Photo: Paul Harris/2020VISION
Food and Farming
Regenerative, nature-friendly farming
By supporting farmers to shift towards regenerative, nature-friendly methods, farming has huge potential to deliver a green rural renewal. Farming is too often unsustainable, but with management of over 70% of UK land, farmers should be a significant part of the solution.
The destruction of nature and the impacts of climate change are the biggest threats to food security in the UK. Food production relies on healthy soils, clean water, and resilience to climate change. But farming is one of the main causes of wildlife declines, as well as the leading cause of river pollution in England. Restoring nature on farms will bring many benefits, not just for wildlife but also for farmers. Working with nature can increase farm profits and resilience, reduce costs, and maintain or even improve yields.
To support a just transition for farmers, we’re calling on the Government to...
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Increase the budget for wildlife-friendly farming
To reverse the decline of nature by 2030, and secure the UK’s long term food security, the budget to support wildlife-friendly farming should be increased to at least £4.4 billion a year. This will ensure the agricultural transition is fair to farmers and better for wildlife, while providing healthier and more affordable food for all members of society.
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Halve pesticide use
The catastrophic decline of insects is having a huge effect on the rest of the natural world. Insects are the canaries in the coal mine – their collapse is an alarm bell that must not be ignored. To save the future of insects – and all life that depends on them – the UK Government must halve pesticide use by 2030 and maintain all bans on of bee-killing and human-health-harming neonicotinoids once and for all.
WildNet - Anna Guthrie
Help farmers reduce emissions and adapt to climate change
The extreme heat, wildfires, and droughts in 2022 provided a taste of the reality to come. Farmers need much more support to adapt to climate change and to help meet the UK’s climate goals, as well as reducing their emissions.
The Wildlife Trusts are lending our voice to a new vision for food, farming and nature to build a cross-sector consensus towards a new model of farming in the UK.Land Use Policy Manager, The Wildlife Trusts
Scope for positive change
Farmland makes up around 66% of Somerset and thus has a critical role to play in making space for wildlife and restoring soil health and the many other natural processes that have been lost through the intensification of agriculture and a focus on yield. More recently, there’s been a shift in mindset from prioritising yield and instead focusing on profit margins, for example, producing less but saving money on inputs like fertilisers and pesticides. Not all land is equally productive for food, so matching farming practices to the carrying capacity of the land is key as is balancing the cycle of nutrients going into and out of the soil which ensure the functioning ecosystems upon which farming depends remain in good condition.
Integrated with the natural world in a way that it can immediately start helping with nature’s recovery, the farming sector can also help sequester carbon alongside produce healthy, profitable crops and livestock. The prize for this transformation is healthier people, resilient farming livelihoods, prosperous rural communities, thriving wildlife and a stable climate.
Case Studies
Across Somerset there are lots of farmers doing brilliant things for wildlife and below we showcase three examples of farmers on a journey to transform their farms into mosaics of habitats that benefit both wildlife and improve their commercial viability and, at the same time, making a healthy contribution to our goal of restoring 30% of land for nature by 2030.
Photo: Lottie Sweeney
Ebbor Gorge
Neil Tustian and Lottie Sweeney took over their 186-acre farm in 2018, which wraps around the top of Ebbor Gorge.
Chesterblade Hills
Somerset Wildlife Trust trustee Ed Green has been transforming Chesterblade Hills, his seven-generation family farm of 730 acres near Shepton Mallet, into a place where nature and people can flourish together.
Wildlife-friendly farming on Mendip
On Mendip, Nick and Jane Hiscox run several farms, one which they own and another which the family has been renting for several generations from Wainwright’s quarry.