Manufacturing and Engineering Magazine Volume 425 - January 2016 | Page 67

AGRICULTURE

“With such high costs in energy, we've seen a dedication to
observing better efficiency and the implementation of
modern technologies just the same as even the most
vibrant city centres”
reduce the amount of fertilisers and pesticides
used and therefore further minimise risk to
proximal animals, plant-life and water sources.
The Conservation Grade has supported the
adoption of eco-friendly farming solutions,
offering a crop certification scheme by which
growers and manufacturers can demonstrate
compliance to production standards.
Requirements include: taking 10% of their land
out of food production to develop a specific
range of habitats for wildlife; creating an environment plan that covers the entire farm; pass-

ing an annual, independent, scientific audit; and
participating in annual training programmes. In
return for adhering to the above requirements
and creating and managing wildlife habitats on
their least productive land farmers receive a
price premium for their crops.
Twelve percent of global greenhouse gas
emissions come from the agricultural sector in
view of the complex mechanics and sheer
amount of machinery needed to harvest successfully. With such high costs in energy, we've
seen a dedication to observing better efficiency

and the implementation of modern technologies just the same as even the most vibrant city
centres. There is also an increased used of
renewable power sources on site; anaerobic
digestion, in particular is now practised in a
great number of farms across the UK in order
to covert methane by-products into electrical
or heat energy.
While cuts to renewable subsidies may rock
the sector, the progressive nature of the agricultural industry is likely to afford it stability
and success in the years ahead. Continually
reinventing itself and placing the environmental agenda at the forefront of development, the
industry as a whole is well-suited to the contemporary moment and has a vitality that plays
witness to the strength of the UK's manufacturing and engineering sector.

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