Primary Production
Manufacturing Packaging Distribution Retail Consumption
Primary production covers all agricultural food production including crop cultivation, dairy production and livestock rearing. it is fundemental to the UK economy as a whole contributing £6.5 billion to the UK economy in 2006. To ensure the embedding of sustainability issues into the food industry it is important to start at the production phase as this affects all of the subsequent stages of the chain and also has upstream influences. Primary production activities are also of particular relevance since they often have the most immediate effects on the environment.
Key considerations
- What are the key threats to sustainablity at this stage of the food chain?
- What is your organisation required to do by law?
- What external help is available?
- Air/Water/Soil Pollution: These may occur as a result of agricultural activities such as the spreading of fertilizers on fields and methane emissions from cows and other livestock. Nitrogen fertilizers cause water pollution and are the single largest cause of nitrous oxide emissions. Methane is a greenhouse gas 20 times more powerful than CO2 and every day Britain’s 10 million cows emit approximately 100-200 litres of methane each.
- Water Withdrawal and Use: This is particularly relevant in areas of high water stress. In primary production water is predominantly used for irrigation and as drinking water for livestock.
- Soil Degradation: This may occur in primary production as a result of over intensive farming, the cultivation of marginal lands or reduced tree cover.
- Biodiversity: Where primary production relies exclusively on the cultivation of one type of crop the environmental impacts can be significant and negative including increased incidences and impacts of pest damage and reduced soil fertility. The cultivation of an appropriate selection of crops can be beneficial to soil fertility and reduce such risks.
- Animal Welfare Issues: These are particularly important in terms of ethical standards and minimising the risk and spread of disease.
- Waste Production and Disposal: The production and disposal of all forms of waste including machinery, farm inputs, dead animals, crops and packaging pose a significant threat to sustainability. The type of waste disposal method used (for example composting, irrigation or landfill) effects the extent of the environmental impact of farm waste.
- Energy Consumption: This poses a significant threat to sustainability as primary production is energy intensive both on and off farm. Greenhouse gas emissions therefore need to be considered at this stage. The depletion of coal, natural gas and oil reserves is a related impact associated with energy consumption.
- Seasonal Produce: The environmental impact of cultivating crops in season is significantly lower than growing out of season produce which requires additional, often environmentally damaging, inputs (for example the use of greenhouses).
- Social issues: Social issues are also important in in primary production, especially in relation to the developing world. Issues such as fair-trade and labour standards must be taken into account to ensure sustainability is embedded at this stage of the food chain. Other important social issues to consider include the safety and nutritional value of products, local economic development, the health impacts of pesticide and fertilizer use and fair and transparent pricing (both within the UK and overseas).
2. What is your organisation required to do by law?
Primary production is governed by a significant amount of legislation, a significant proportion of which acts to encourage sustainability. At the European level the most important piece of legislation in terms of sustainability within primary production is the Single Payment Scheme which decouples subsidies from production and rewards farmers employing more environmentally friendly farming practices. The impact of this is augmented by other EU Directives including Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control, Landfill, Habitats and End of Life Vehicle Regulations which aim to reduce polluting emissions and waste whilst improving habitat and environmental protection.
At the UK level further legislative drivers act to promote sustainability in agriculture. The UK Environmental Protection Act outlaws the unsustainable practice of straw and stubble burning, the UK Commons Act lays down rules for greater sustainability in commons farming, the Producer Responsibility Obligations demand reductions in waste packaging through reuse and recycle, and the Waste Management Regulations aim to reduce waste production and provide incentives to reuse waste to the benefit of agriculture. All of these legislative drivers attempt to ensure a minimum standard of environmental sustainability in primary production is achieved.
3. What external help is available?
The Rural Climate Change Forum provides an arena for government-rural stakeholder dialogue, to increase knowledge and awareness of the threat of -and ways to adapt to- climate change through emissions reduction and offset, and policy development.
Methane to Markets is international initiative advocating methane recovery and use as a clean energy source, with benefits to both agricultural production and landfill reductions.
The Biomass Taskforce aims to help government and industry develop biomass energy in support of renewable energy targets and sustainable farming, forestry, and rural objectives.
The Animal Health and Welfare Strategy forms the framework for Defra’s work on animal health and welfare. It aims to improve animal health and welfare and reduce the incidence of disease in order to protect the environment and make agriculture more sustainable.
Partners for Success is Defra’s farm regulation strategy which aims to reduce bureaucracy for farmers and improve their capacity to protect the environment, animal health and welfare, food safety and worker safety.
The Environmental Stewardship scheme provides farmers with funding for effective environmental management of their land. It provides a financial incentive to landowners to conserve biodiversity, maintain landscape character and integrity, and protect natural resources.
The Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) initiative provides demonstrations to farmers and helps them to adopt Integrated Farm Management Techniques in order to minimise the impact of their farming activities on the environment.
The European Initiative for Sustainable Agriculture develops and promotes sustainable farming systems. It aims to get farmers involved in Integrated Farming, promoted through LEAF.
The England Catchment Sensitive Farming Delivery Initiative aims to enhance and restore all bodies of surface water and decrease water pollution due to agricultural activities by encouraging more catchment sensitive farming. The government attempt to get stakeholders involved in voluntary action and aim to facilitate this.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England leads campaigns aiming to ensure farming practices provide healthy, high quality food at a fair price, with minimal and sustainable environmental impact.
The Assured Food Standards Red Tractor Scheme, through the Red Tractor Label, aims to ensure that high environmental and sustainability standards are maintained all the way along the food chain from the farm to the supermarket shelf, and to ensure that consumers are able to purchase quality, nutritious, fresh food. The logo can only be used by licensed packers who have successfully met various criteria including food safety and hygiene, traceability, production methods and the sourcing of ingredients from assured farms.
Are there useful sources of advice we haven’t included? If so, please let us know.
Are there key considerations we haven’t included? If so, please let us know.