Farmers condemn suggestion to take farmland out of production
© Tim Scrivener Farmers have slammed a suggestion by former Defra chief scientist Ian Boyd that half of UK farmland should be taken out of food production.
Professor Boyd, who spent seven years at Defra until he stepped down last year, made the comments in an interview with The Guardian.
See also: Farm leaders hit back at ex-Defra scientist’s climate claims
Some 50% of land currently used for agriculture needed to be transformed into woodlands and natural habitat to fight the climate crisis and restore wildlife, he said.
Half of farmland – mostly uplands and pasture – produced just 20% of the UK’s food and would be better for used other public goods, said Prof Boyd.
[Prof Boyd’s suggestion] as fanciful as the Adventures of Paddington Bear
Rather than rearing livestock, farmers could be paid for storing carbon dioxide, helping prevent floods and providing landscapes for people to improve their health and welfare.
“Most of the livestock production in the UK is unprofitable without public subsidy,” he said, suggesting lost food production could be made up by the development of vertical farms.
“The public are subsidising the production of livestock to produce huge environmental damages, all the way from greenhouse gas emissions to water pollution.
“Why should we continue to do that? It’s not sensible.”
But NFU deputy president Guy Smith said Prof Boyd’s suggestion was as “fanciful as the Adventures of Paddington Bear.”
Vertical farming in tower blocks might work for some niche, high-value crops like herbs – but not for staple crops like wheat, he tweeted.
‘ Vertical farming’ in tower blocks in urban areas that Prof. Boyd sees as the future for food production might work for some niche, high-value crops like herbs but for staple crops like wheat that provide most our calories seems as fanciful as The Adventures of Paddington Bear.
‘ Vertical farming’ in tower blocks in urban areas that Prof. Boyd sees as the future for food production might work for some niche, high-value crops like herbs but for staple crops like wheat that provide most our calories seems as fanciful as The Adventures of Paddington Bear.
— Guy Smith (@essexpeasant) December 31, 2019
Turkey farmer Adrian Joy described Sir Ian’s suggestion as “blinkered logic”.
Still this blinkered logic with no one talking about the cost to produce food this way and its actual value. As we know most of these people talk the talk then buy cheap. Cant have it both ways. Want vertically grown salads – great – pay 3/4/5… 10 times the cost.
— Adrian Joy (@cold_turkey1929) January 1, 2020
Berkshire farmer Colin Rayner said the idea would lead to more food being imported – which was not a brilliant idea.
We could then just import all our food from the rest of the world. That is not a brilliant idea. I thought the idea was to grow food locally our commercial farm already hosts 20 risked breeding birds.
— Colin Rayner (@farmerrayner) December 31, 2019
It is not the first time Prof Boyd has offended farmers with his comments.
Last November, he suggested the UK’s farming system was “very inefficient and in need of very significant transformation”.
And last summer, before he stepped down as Defra chief scientist, he suggested consumers should be allowed to eat chlorinated chicken.
NFU president Minette Batters said allowing imports of chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef into the UK would be a “betrayal” of British farming.