A suggestion that dairy cows and some beef cattle be permanently housed so the methane gas they produce can be captured is only a small part of a proposed new strategy on how agriculture and rural land use in Wales can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Farmers’ Union of Wales.
The union’s deputy director of policy Rhian Nowell-Phillips said the report, presented by the Land Use Climate Change Group to Assembly rural affairs minister Elin Jones, contained a range of data, evidence and possible scenarios which would help inform the debate on future policy decisions.
“We may not believe that everything in it will, or should, happen but for once it does challenge some of the current assumptions that livestock production will have to be drastically reduced in Wales if the Assembly wants to mitigate methane production,” she said.
“Food security will be an amazing motivator in the future and I have no doubt there will be a desire to balance the need for increased food production with ways to capture and reuse greenhouse gases.
“In the meantime, some of the practical aspects of the report could help start processes to help farmers identify the win wins for them in starting to mitigate climate change. For example, the use of feed additives to reduce methane, or the reuse of agricultural by-products such as biogas, heat and water, could help reduce fixed costs.”
