Business, government, farmers, and landowners need to work together to ensure we can meet these growing demands, while also protecting the environment
- Andrew Montague-Fuller
This represents more than 35% of the UK’s existing agricultural land, and compares with up to 5 million hectares that might be released from a range of potential supply side initiatives.
The report, The Best Use of UK Agricultural Land, was produced by the Cambridge-hosted Natural Capital Leaders Platform in collaboration with Asda, Sainsbury’s, Nestlé, BOCM PAULS, AB Agri, Yara, BASF, and Volac, as well as the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the Country Land and Business Association. The aim was to understand the amount of additional land needed, and provide a simple, clear vision for UK agricultural land use alongside a set of principles to guide future decision-making.
Andrew Montague-Fuller, Programme Manager at CISL, and author of the report said: “In this initial analysis, we identified a significant gap between additional land demand and potential supply, as well as a worrying lack of clarity about what agricultural land is expected to deliver. It is clear that more research is needed, and that business, government, farmers, and landowners need to work together to ensure we can meet these growing demands, while also protecting the environment.”
Read the full story
Image: Agriculture
Credit: Rex Turgano
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
_____________________________________________