Prof Trewavas and other speakers at LEAF Conference 26 September, Battleby, Perthshire

On September 26 2002, LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming) held a conference in Battleby, Perthshire on the subject of Integrated Farm Management (IFM). The purpose of the conference was to "point a clear direction for farmers, consumers and environmentalists and to dispel some of the barriers related to money, fact and fiction". Full details of the conference can be found here.

Papers presented at the conference included:

Which Way for Sustainable Development?: Anthony Trewavas FRS

The introductory paper by Prof Trewavas FRS of Edinburgh University severely criticised the case made out by the organic lobby as not standing up to objective and scientific analysis. It could be added that there are also legitimate and serious concerns about the animal welfare aspects of organic farming. Prof Trewavas also took to task the claims made by environmentalists in that many such claims cannot be substantiated, or are presented in an unbalanced manner. His address is reproduced here in full from the conference notes with his permission.

See also the following papers by Trewavas:

The Population/Biodiversity Paradox. Agricultural Efficiency to Save Wilderness - Full Text | Download PDF

Urban myths of organic farming - Full Text | Download PDF

Legislation, Directives and Confusion - Or Is It?: Tricia Henton

The paper by Tricia Henton (Chief Executive of SEPA) referred to EC directives on water quality which are being implemented through SEPA in the form of Nitrate Vulnerable Zones and a whole raft of new legislation for farmers (view paper). She also stated that Scotland had a particular problem with carbon retention in its soil, so that ploughing (would you believe) could become a big issue in Scotland. According to Ms Henton carbon rich soils in Scotland are responsible for greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to a third of the pollution from fossil fuels. In England & Wales carbon release from ploughing is just 5% of that from fossil fuels.

When I put it to Ms Henton that the science on which such statements are made may not be reliable, she simply replied that if I did not agree with the EC directives I should contact MEPs. Naively I thought that SEPA might be so good as to check the science and if they found it lacking in any way they (in our name as taxpayers) would raise the matter in Brussels. Apparently not. They merely administer directives from Brussels and do not question them and have some 1000 staff and some 22 offices (according to the chairman's tongue-in-cheek introduction - "almost as many staff as there are farmers"). Admittedly SEPA do other things as well, but still ....?

When the RSPB previously put agriculture at the top of the list of polluters (allegedly mainly because of carbon in the soil) a little research soon revealed that this was an extraordinary misrepresentation of the facts and contained margins of error that should invalidate such a dogmatic statement. What it came down to was ploughing up previous forestation on peaty soils - how often does that happen? So forestry is bad for the environment is it? So ploughing in Scotland is contributing significantly to global warming? No doubt the livestock (and people?) will be contributing significantly too as they breathe out CO2 and exude other undesirable gases. It must be time to look carefully at the science that is said to be the basis for such remarkable claims.

Ms Henton did not raise the point that according to their own figures organic farming is allegedly the worst form of farming in terms of nitrogen run-off (diffuse pollution), but then organic farming is high on the SEERAD list of objectives. Where has sincere and trustworthy science gone? Why has it been replaced by the pseudo and manipulative science as used by politicians and government departments that now have such a control on research funds? Land-Care will return to this subject hopefully in the near future.

The Role of the Advisor: Dr Keith Dawson

Keith Dawson (CSC Crop Care) wondered why Scottish farmers are not paid for reducing CO2 emissions, by moving from ploughing to min-till like growers in Spain, who are paid per hectare for doing so. But then min-till can lead to problems with weeds and that might well need weedkiller. So which system provides the greater benefit or the lesser evil? Do the so-called environmentalists do a cost analysis or is that demeaning? View article here.

Other Speakers at the Conference

Kirsty Macleod

Kirsty Macleod, of the People Too lobby group, said it was time for farming to take back its reputation as a responsible countryside manager from the environmental pressure groups. She also asked that the largely urban supported environmental charities should be financially accountable.

Alistair MacLennan

Alistair MacLennan, who farms 400 acres at Balliefurth Farm, Speyside called for fair rewards for environmental work, stating that farmers were an undervalued and under used resource in the countryside. The environment is a product and should be paid for like any other product. He stressed that unless farming pays there will soon be too few people willing and capable to deliver the land management that society demands.

There is no one who could manage the land or the habitats better than someone who had worked the farm for many years and who knew every subtlety and quirk of the land. The intricate knowledge that a farmer has is of unquantifiable value for reaching both production and environmental goals. Site-specific and seasonal variations needed to be taken into account when drawing up management practices. No one can do that better than the farmer on the ground.

Gavin Bailey

Gavin Bailey of Safeways tried to present the caring and ethical face of supermarkets. He did not appear to have an answer as to the ethics of why they do not insist that their suppliers pay the primary producer something more (rather than less) than the cost of production. Supermarkets insist on all sorts of standards of animal welfare and how tractors are maintained etc, but apparently not for ensuring that the primary producer can earn a living wage. All sorts of political correctness and other bureaucratic nonsense always seems to get in the way and is beyond their talents to tackle.

Newpaper articles about the conference

Scientists Deride Organic Claims: Andrew Arbuckle.
Dundee Courier, 27/09/02

Organic Under Attack
Farmers Weekly, 04/10/02

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Prof Trewavas and other speakers at LEAF Conference 26 September, Battleby, Perthshire

Papers presented at the conference included:

Other Speakers at the Conference

Newpaper articles about the conference