UK Farming Roadmap Calls On Farmers To Swap Animals For Lentils

The UK government has proposed supporting farmers to swap high-emitting animal agriculture for sustainable crops such as lentils.

The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) published The Farming Roadmap 2050 at the end of June. The document aims to set out the government’s long-term vision for agriculture in the UK.

The new farming roadmap includes a provision to explore “opportunities to diversify into lower emission farming systems where appropriate,” and cited “growing oilseeds and pulses,” such as sunflower seeds and pulses, as an example.

The roadmap noted that a transition away from animal products and towards sustainable, nutritious crops would coincide with growing demand for plant-based foods.

Emma Reynolds, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, and Stephen Morgan, the Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs, described the roadmap as reflective of “the most pressing challenges and opportunities ahead.”

In a statement on the roadmap, they wrote, “Our ambition is straightforward: profitable farms that maintain domestic food production, fair rewards for the farmers who produce that food, good jobs in farming with clear career paths into farming, and a sector that helps restore nature and meet our climate goals while contributing to the growth of the British economy.”

The Farming Roadmap 2050 also notably mentioned Methane Suppressing Feed Products and other agricultural decarbonisation technologies.

While reducing methane emissions could theoretically help to shrink animal farming’s overall footprint, the industry would remain extremely resource-intensive, expensive, and inefficient. It would also continue to negatively impact wildlife, human health, and farmed animals themselves, and would make things harder for farmers, not easier.

‘It’s time for a radical shift’

Photo shows three cows eating by pushing their heads between the metal bars of their enclosure — Adobe Stock Reducing animal agriculture’s emissions is not enough to offset its huge negative impact on the environment, human health, wildlife, and farmed animals

The roadmap has received pushback from the NFU and farmers due to the lack of clarity over delivery and the total absence of new funding to back up its proposals.

Sustain, an alliance for “better food and farming,” praised the roadmap’s “clear long-term direction,” but also noted gaps related to delivery. Sustain also highlighted recent, contrasting proposals to weaken planning permission for poultry megafarms, and the “minimal rhetoric” on rising livestock numbers as areas of concern.

Alys Bannister, sustainable farming campaign manager at Sustain, called for clarity “on how that vision will be delivered in practice.”

Doug Parr, chief scientist at Greenpeace UK, responded with similar points. He described the roadmap as “very welcome,” but added, “It’s time for a radical shift back towards farming that works with nature and actually reaps the benefits from it.

“Many farmers are already showing that’s possible, others are more than ready for it, but all need proper funding and support from the government to make nature-friendly farming the norm.”

Also in June, a cross-party event saw farmers from across the EU call on policymakers to offer more support to those diversifying their protein production. In particular, they called for more support for the farmers already attempting to transition towards plant-based proteins and other ingredients.

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