The government and all UK industries are collaborating on initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of everything that is made and consumed in the UK. These initiatives are being spelt out in a series of ‘RoadMaps’. The Milk RoadMap, the first to be published, was launched by Lord Rooker, Minister for Sustainable Food, Farming and Animal Health at Wigmore Court Farm last Friday. Lord Rooker said the Milk RoadMap was about the production, processing, distribution and retailing of liquid milk, which, he said, was “a vital commodity we cannot do without”. Lord Rooker said the RoadMap was an incentive to develop a collaborative approach to reduce the energy and greenhouse gas emissions of the liquid milk sector. He said: “Defra has supported the initiative, which involves every part of the sector right through from producers where it starts and has got the retailers, who are at the front end, on board.” The RoadMap sets three progressive stages to be achieved by 2010, 2015, and on to 2020. As part of that process, dairy farmers are expected to have reduced their greenhouse gas emissions by 20% to 30% between 1990 and 2020. The map lists ways in which that can be achieved. These range from boosting the number of dairy farmers taking part in environmental stewardship schemes, improving efficiencies by doing nutrient planning, improving animal health and welfare, increasing the number of lactations per cow and cutting emissions from soil and fertiliser and reducing water and energy consumption. The dairy industry has agreed to recycle half of the 1.5 billion plastic milk bottles by 2020, which would save some 60,000 tonnes of new plastic annually. The report draws attention to the dearth of mature research investigating cost-effective ways of reducing greenhouse emissions from dairy farms and stresses the need for more technology and research and development and the importance of government investment in research that challenges current husbandry best practice. It says it is an area which has great potential to improve profitability and environmental performance. Lord Rooker was adamant that any new innovations and more environmentally friendly systems must be protected against red tape.

Clive Gurney, the day’s host farmer, warned of the dangers of a lack of profitability in farming. He said: “If it cannot be produced profitably, food will not be here. Food security is well worth thinking about. “It is a frightening thought – what will we eat tomorrow?” By Ian Howie.