Action must be taken now to improve farming’s ecosystem
The event, which was supported by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society, at Farmer Copleys in Pontefract and hosted by Future Farmers of Yorkshire, examined how to achieve a more progressive food system for all that is fair for farmers as well as consumers.
Soil scientist Professor Pippa Chapman related how research at the University of Leeds farm had revealed the hidden cost of soil degradation, and how water infiltration rates of arable soil had been found to be 1,000 times slower than under a hedgerow.
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Hide AdShe said: “The main issue is the loss of organic matter which results in a loss of soil structure and compaction, which lessens the ability to retain water and nutrients.”


She suggested fairly simple changes in agricultural practices, such as integrating livestock, could be pursued to improve soil quality.
Prof Chapman said: “It’s all about minimising the soil disturbance, keeping the soil covered with an armour to protect it from soil erosion, increasing crop diversity, using cover crops to make sure there are living roots all year round.”
Hannah Fraser, who works both as a medical doctor and an organic farmer, told the debate what farmers did as producers could make a big difference to human health and emphasised how the nutritional content of foods had declined.
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Hide AdShe underlined how scientists had found 48 per cent less calcium and 75 per cent less magnesium in carrots in the 1980s than there had been in the 1930s.
Dr Fraser said since launching her farm in 2018 she had questioned whether improving the farm’s ecosystem would lead to improving the health of people eating the produce.
She said: “Do we not have to think not just about what we’re eating but actually how that food is grown?”
Dr Fraser said focusing on soil health, plants that are better at uptaking nutrients and adding nutrients at a farm level and adding greenery and diversity to animals’ diets would greatly benefit people’s health.
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Hide AdShe said she wanted to see the potential of adding minerals such as selenium to the soil, as studies in Finland had shown the practice had improved people’s recovery from Covid.
Sir Mark Spencer, who served as minister for food, farming and fisheries between 2022 and 2024,
said he believed the Labour government was wrestling with deciding whether to go down an intensive or extensive production route and that there was more that government could do to ensure fairness to farmers in the supply chain.
Underlining the case he believes the agricultural sector should be lobbying government with, Sir Mark added: “We are loved by our consumers. Any survey will tell you we are right up there just below nurses as food producers and farmers.” He added: “We absolutely have to paint ourselves as part of the solution, not as part of the problem. I think we are ideally placed not only to feed the world, but to do that in a more efficient way and a way that benefits the planet.
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Hide AdOrganic dairy farmer and chair for The Nature Friendly Farming Network James Robiinson added it was vital the agricultural sector started taking action. The fifth generation farmer said: “ All the climate modelling has shown by 2050 we are going to get 35, 40 degree extremes even in Cumbria and Yorkshire, so we need to plan for that now. We need to make the best of wh at we’ve got in the north of England and that’s getting the cows out on the grass. If in 25 years we’re needing a tree or hedge for shade we need to get that in the ground.”
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