applications.

Agri-innovation – New cash released

Defra has just announced a new £16.5 million tranche of funding to help drive innovation in agriculture and horticulture as part of the government’s £270 million Farming Innovation Programme. A £5.5 million competition for ‘Feasibility projects’ will offer grants for projects worth between £200,000 and £500,000 to support research and development through the difficult testing phase of an idea to see if it is worth investing in further

Winners of the ‘Small R&D Partnership’ competition will receive a share of the £11 million grant funding for industrial research projects worth between £1 million and £3 million to further develop new solutions that will ultimately address major on-farm or immediate post farmgate challenges or opportunities such as enhancing productivity and sustainability.

Photo by K B on Unsplash

Moorland – Peatland protection package launched

Peat-containing compost sold to amateur gardeners will be banned from 2024, according to an embargoed Defra press release that popped into my inbox on Friday. The government says the ban will contribute to its efforts to achieve an ambitious target of restoring 35,000 hectares of peatlands by 2025. The government is also launching a new £5 million fund to promote the use of peatlands for sustainable farming. It will support the uptake of paludiculture – the practice of farming on rewetted peatland – which will help, further safeguard food security, produce alternatives to horticultural peat and reduce environmental impacts.

Carbon emissions – Livestock feed consultation opens

Defra has just jointly launched a call for evidence with the devolved administrations on how the livestock sector can take advantage of new nutrient and feed technology to reduce methane emissions. Farming Minister Victoria Prentis said: “We’ve set out ambitious targets to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 and it’s right to consider how we can help farmers produce food sustainably and reduce emissions from agriculture further.” The consultation runs until 15 November.

Residential development – Newt study option offered

The Great Crested newt has something of a reputation for holding up the plans of house builders. This update from Defra shows how affected developers can pay to join a district level licensing scheme instead of applying for a mitigation licence. The operator of the scheme, for example Natural England, will carry out you’re a survey of the contentious amphibians and plan and carry out mitigation work to move them to safety.

Overseas news – Climate change focus

A number of thought-provoking global stories related to climate change and farming have caught my eye over the past few days, so I thought I’d serve up an super-sized dose of overseas news for you this week.

1 - Texas ESG backlash

Not specifically related to farming, but this story highlights some of the pushback that the ESG agenda is having to face. Legislators from the Lone Star State have put 10 financial businesses, including BlackRock, Credit Suisse and UBS, plus 350 individual funds on a potential divestment list due to their alleged boycotting of fossil-fuel companies. Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar claims that ESG-focused investors may be working against the interests of their clients to support a political agenda. However, the methodology behind the list’s compilation, which includes MSCI ESG ratings and environmental stewardship pledges, looks just as flaky as some of the greenwashing claims made by investors. The firms involved have protested their innocence.

2 – Dutch “terminate” livestock farms

Earlier this summer I wrote that Dutch farmers were protesting about new legislation that would sharply curtail their nitrogen-based GHG emissions. Since then, I’ve read up on the new rules in more detail and the level of detail they go into in quite astonishing. The entire country has been split into different categories, each of which has been allocated an emissions reduction mandate ranging from 12% to 95% depending on the environmental sensitivity of the area. Legislators acknowledge that the plan will make some intensive livestock businesses unsustainable so have set aside €480 million euros for the “targeted purchase and termination” of livestock farms. Opponents of the plan have labelled it madness during a period of global food price inflation and insecurity.

3 – GM trees to capture more carbon?

If you believe planting trees has a big role to play in helping the world mitigate climate change then GM-modified trees than can sequester even more carbon sound just the ticket. Californian biotech outfit Living Carbon has inserted genes from pumpkin and green algae into poplar trees that basically makes them photosynthesise more efficiently and grow faster. This thoughtful radio programme highlights not just the potential benefits of planting millions of these trees on brownfield sites or marginal farmland, but also questions the validity of some of the claims.

4 – KFC vegan chicken called out

Fast food titan KFC, which turns a billion chickens a year into finger-lickin’ snacks, saw punters queuing around the block last week when it tested out its new vegan range of Beyond Chicken in one of its Atlanta branches.

Colonel Sanders hopes the move, in conjunction with alternative meat producer Beyond Meat, will help bolster its green credentials. However, an interesting note from the Ethical Butcher questions how environmentally friendly or healthy these substitute meat products really are, as well as the firm’s wider animal welfare claims.

Main photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash