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The 30:50:50 Mission: How do we achieve higher yields with less land
For that vision to become a reality, solutions must be wide-ranging, and there is much to learn from initiatives already underway like the Yield Enhancement Network (YEN), says ADAS Sustainable Farming Systems Associate Managing Director Dr Sarah Kendall.
The recent release of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture’s “Feeding Britain Sustainably to 2050: The 30:50:50 Mission” Report highlights the urgent need for government to put food security back on the agenda, amidst rising competing land-use demands to restore biodiversity, sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase domestic energy production, and improve flood management.
Central to the 30:50:50 vision is the adoption of a land sparing approach, with 60% of land allocated to high-yield farming, 25% to natural habitat, and 15% to low intensity farming.
The report acknowledges that vast amounts of farm data – key to driving collaborations, initiatives, and ideas for productivity enhancement – are currently locked in silos.
To enable a consistent, evidence-based approach to the collection and integration of farm-level data, the report requests the development of a new National Farm Data Initiative (NFDI) to coordinate the collection and integration of farm data and provide a single metric for consumers, policy-makers and investors.
Alongside the NFDI, the 30:30:50 vision also recommends the establishment of a new national Knowledge Exchange capability. With its roots in this area, ADAS continues to develop and run initiatives that do just this – our Yield Enhancement Network (YEN) has, for the last 13 years, supported arable farmers in understanding their yield limitations through a ‘share-to-learn’ farm data approach.
Through the YEN, ADAS has created a database of thousands of arable crop yields which demonstrates that:
- High-yielding wheat crops had a similar spend on crop inputs and much higher gross margins over variable costs compared to lower-yielding crops.
- High-yielding wheat crops were associated with fewer greenhouse gas emissions per tonne and negative fertiliser N balances.
The knowledge already gained through YEN to achieve higher yields could contribute to the goals of 30:50:50 misson and wider national objectives on food security, environmental improvement, biodiversity, and economic development.
The 30:50:50 vision suggests prioritising genetic innovation in crops and livestock to drive productivity and sustainability gains, but we must not be distracted from the fact that solutions must be wide-ranging – there is no single silver bullet.
If we take land sparing as a strategy, we must also ensure that due attention is given to agronomic management. For example, farms must ensure that nutrients are not limiting yields and crops are adequately protected from pests, weeds and diseases via integrated pest management methods.
Increasing yields is also fundamental to reducing the carbon intensity and environmental footprint of crop production. Nitrogen (N) fertiliser is responsible for more than half of GHG emissions from arable crop production, yet significant reductions in N application rates risk compromising yields.
YEN data analysis indicates that the relationship between variable costs/ha and yield is not strong – high yields are not achieved by simply turning up the inputs, and therefore farms must invest in optimising systems to maximise yields with fewer inputs.
Supporting farms to invest in skills and technologies to help them make the best crop management decisions to reach maximum possible yields will be crucial.
The 30:50:50 vision reaffirms the need to “drive farm-level adoption of productivity-enhancing technologies and innovations through more effective and efficient tax and grant schemes”. We must not be naïve in thinking economic challenges are the sole cause of lack of adoption by farmers of technologies and innovations.
A suite of factors will determine the successful uptake and adoption of innovation on farm, including boosting farmer confidence in new ways of working and new technologies. This requires robust evidence to prove what works, as well as support with farmer training and knowledge exchange to target skills gaps.
Read the All Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture’s “Feeding Britain Sustainably to 2050: The 30:50:50 Mission” Report in full.