Evidence of sustainable intensification among British farms

Abstract

Several influential reports have suggested that one of the most appropriate responses to expected food shortages and ongoing environmental degradation is sustainable intensification, i.e. the increase of food production with at worst no increase in environmental harm, and ideally environmental benefit. Here we sought evidence of sustainable intensification among British farmers by selecting innovative arable, dairy, mixed and upland farms and analysing their own data on yields, inputs and land use and , where area took into account estimated area to grow any imported animal feeds), regulation of climate, air and water quality (modelled -1-1-1 emissions of GHGs (CO2e ha), ammonia (kg ha) and nitrate loss (kg ha)) and biodiversity (using an index based on the presence of habitats and management).Several farms have increased both food production and other ecosystem services over this time by increasing yields, using resources more efficiently and /or enhancing biodiversity, and sometimes by reducing livestock numbers and increasing cropping. The motivation has been to improve farm profitability through increasing food production, reducing input costs and accessing public payments through agri-environment schemes and generating renewable energy. Such sustainable intensification was not achieved by farmers who increased meat or milk yields. Sustainable intensification can be achieved when the correct drivers are in place to influence the actions of individual farmers. Also, it is possible to indicate sustainable intensification by using a small number of high-level indicators derived from data that farmers already hold, though such an approach may not capture the impacts of farmer innovative practices. HIGHLIGHTSSustainable intensification is being achieved by innovative farmers in Britain Sustainable intensification is driven by the desire to raise income and cut costs Biodiversity enhancement is seen by farmers as a cost, to be borne by public payments Sustainable intensification can be indicated using farmers" own data but the metrics need to be refined Research is needed to capture the impacts of innovations such as zero tillage

Sustainable intensification in agriculture: the richer shade of green. A review

“…But also, here, the output site of the equation merely contains produce and environmental impact. Still later, Pretty et al (2011) and Firbank et al (2013) stretched that definition to "producing more output per unit of land while reducing environmental impacts and increasing contributions to natural capital and flow of environmental services". Gradually, the concept of sustainable intensification has apparently been widened to also include (industrial) agriculture in the developed world and to provide connections between current and future practices without being disruptive.…”

How scalable is sustainable intensification?

“…Interpreting the ethics of sustainability in different ways and pursuing intensification at different scales allows us to classify the visions sketched above into four types: I) Agronomic efficiency 12 : increasing the production efficiency of a parcel of land: the agricultural output per unit resource input or per unit area 13 . Here "sustainability" arises because it is assumed that increased productivity from a given area can be achieved without significant detriment to other goods and services arising outside of that area.…”

Factors affecting farm size on the European level and the national level of the Czech Republic

“…This rapid decrease is a result of the past changes in the farming style and methods, such as the shift to a more intensive mechanization during the 1960s and 70s (Bos et al 2013;Firbank et al 2013), and the effects of the collectivization and its reversal in the former centrally planned economies of the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) countries (Hartvigsen 2014). But what factors cause the mean agricultural holding size (AHS) to differ so considerably across different countries in the EU?…”