How to build climate resilience into farm business plans

Urgent action is required to build greater climate resilience into farming systems to ensure that productivity isn’t compromised, and farms remain viable, experts stress.

According to the UK Climate Change Committee, climate change poses a direct risk to crops, livestock and trees, through increased exposure to heat stress, drought risk, waterlogging, flooding and fire, as well as pests, diseases and invasive, non-native species.

See also: 5 new-year farm tax and finance tips

While that verdict was given back in June 2021, following a report entitled Independent Assessment of UK Climate Risk, there have been subsequent updates with the same tone.

More recently, the committee has warned that the rate of adaptation progress is too slow.

Extreme weather events are already challenging the way that farms are run, highlights ADAS.

The four named storms – Agnes, Babet, Ciaran and Debi – that hit the UK in autumn 2023 brought exceptionally wet and stormy weather, with flooding and wind damage affecting all four nations.

Current situation

There’s no denying that agriculture sits at the cutting edge of climate change, says Dr Andrew Cottrell, senior applied climate scientist at the Met Office, who has been looking at what farmers can expect in the coming years, and what that will mean for their businesses.

“The headline findings are that there will be hotter summers and warmer winters,” he reveals, with temperatures typically being 1C warmer than they are now.

That has implications for livestock and crop heat stress, as well as factors such as growing season length, post-harvest storage regimes, and changing pests and diseases.

The other main findings were wetter winters and drier summers, along with an increase in rainfall intensity.

“A 10% increase in winter rainfall can be expected in the next 30 years,” reports Andrew, who adds that this will bring problems associated with flooding and waterlogging, as well as limited access to land.

“The future increase in rainfall intensity is a threat to soil erosion, nutrient leaching, crop lodging and soil run-off, as well as to productivity.

“Of course, risks are not the whole story with climate change,” he continues.

“There will be opportunities, too – from longer grazing periods and extended production seasons, to earlier maturity and new crops.”

Andrew stresses that what really matters to farm businesses is the weather in a particular year.

“You will always get variability. But we are predicting an increased likelihood of extremes – what are now quite rare events will become more common.”

On-farm actions

Charles Ffoulkes, director for climate adaptation and resilience at Adas, has been assessing the adaptation actions that farms can take.

Working with the Met Office, Adas has been examining the resilience measures that cover the climate hazards of heat, drought and wildfires, flooding and wet conditions, and changing seasonality.

For each of these, a range of adaptation measures were identified before being rated for their impact on reducing the climate risk, ease of implementation and upfront cost.

From there, they were able to identify the “quick wins” – things that farmers can put in place to alleviate the worst of the conditions, and help them to farm in the most appropriate way, without having to make huge investments.

© Tim Scrivener

In Scotland, Farming for a Better Climate has issued advice on reducing the impact of heavy rainfall events following the very wet winter weather.

It has highlighted six main areas for farmers to concentrate on. However, with no one-size-fits-all approach, it stresses that these are a range of actions that might improve resilience at the farm level.

1. Protect soil surface – keep the soil surface covered by residues or by sowing a cover crop, to reduce erosion, aid infiltration and prevent nutrient loss.
2. Limit soil compaction – compacted soils impede drainage and keep water locked up in the upper profile, increasing flooding risk and reducing the soil’s ability to hold water. Correcting compaction also helps with yield performance.
3. Reduce run-off – use buffer strips around watercourses to slow the flow of water and trap sediment particles. Strategically placed traps and bunds will also reduce run-off and soil loss.
4. Maintain field drains – drains can silt up and block, preventing water from getting away.  Drain outfalls should have a reasonable clearance between the outfall and normal water level. Cleaning, clearing and repairing outfalls may be required.
5. Clear ditches – check that the water can flow, and clear sections of the ditch on a regular basis.
6. New drains – given the likelihood of more intense winter rain, consider adding new field drains. A full drainage plan can be drawn up, with a view of completing it in sections.

The organisation has also issued advice to farmers about feeding flood-damaged forage stocks, with an emphasis on avoiding any bacterial contamination.

Any forage that has been flooded by slurry or sewage waste has a high risk of contamination. Listeria, clostridia, bacilli and enterobacteria are all threats responsible for poor intakes and growth rates, abortions and deaths.

Farmers are advised to consider forage texture where there’s been soil and silt contamination, as well as any changes in smell and pH – both of which can indicate secondary fermentation and bacterial growth.

© GNP

Case study: Vegetable production

For Guy Singh-Watson of organic vegetable producer Riverford, the climate problems encountered in the business are about the extremes, not the averages.

At the company’s base in Devon, the greatest difficulties come from intense rainfall in late summer and early autumn, which leads to soil loss or damage, and makes harvesting very difficult.

“We are focusing on reducing soil loss and we have changed what we are doing,” he says. “It’s becoming increasingly obvious that what was acceptable practice 10 or 20 years ago is not right any longer.

“We now accept that we can’t cultivate our steeper south-facing slopes, for example, as the risks are too high.”

Heavy rain events in late summer and early autumn also affect their green manuring practices and make establishing new leys more difficult.

“We now use swales across our fields, cultivate less than we used to, grow more perennial crops, have introduced agroforestry, add organic matter to the soil to improve percolation rates and do shallower cultivations where possible.

“We are also building reservoirs. As an industry, it’s clear that we have underestimated the urgency and gravity of climate change – things are changing faster than we would like.”

He is producing crops that cost about £3,000/acre to get to harvest, and the same amount again to actually harvest them.

“So losing a crop is disastrous. If that starts to happen every three years in 10, as some are predicting, I will be out of business.”

Temperature changes have increased risk at the start and end of the vegetable growing season, leading to shortages and gluts, he says.

“You would think that longer, milder autumns would be good for the industry, but it means the predictability of harvest is changing.”

The same applies to grazing livestock, adds Guy, as keeping them out in a longer-than-expected season without poaching swards becomes more challenging.

As the extremes become more frequent, small changes are more disruptive, especially as you get closer to the equator, he notes.

“In winter, we bring vegetables up from Spain and Italy, parts of which have been affected by a prolonged drought. As a result, brassica production is moving away from the south of Spain and going further north.

“Likewise, olive oil producers have only had one-third of their usual crop this year. What we are seeing in this country is mild in comparison.”

Case study: beef and arable

Northamptonshire mixed farmer Mark Jelley has already made changes to his farming practices and machinery capacity because of the unpredictable weather and changing climate.

After oilseed rape failed for three years in a row – thanks to very dry conditions in September – he has now abandoned the crop.

“Planting it in August and then having a very dry spell afterwards into September meant it just couldn’t get established,” he says.

He has also had to be far more vigilant at harvest to limit crop damage and loss of quality from diseases such as ergot.

Machinery policy also reflects that he now covers the field work in a shorter period of time.

“Crop quality is less predictable now. So we are growing more cereals for livestock feed, rather than human consumption, to remove some of that risk.”

Field work windows are shorter than they used to be, especially in the autumn, he adds.

“We have to make the most of the opportunities that we get, so our machinery capacity reflects that.”

An earlier calving period for his beef cattle is the result of more early spring grass growth and milder winters, which also helps to avoid the risk of drought later in the year.

“Now that we can produce more grass in the spring than we need at the time, we have moved to deferred grazing. Leaving some of that grass as a standing hay crop allows us to graze it later in the year, when there can be a shortage.”

Grazing grass margins on arable land is another technique that he has adopted to ensure there’s enough grass for the season.  

“Last year, we were able to graze a long way into the summer, but that’s not always possible if it doesn’t rain.

”A robust vaccination programme is used when the cattle are housed, due to increased pressure from pneumonia caused by warmer, more humid conditions.

“It’s prevention rather than cure, and it helps to keep our antibiotics use right down.”

More exotic disease risks, such as bluetongue, are also on his watchlist as the climate changes.

“There’s no doubt that we will be managing extremes on a more regular basis and certain things are getting harder to do, but we are adapting.”

Business planning is becoming more important, he adds, but a lack of data specific to the farm’s location and enterprise type, as well as time pressures, makes that difficult to do.