It is important that farming and nature must work hand in hand

On a broader scale, growing public consciousness around biodiversity loss and climate change has put an increasing spotlight on how we farm and manage our land.

And although these are global issues, their effects and our response to them remain crucially important.

For example, one in 10 species on the island of Ireland are at risk of extinction, whilst the impacts of climate change are increasingly felt by farmers and many others in society.

Despite all this, looking out on my farm I remain hopeful for the future, and believe that with the right support, farmers can play a vital role in tackling two of the greatest issues of our time.

I’ve seen first-hand how simple changes to land management can provide big wins for wildlife, store carbon and also benefit the farm business.

Over the past 20 years, I’ve seen the return of threatened species such as Barn Owl, Yellowhammer, pine marten and Irish Hare, as well as an increase in valuable pollinators and other beneficial insects such as earthworms.

This has been achieved through the creation and careful management of my farm habitats as well as adopting some changes to how I manage my productive land.

And I am not alone. There are many farmers doing great things for nature and the environment throughout Northern Ireland.

From managing sensitive upland areas to benefit a range of plants and animals, to the adoption of innovative grassland management such as herbal leys to benefit pollinators, soil and stock health; to the use of agroforestry as a way to lock in carbon.

There are many farmers showing that it is possible to have a productive, profitable farm which provides high quality food whilst delivering tangible environmental benefits.

However, there is a lot more that we can do to put farming on a sustainable path.

Previous policies have failed to deliver for the environment at the necessary scale and in many cases have served to pit the interests of farming and nature against each other, this is a false dichotomy.

As a result, nature friendly farming has been seen as a nice to do rather than one of the core concepts of a farming business.

Whilst many farmers want to do more for nature, the right infrastructure and rewards haven’t always been in place. This must change.

To enable all farmers to transition towards nature friendly farming, we need long term support and well-designed, practical policy which generously rewards farmers for solid environmental management.

Much good work has been delivered using government supported agri-environment schemes, but often they fail to reward farm businesses for the true value of this work, whilst also only being rolled out to a relatively small proportion of businesses.

Future policy must make it easy and rewarding for all farmers to do the right thing for the environment; sufficient funding here will be crucial.

Outside of public funding, there are further opportunities for private investment in land management to deliver environmental benefits.

For example, to improve water quality, store carbon, or mitigate against flooding, providing further income from sustainable farming practises.

Finally, there is a key role for the market and supply chain in rewarding sustainably produced food, which actively benefits the environment, ensuring that farmers are suitably rewarded for food produced in this manner.

All of this will not happen overnight and will require careful planning and engagement with the farming community among others to create something that works.

But with this, I believe we can follow the examples being demonstrated on many farms across the country and join together in restoring nature, fighting against climate change and securing a better future for farming and the environment.

next week - William Taylor, Farmers for action