The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Sustainable Intensification The challenges Rachel Carrington NFU Senior Policy Adviser 16 November 2011 The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members

The ‘perfect storm’: Population – 9 billion by 2050 (+50%) Income growth and changing consumption patterns A doubling of world food demand in just 39 years! Greater demand for water and energy Increased urbanisation

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Sustainable Intensification An integrating concept to meet all primary challenges: “Simultaneously raising productivity, increasing resource use efficiency and reducing negative environmental impacts of agriculture”

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Sustainable Intensification Producing as efficiently as possible on the smallest footprint of land capable of delivering market requirements is the “greenest” and usually the most profitable way to farm.

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Current global land use (13,009Mha) Forest & Savannah Cereals 5% Pasture & Range 26% 30% Other crops 7% Desert/mountain/ice 32%

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members The global significance of crop loss due to diseases, pests and weeds

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Sustainable intensification will contribute to: Reducing GHG emissions and adapting to climate change Increasing production efficiency Increasing competitiveness Land sparing for: carbon capture and storage bioenergy biodiversity conservation Maintaining ecosystems services

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members How do we meet the challenge of increasing food production? Need the right price and; the right policy signals Greater productivity Increased efficiency Farm more efficiently on the most productive land

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Solutions Increase R&D spend Increased use of technology –GPS/GIS –Precision farming –Machinery Crop and variety choice – genetics and plant breeding Biotechnology Attention to detail Policies that recognise the need for food security

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Dairy farming Mexico style 12,000 cows

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Soya harvest/cotton sowing Brazil style

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members The global food system must not fail on sustainability... Sustainability needs to move to centre stage Agriculture currently consumes 70% of total global water withdrawals from rivers and aquifers Agriculture directly contributes 10-12% of GHG emissions Ever increasing public interest in the countryside

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Six main points UK challenges and global challenges are closely connected R&D is essential (but not sufficient) Efficient land use and its management provide the key to meeting the challenge (= “Sustainable Intensification”) A focus is needed on increasing and realising genetic potential as well as reducing waste and environmental impact Innovation which adopts an “ecosystems approach” coupled with new technologies is necessary Climate change presents opportunities as well as risks and adaptation will require investment (and more information)

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Sustainable Intensification Environmental Sustainability Alex Dinsdale NFU Countryside Policy Adviser 16 th November 2011 The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members

Environmental schemes Part of the Common Agricultural Policy Since the 1980s ESA and CSS Environmental Stewardship CAP reform

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Campaign for the Farmed Environment Promotion of, and an add-on to, Environmental Stewardship Targets to hit by June An alternative to regulation

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Water quality Water Framework Directive Catchment sensitive farming AE schemes Nitrates Directive Education and awareness

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Water availability Variability and unpredictability of precipitation Likely to become more of a problem More reservoirs Rainwater harvesting, water management efficiency

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Climate Change Renewable energy – many options Scale Diversification Energy Adaptation

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members Soil Not as much focus as there should be – will this change? Cultivation Organic matter Climate adaptation Water pollution

The NFU champions British farming and provides professional representation and services to its farmer and grower members CAP reform Greening –Ecological Focus Areas –Rotation –Permanent pasture ploughing ban