Latest news with #FAIFarms
The Guardian
13-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
What's the real beef over sustainable cattle farming?
George Monbiot refers to FAI Farms' work on regenerative beef farming, selectively critiquing one metric from our comprehensive report on adaptive multi-paddock grazing, while ignoring 54 others (New reports tell us cattle and sheep farming can be sustainable – don't believe them, it's all bull, 7 May). He focuses solely on the methodology behind our net zero carbon-balance estimation. This was calculated to be beyond net zero (-49.7t of CO2 equivalent) for our farm, based on modelling using the Sandy 'natural capital navigator', a Defra-recognised, scientifically robust platform. Mr Monbiot dismisses it as 'a right old mess', but his comment wrongly assumes that laboratory soil tests collected and described in the report were used to draw this conclusion. Instead, they provided a baseline and additional helpful analysis of soil health. Focusing on the carbon impact alone is also missing the point about what it takes to achieve sustainable beef production. Beyond carbon, our report's findings demonstrate broad benefits, including improved biodiversity, reduced reliance on inputs, enhanced water infiltration and healthier soils. Together, these outcomes outline a more resilient food system. Øistein ThorsenCEO, FAI Farms In attempting to blame sheep and cattle grazing for wildfires, George Monbiot resorts to prehistory to turn reality on its head. The major increase in such fires is a 21st-century phenomenon, which is the result of a major decline in traditional grazing and vegetation management by upland communities. A large proportion of the 40% decline in UK cattle numbers and 30% in sheep flocks during recent decades has been in upland landscapes, which also comprise most of our national parks. It is only logical that if the vegetative carbon biomass that was previously converted via lamb and beef into (non-combustible) human biomass is now left to die and dry out, it will create a major fire hazard in hot, dry weather. Such summer wildfires represent a 21st-century failure in land Harrison Morpeth, Northumberland George Monbiot is offering the choice between two dystopias. One is fully industrial farming, controlled by ever fewer players. This is where we have been heading in the quest for cheap and plentiful food for all since the privations of the second world war. As a proportion of income, we spend relatively little on food, and cheap food comes at the cost of our health and that of our planet. His second dystopia is based on lab-grown food and rewilding. The issues are complex, but agriculture is a part of a malfunctioning political and economic system; while there is blame to be laid at the door of the current system, the answer lies in reconnecting people to a better understanding of the natural world in which we are less exploitative. Can you really imagine abolishing all farmers and eating 'food' supplied by mega-corporations? There is a third way. It requires adjustments to our methods and is inclusive, and would result in greater health for people and planet. We run an organic flour mill. Currently, wheat and barley grown for animal feed in the UK uses 40% of its arable land and half of the annual wheat harvest. Freeing up land from animal feed production would allow us to farm a higher acreage organically and regeneratively, sequestering carbon very effectively as we do so. Nelly TrevelyanYorkshire Organic Millers Do you have a photograph you'd like to share with Guardian readers? If so, please click here to upload it. A selection will be published in our Readers' best photographs galleries and in the print edition on Saturdays.
BBC News
21-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
AI technology for egg farms gets £2.6m funding boost
AI technology aimed to improve efficiency on egg farms has been awarded £2.6m in government AI analyses a range of data gathered from sensors on a farm, including listening to the sound the hens make, to identify any potential Facilitating Learning Opportunities, Cultivating Knowledge and Welfare through Integrated Sensing and Expertise (Flockwise) system has been developed by Oxford-based FAI Farms, alongside Cumbria's The Lakes Free Range Egg Company and Newcastle Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) hopes the three-year trial will improve animal welfare and eventually reduce egg prices for British shoppers. FAI Farms claims the system can identify the sounds birds make when stressed or unwell and alert the BirdBox system is already used to check the hens' environment, monitor equipment, record feed data and gather information about the quality of the eggs. Defra said the technology would help hens "live longer and healthier lives and is good for the environment too, because longer-lived fowl have a smaller carbon footprint".If rolled out nationwide, Defra hopes the project could "make for up to 1.7 billion more eggs laid a year, and a £280 million increase to UK farmers' income". In a statement, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Steve Reed said: "Government support for cutting-edge technology is making a real-world difference to British farmers and boosting their profits."Farmers could even pass these productivity gains on to consumers, by charging lower prices for their eggs, ultimately putting more money in people's pockets."Science and Technology Secretary Peter Kyle said: "Not only is this work putting British farming at the cutting edge—it's ensuring our morning fry-ups remain proudly homegrown. "Now that's what I call a cracking use of technology." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
