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Pledging for net zero - January update

Our January winners were:

• East Anglia – Mr R Symes
• East Midlands – Mr J Charles-Jones
• North East – Mr and Mrs Rhodes
• North West – Mr R Clark
• South East – Mr and Mrs Witchard
• South West – Mrs M King and sons
• Wales – Mr and Mrs Millichap
• West Midlands – Mr W Quan

Read what our winners had to say

We spoke to our first winners of 2022 about the changes they have made and how they set about approaching their net zero contributions on farm.

East Anglia – Mr R Symes

Nearly ten years ago I installed a 275kW wind turbine which provides the energy for the farm and our lifestyle. At the same time, I contracted out my arable farming to my neighbour and we built a new grain store that would hold all the wheat from both our farms. The drying is done using heat from a straw boiler, for which we burn linseed straw because there is little else we can do with it. In one winter it takes only 2% of our straw to dry all the wheat!

I’ve found that every time I’ve reduced my greenhouse gas emissions, I’ve saved money. Take the dryer for example: it cost a bit more up front but once we’d bought the kit, a few bales of straw to dry all the wheat costs nothing.

In addition to that, I’ve been coppicing woodland since 1984 and we heat our house and two others with our own timber. 40% of our farm is zero cultivation, and on the rest we do minimal cultivation. The biggest challenge we face on our farm is nitrogen fertiliser. It’s difficult to farm without it, though we do have legumes in our rotation, but this year we will be using less fertiliser partly because it is so expensive.

East Midlands – Mr J Charles-Jones

The biggest thing we do on our farm is generating electricity. We have a wind turbine and solar panels which generate just under 850,000kWh per year. Our own usage isn’t high, so we initially did this as a diversification rather than to meet our own needs, and we export about 99.5% of what we produce. In addition, we’ve changed all our lights to LEDs and we’ve definitely seen a reduction in energy usage from that!

For 18 years we’ve been using minimum tillage on our arable crops, and we have decided that now is the time to take the next step and do direct drilling. In some ways direct drilling is challenging because it isn’t just about buying a drill and doing it. Direct drilling doesn’t necessarily suit all soil types instantly; for example we started off using a disc drill but now we’ve learnt and moved on to using a tine drill.

North West – Mr R Clark

My farm has been in stewardship since its early stages, and currently all of the holding is in Mid-tier Stewardship (2 schemes) and has just received an SFI Pilot agreement. We are also members of two HLS schemes on commons where we have grazing rights. The SFI Pilot includes creating Water Buffering Zones (we border a major river) with wild flower areas, more hedge planting, and Advanced Improved Grassland & Soils standards with the aim of replacing artificial fertilisers with nitrogen production from clover.

Over the past two to three years we have taken three areas of land out of grazing for biodiversity, have established seven small tree plantations and planted about 500 metres of new hedges. We have an ongoing plan with the Woodland Trust for the next three years involving more plantings.

One of our farm properties is heated by biomass and the other by a ground source heat pump with solar panels pre-heating hot water. Other solar panels generate most of the electricity used in the farmhouse with surplus feeding back to the grid.

I am currently working with SAC to establish a GHG baseline against which to measure future improvements, hence our net zero pledge. Our local Rivers Trust are planning a biodiversity survey this year too to give us a similar wildlife baseline.

South West - Mrs M King and sons

Sweet Waters Farm is 56 acres of grassland and ancient woodland sitting on the edge of the Severn Vale, just North of Bristol. Since taking on the farm in the early Nineties we’ve strived to improve the natural capital assets on the land. Early projects included improving and expanding the hedgerows – planting, laying and more sympathetic trimming. Hundreds of trees have been planted across the farm, and the woodland has been carefully managed to restore years of neglect and protect from the ever-increasing number of deer. More recently we have benefited from NFU Trees for Farms initiative to replace our numerous dead and dying Ash with Beech and Oak. With the help of FWAG we have also added two more ponds and aim to reinstate more in the near future.

Over the years we’ve benefitted from support through two Countryside Stewardship schemes, where we have improved the diversity of plants in our grassland, plus providing resources to install paths, bridleways, bird and bat boxes over the years – even benches for walkers. Access and community engagement are a key component of our work; our team of local volunteers help with projects – from fencing, clearing and tree planting. Wildlife groups and wildlife enthusiasts are also frequent visitors.

Wales – Mr and Mrs Millichap

A big step we’ve taken on our farm has been to change our herd over. We’ve been breeding our own replacements which has reduced our GHG footprint because they are now smaller and have a very good feed conversion. We’ve also been trying to produce as much of our own feed as we can, which can be more profitable but importantly it means we don’t have to import any soya. Additionally, we’ve replanted 5km of hedges in the last three years and we have plans to try red clover for the first time this year, especially with the cost of fertiliser now!

My advice for other members would be that you’ve just got to start. Look at what you’re doing (and you’re probably doing more than you think already) and take small steps, especially if you can do something that’s a benefit for your business and the environment. For example, if you can put in a field of roots or swedes for feed, you might save money and it means soya doesn’t have to be imported from South America.

West Midlands – Mr W Quan

As tenant farmers we live off our ability to farm, not off property assets, so efficiency and return from inputs drives our thinking. Saving money is very important and that is why initially we purchased a Mzuri Strip Til seed drill under the Herefordshire Council Leader grant funding. It reduced the amount of passes over the soil, to the benefit of compaction and improving timeliness and speed of planting. This was also good to reduce soil erosion and release of carbon. We are now in our fourth season; at first, we found our yields dipped but have risen from year two onwards. Soil conditions, organic matter and worm volumes are substantially better. The big savings are in fuel and metal usage.

Using grass and cover crops in the arable rotation has added to this. We use livestock breeds that are generally smaller in stature who can thrive off a pasture-based system reducing the need for hot grain concentrate feeding: mothers milk and grass. We use a variety of pasture from ancient wildflower meadows, mixed species herbal leys and the latest hybrid grass lay mixes. Necessity is the master of invention and lack of cash generally drives innovative thinking. Grass livestock is managed along low labour and easy keeping livestock grounds.

For net zero by 2040 we all have to start somewhere. We started with the NFU pledge, learning from other farmers and industry experts, and we hope to be doing our little bit. We have just invested in solar panel powered electric fencing. It saves money, easier to operate and good for the planet.