There aren’t many things that you would envy about the United States at the moment but having clear and ambitious goals on agricultural innovation is perhaps one.
This inspired the All Party Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture to put forward a new vision designed to spark conversations about what is needed to deliver an increase in farm production alongside a reduction in environmental footprint.
The role of science, technology and innovation is absolutely key, supported by government policies and legislation based on robust evidence.
Science and farming taken for granted
The APPG 30:50:50 vision was launched on 29 January by new chair George Freeman MP at its Agri-Science Week in Parliament.
In its Innovation Agenda for UK Agriculture it calls for a long-term ambition to increase domestic food self-sufficiency from 60 to 75% over the next 25 years.
It also proposes a way to deliver this through a 30% increase in domestic food production by 2050 while reducing farming’s environmental footprint by 50% per unit of output, in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, land use, water use and soil health.
The ‘per unit of output’ point is key to ensuring the metrics are meaningful: That ‘more from less’ focus of the 30:50:50 vision aligns well with the NFU’s ‘Why science matters’ campaign in 2008, the same year the APPG was formed with the NFU as one of its founding stakeholders.
Even with the success of that campaign in raising the profile and investment in agricultural science and technology, it goes to show how important it is to keep restating and reframing the message as political, economic and societal priorities change.
The risk for both science and farming to be taken for granted is real.
Cross-party commitment
At the opening ceremony George Freeman stood alongside vice chair Charlie Dewhirst, MP for Bridlington and the Wolds, as well as Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner, who spoke of his support for the APPG's initiative, showing the cross-party commitment to working together on these important challenges.
The APPG wants to hear people's views on its proposed three steps:
- the 30:50:50 target for sustainable efficient production
- a consistent, evidence-based approach to collection and integration of farm data to provide a single metric for consumers, policy-makers and investors
- ensure policy is joined up between farm support and land use, regulation of innovations and R&D.
The APPG initiative was well-timed with the launch of the Land Use Framework consultation at the end of agri-science Week in Parliament, on 31 January.
Enabling multi-functional landscapes and working out how to protect land for production and for nature in the context of climate change will definitely require innovation, technology, robust evidence and data.
Who attended agri-science week?
Research organisations exhibiting in the Palace of Westminster included:
- John Innes Centre
- Rothamsted Research
- Niab
- Lincoln Institute for Agri-Food Technology and Ceres Agritech.
- Roslin Institute
Commercial companies also presented their R&D activities at the APPG in the evening:
- Adrian Packington, dsm-firmenich (Bovaer – methane-reducing feed additive).
- Johnny Mackey, MSD Animal Health (precision livestock farming).
- Robin Watchorn, Recycled Crop Nutrients (green fertilisers).
- Carlos de Pommes, Remediiate (microalgae in animal feed).
- Phil McNaugton, British Sugar (circularity mission towards net zero).
