TIBRE:Its an approach not a rulebook
TIBRE:Its an approach not a rulebook
SCOTTISH growers now have their own guide to farming with the environment in mind.
Targeted inputs for a better rural environment (TIBRE) is a Scottish Natural Heritage initiative, with a handbook aimed at Scotlands 8,000 arable farmers. It was developed over two years and involved researchers, policy makers and 25 leading farmers.
"The aim is to maximise the use of new technology on the farm while minimising any adverse effects on the natural environment," SNH chairman Magnus Magnusson said at the Royal Highland Show last week.
"It is neither a scheme nor a regulation, it is an approach. It is a modern ethic clothed in practical realities, so agriculture and the environment can grow together."
Scottish farm minister Lord Sewel said many environmental initiatives aimed for organic or low input crop management and had been criticised for conflicting with core agricultural objectives.
"By contrast, TIBRE aims to address environmental problems in a way which is less of a threat to the normal activities of the larger, commercial farmer.
It proposes that technology is the key to more effective management of inputs."
The technology advocated in the TIBRE manual has come from 25 farmers in Scotland.