As highlighted by the Met Office’s confirmation that 2022 was the hottest year on record, it is now clear that we are now living in a changing climate writes NFU Scotland’s Climate Policy Manager Kate Hopper.
Farmers and crofters have long worked with the seasons, with nature, and with the weather, but this is changing, and it is essential that as the climate warms we can continue to produce sustainable food and crops.
Adaption must now be a key part of managing the impacts of climate change on farms and crofts in Scotland.
Whilst 2022 was a great year weather wise in some areas of Scotland for arable production, resulting in record yields, we also experienced increasing input costs, prolonged periods of drought in the east and south affecting fruit and veg growers, extensive periods of rain in the west, and an uncertainty and volatility which made it difficult to plan farming operations.
Planting and harvesting times are experiencing great periods of change, and for the first time this summer the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) suspended water abstraction licences due to water scarcity which resulted in millions of pounds worth of losses in fruit and vegetable crops.
It is now critical that farmers and crofters are able access the resources required to adapt their businesses practises. We need to be able to mitigate the risks posed by environment change so that we can continue to deliver high quality food and crops to support the Scottish economy.
Farmers and crofters are already adapting their farm management practises - managing their land to increase carbon sequestration, planting trees on farm, using cropping techniques to increase soil health and to store more water, and using methods which increase biodiversity.
As the Scottish Government seeks to deliver a new Agricultural Policy for Scotland, NFUS is calling for future policy support to deliver investment in practical actions which can help farmers transition further. This needs to includes investment in infrastructure to help farms and crofts adapt to climate change.
This should include investment in water storage and boreholes, landscape scale water catchment management, flood management infrastructure, improvement to soil health, new crop varieties and methods of maintaining crop yield. This will help to increase the resilience of farms and crofts to climate change as we continue to produce sustainable food.