Can farming become climate sustainable?
A pioneering programme covering a vast swathe of northern England is underway to explore sustainability on farms
Good morning! I’m Sarah Hartley and this is The Northern Eco weekly update. As you’ve received this newsletter then either you subscribed, or someone forwarded it to you. If the latter, then you can click on this handy little button below.
Farming needs to invest in innovation to help tackle the climate crisis and we’ve already seen some major announcements this year - most notably Hilda the cow being unveiled as an solution to methane in cattle last week. But what’s happening closer to home? I caught up with representatives from the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority to hear more about the farms now carrying out important climate trials.
‘Cost savings with environmental benefits’
The first programme of its kind in England to support farmers towards a more sustainable future launched in North Yorkshire at the end of last year.
The series of trials announced through the office of Mayor of York and North Yorkshire, Davd Skaith aims to drive forward the region’s ambitions to become carbon negative by 2040.
That’s no small ambition - according to the Government’s own figures released in 2024, agriculture is responsible for 11% of total Green House Gas (GHG) emissions in the UK.
The GHG that was counted in the Government report covers nitrous oxide where agriculture represents 71% of total emissions, methane emissions (49% of total) as well as CO2 (carbon dioxide) which accounts for 1.9% of total emissions
Across the region
More than 40 farms applied to take part in the trials and now 35 have been signed up, spread across the region from Harrogate to Richmond and from the Yorkshire Dales to the Yorkshire coast.
The scheme attracted participants from across the board - tenanted farms and non tenanted farms, those in the national parks, large and medium sized farms, livestock farms and mixed farms.
The initiative, which is the only one led by a public body in England, identifies practical ways to reduce emissions, support nature and build long-term farm resilience.
There are four trials, referred to as tests, for the farms to choose from including a comprehensive energy audit, renewables feasibility assessment, a biodiversity net gain assessment and soil carbon testing.
The authority believes that by taking part, farmers will protect their farms in the face of rising energy costs help drive forward the region’s ambitions to become carbon negative by 2040.
Addressing the question of farmer attitudes towards action is a big issue when tackling decarbonisation in the sector. Nationally, only 17% of farmers considered it very important to consider GHGs when taking decisions about crops, land and livestock, although 45% did think it fairly important.
How the scheme works
Farmers applied to take part in the tests that most suited their needs with one or two farms taking part in more than one test. 15 farms received the energy audits earlier in the year, and one or two of them are getting now either a biodiversity or a soil test as well, but most farms will just be receiving one test with for soil, energy, biodiversity or renewable.
On energy audits, NFU Energy will be looking at what farms are using, what energy are they using to power various sort of equipment.
In terms of the renewables - that's looking at the feasibility of putting solar panels or something similar in place.
For the soil tests, farmers will be going into their fields and taking a soil sample that's sent to a laboratory and that will be analyzed
Shortly before Christmas, Mayor David Skaith met with the organisations leading on the programme including NFU Energy and Grow Yorkshire to understand its impact and how it could be expanded in the future. He said:
“York and North Yorkshire’s farmers already lead the way in many aspects. We have high standards of food production and we’re also ambitious on the environment.
“With more than 70% of our area used for agriculture, farming has a big part to play in our ambition to become carbon negative by 2040.
“But we also understand the financial pressures that farmers are facing today. So, this initiative offers cost savings with environmental benefits.
“By partnering with NFU Energy, we are helping farmers improve their productivity and efficiency by working with them to embrace low carbon technology and natural resources to create more resilient, sustainable food supply chains.”
North Yorkshire Council has provided £150,000 in funding for the programme through the Government’s Shared Prosperity Fund. Councillor Carl Les, leader of North Yorkshire Council and chair of the Shared Prosperity Fund Local Partnership Group, said:
“Our farm decarbonisation initiative is giving farms a unique opportunity to help with our goal to become a carbon negative county by 2040 – reducing emissions in all sectors, including agriculture, is vital.
“This scheme is a great start for this as it sees 30 of our North Yorkshire farms receive fully funded assessments aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving their efficiency.”
The scheme will run until March with the authority hoping to make data from the tests available after a final report is produced.
The three most clicked links in the special New Year’s Eve issue were:
In other news
❄️ If, like us, you’ve been snowed in this week you might be interested in this long read which reveals more about the production of the road salt used to help us get around.
Dave Higgens at the Press Association writes that Boulby Mine, near the tourist village of Staithes, North Yorkshire is one of only two places in England where the salt used on the country’s roads is mined.
“It is so deep it is home to one of the world’s leading projects trying to find dark matter – the mystery substance that physicists believe makes up most of the universe – as a kilometre of rock blocks out most other “normal” particles.”
Read the full article and see the video here.
🛍️ House and Garden magazine has named a Northumberland store which specialises in recycled, reclaimed and vintage pieces as its Independent Shop of the Year. In making the award, the magazine says:
“We wanted to choose an homeware shop which gave a rare unique retail experience; one of those ‘woah, I didn’t know this was here’ moments. RE truly is one of those institutions. A large warehouse space unassumingly tucked behind a garage in the pretty Northumbrian town of Corbridge, it has the overall effect of a snake charmer.” Read the full article here.
🦅 The Cumbrian White-tailed Eagle Project is exploring the possibility of bringing the impressive birds back to the southern part of Cumbria. This is a consortium of organisations, including the University of Cumbria, Cumbria Wildlife Trust, The Lifescape Project, RSPB, the Wildland Research Institute and the Lake District National Park Authority. The team is now undertaking a social feasibility study and has launched a questionnaire to evaluate the public’s attitudes and views on a potential White Tailed Eagle release. The questionnaire is aimed at individuals living in Cumbria and the surrounding areas. If you’d like to participate, the questionnaire is here.
⛏️ The latest phase of a £900,000 project to tackle river pollution from former mines in Upper Teesdale is complete, reports Gavin Engelbrecht at The Northern Echo
🐭 More than 300 harvest mice have been released at a site in the North York Moors National Park in the hope of re-establishing a local breeding population of this once-common species, reports the D&S.
🪶 Natural England has been intermittently publishing the fates of the hen harriers it’s team has tagged (see here). But in a new move, the RSPB has now launched an interactive map hub showing the fates of hen harriers its team has satellite-tagged since 2014.
☀️ Developer Enviromena Project Management UK Ltd has applied to a solar farm which would power up to 3,169 homes per year on land near Seaham. Bill Edgar reports for The Northern Echo that the application is recommended for approval.
⚡️ Mike Hughes at The Northern Echo reports that NatPower UK has submitted proposals for a 1GW battery energy storage system (BESS) to Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. The 50-acre section of the 4,500-acre Teesworks site at Long Acres, would store enough clean power for 3.9 million homes for up to four hours at a time.
⚡️ Plans have been drawn up for an electric vehicle ‘charging plaza’ beside the A1(M) in North Yorkshire, writes Joe Willis at RichmondshireToday.
✍️ Friends of the Earth is collecting signatures on a petition calling on the government to stop new oil and gas drilling for good. It says: “The government has paused approving new fields while it examines how to regulate new drilling - and it is asking us, the public, what we think should happen.” You can sign the petition here.
🗞️ and finally…..it’s always nice to be noticed further afield and so I was thrilled to hear that The Northern Eco was mentioned in an article at Spanish newspaper Diari de Tarragona. Using Google translate it reads:
“There are similar examples across Europe. After a career at The Guardian and then developing innovation programmes for media at Google, journalist Sarah Hartley has been writing for just over a year the Northern Eco , a newsletter in which she covers the impact of the climate crisis on the lives of people in North Yorkshire, UK. Incidentally, the newsletter survives, in part, thanks to the support of readers.”
Don’t forget, there’s a wide range of eco events coming up this month - details here.
We’ll be back next week as usual!
🌼 Thank you for reading edition number 115 of The Northern Eco. This newsletter remains independent, free unless you want to pay, ad-free and - as they say in Spain ;) - is proudly reader supported thanks to paying subscribers. The main newsletter is sent out at 7am every Tuesday and wouldn’t exist without paying subscribers. 🙏