The group is calling for support for low-carbon farming
A coalition of 50 rural organisations and individuals has launched an appeal for government support to drive change in farm practices that could make Scotland the world’s first carbon-neutral farming sector by 2050.
In a letter to Cabinet secretaries Roseanna Cunningham and Fergus Ewing, the group of food producers, academics and environmentalists – which includes the farmers’ union, crofters, scientists and the RSPB – states that it supports the introduction of a nitrogen balance sheet to improve efficiency, an investment in soils, and the promotion of organic and carbon-neutral farming and agroforestry.
Scottish agriculture currently contributes almost a quarter of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions, but in the letter the signatories point out that farming and crofting also contribute to carbon sequestration and storage, and efficiency measures are already leading to carbon savings.
A Scottish Government spokeswoman welcomed the group’s ambitions and pointed out that £148million had been committed since 2015 to promote low carbon farming.
