Somerset farmers purpose to go inexperienced with out SFI grants | EUROtoday

When the federal government axed the Sustainable Farming Incentive, many farmers mentioned the lack of money incentives to develop nature-friendly crops would depart them dealing with a tough selection.

That selection was between rising as a lot meals as potential to make a revenue, or taking care of nature whereas shedding cash within the course of.

But some farmers argue it’s potential to do each.

Aidan Stanley raises beef cattle totally on untouched grass pastures at Lilliput Farm close to Bath, a apply which considerably reduces carbon emissions.

“This is working because of public demand,” he mentioned.

So what’s he doing to make his farm extra sustainable, and the way does he make it pay?

Aidan and his dad Oliver stroll me up an previous valley simply north of Bath. The land has been pasture meadow since royalist forces drew up their traces on Lansdown Hill above us, within the English Civil War within the 1600s.

“These oak trees were mostly planted in the 18th Century,” remarks Oliver.

The Stanleys’ farming model is as previous because the meadow. They permit grass to develop, with wildflowers and amongst loads of timber, then transfer the cattle onto it to graze.

The previous timber assist retailer carbon, and the meadow has not been ploughed in a whole bunch of years.

“The cattle just eat grass from the pasture and hay made from it in the winter – nothing else,” says Oliver.

This is extra radical than it could sound. Most of us solely see cows when they’re consuming grass out within the fields.

But most cows spend much more time in barns, consuming grain.

“Most cattle in the UK is grain-fed for most of its life,” explains Aidan.

“In fact ‘grass-fed’ labels [in supermarkets] mean only that a cow has eaten grass for 51% of its life.”

So what? Does it matter if cows eat grain?

“Because we don’t use grain that saves more carbon on the fertiliser that would have been used in the transport and the processing,” Aidan added.

Farming like this has its prices, after all.

The cows develop extra slowly – sometimes taking three years to achieve a full weight earlier than they’re slaughtered, in contrast with simply 15 months for typical beef cattle.

And to permit the grass time to develop again, farmers are inclined to have fewer cattle and extra fields than typical beef farms, which means that per acre, per yr, the meat is dearer.

How do they make it pay then?

The reply is correct subsequent to the sector of cows: their very own restaurant.

“The restaurant makes this work,” explains Aidan. “This is the main outlet for our beef.”

At lunchtime the restaurant sells sausages and beefburgers, the latter from the farm’s personal cows after all, alongside high-end vegetarian dishes. Sunday roasts are widespread with households, and in its first yr the restaurant had 22,000 clients.

Aidan provides: “As the government withdraws support for sustainable farming it is going to be harder for people to do this, but it’s reassuring that this is working because of public demand.”

Of course, not each farm can open its personal restaurant. And the nation want farmers supplying odd retailers with on a regular basis meals.

So can different farmers comply with these extra sustainable techniques, and nonetheless flip a revenue?

While visiting the farm, I meet Jimmy Woodrow, who runs Pasture for Life. His organisation persuades farmers to boost cattle totally on grass, and so they have licensed Lilliput Farm.

He insists that this type of inexperienced farming can save farmers cash.

He explains: “If you’re reducing your costs on things like feed, fertiliser, vet and medical costs, you going to have more profit on each cow. The challenge for smaller farms, is how many animals do you need to make a living? It’s a lot.”

And that is the place he thinks authorities does have a task.

“There are lots of farmers who are doing a fantastic job for nature, while being profitable, but they need government support if they are to scale up and produce more food,” he says.

Since the federal government closed the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme in March, they’ve been consulting on a alternative. Officials advised me the “improved SFI scheme” will likely be launched in the summertime.

A authorities spokesperson mentioned: “The scheme will target public funds more effectively to meet the needs of both farmers and the environment.”