6 FARM NEWS
APR/MAY 2019 • farmers-mart.co.uk
A new cash flow to local farmers
LOCAL farmers’ ability to sell bi-
omass to Iggesund Paperboard’s
paperboard mill at Workington
will return over 1.5 million pounds
annually to the local agricul-
tural industry. The initiative has
created a totally new source
of income for over 200 farms in
Cumbria, North of England and
South of Scotland.
In 2013 Iggesund invested in a
biomass-fired combined heat
and power plant for the primary
purpose of being able to run its
paperboard mill on renewable en-
ergy. Overnight the mill switched
its energy supply from fossil nat-
ural gas to biomass, and thereby
reduced its fossil carbon dioxide
emissions by 190,000 tonnes a
year, the equivalent to the annual
emissions of about 65,000 cars.
In conjunction with this move, the
idea was born to offer local farm-
ers the opportunity to grow and
sell energy crops to Iggesund.
“It’s been an exciting journey.
We began in a situation where
many farmers were sceptical, as
farmers often are. But gradually, as
they saw our commitment and our
calculations for how they could
earn more from their less-fertile
land, more and more of them have
joined our project, which we call
Grow Your Income,” explains Neil
Watkins, Alternative Fuels Manager
at Iggesund in Workington.
The goal was to bring in 25,000
tonnes of biomass from the farm-
ing industry. After five years, it is
clear that this goal will be exceed-
ed when all the contracted crops
are ready to harvest.
Willow can be an excellent source
of extra income as a possible diver-
sification crop on both mixed and
sheep farms, though sheep grazing
can only be done after year 3 of
growth, due to possible damage the
animals can cause prior to that. It’s
suitable for both younger and older
generations of farmers to grow due
to it being a less work intensive
crop. It will also act as a natural
flood barrier and protect the land
against soil erosion.
When the project began, DEFRA
had made recommendations that
Ulf Löfgren
parts of Cumbria have land highly
suitable for energy crops. As the
project developed, it became
evident that the crops also help to
counteract the effects of flooding
and lead to greater biodiversity.
“Yet another advantage of ener-
gy crops – in our case SRC willow
– is that they give a good yield
on less fertile land and do not lay
claim to land that is better suited
to food production,” Neil Watkins
underlines.
Ulf Löfgren, Mill Director, who was
involved in creating Grow Your In-
come, points out additional effects
than just having ensured a supply of
the fuel needed to run the mill.
“Cumbria and the parts of
Scotland where we are active
are dominated by agriculture,”
he says. “Our interaction with
farmers in working alongside
them to grow energy crops, plus
the fact that we meet with them at
agricultural fairs and they come to
us on study visits, has meant that
we now have a far better-defined
identity in the region.
“In addition, we can also give
ourselves a joint pat on the back
for being a good example of the
UN’s sustainable development
goal 17, a partnership for achiev-
ing one of the other sustainable
development goals. In this case,
we have a collaboration between
a large process industry and over
200 farmers to jointly reduce fossil
emissions.”
Iggesund Paperboard is growing
its own eight-hectare energy crop
on the land surrounding the mill.
If you’re interested in growing an
energy crop on your land then
contact; Neil Watkins 07780 480695 /
[email protected]
Newly planted willow saved the fence
WHEN the River Eden burst its
banks this past winter, a willow
plantation that was scarcely eight
months old stopped the flood wa-
ters from sweeping away Simon
Peet’s fence. In the spring of 2017,
he had planted willow on 14 acres
on his family farm, Langwathby
Hall. The results are already so
positive that he is now planting an
additional 28.5 acres.
Simon was motivated to choose
energy crops by a desire to diver-
sify and to find a good way of ex-
ploiting the areas of his farm that
often suffered from flooding.
“The experience of this past
winter reinforces my decision,”
he says. “The flood damage was
limited, and the plantation wasn’t
affected. I didn’t have to build
a new fence and I can expect a
yield from land that we would
scarcely have had if we’d gone
with traditional crops.”
Simon is presently concentrated
on the partnership running Lang-
wathby Hall. His most recent deci-
sion to invest in additional energy
Simon Peet
crops is based on a conviction
that the path to successful farming
is to be open to new possibilities
and to gradually broaden his agri-
cultural business.
An interest in development has
also led him to allow his new plan-
tation to be used for plant trials.
The British company Rothamstead
Research and the Swedish com-
pany Salix Energi will evaluate the
yield from 16 different varieties of
willow they have bred.
Simon is also interested in how
to best combine sheep farming and
growing energy crops, which could
give a double yield from the land.
“But then you have to steer clear
of the pronounced upland breeds
because they eat everything they
can chew. Lowland breeds with
good access to salt licks are in my
view the ones that cause the least
damage to the willow plants,” he
says, and it is clear that he plans to
test his theories in real life.
He also has ideas about how to
make the coppices more appeal-
ing to sheep. Planting slow-grow-
ing white clover between the wil-
low rows might be one solution.
His desire to diversify has also
made Simon realise that energy
crops are a beneficial element
on a farm.
Even though
the crops cannot be used to pow-
er agricultural machinery directly,
their contribution to the total
energy supply does compensate
for the farming industry’s use of
fossil fuels.
“When I operate my tractor on
diesel it’s gratifying to know that
the willow, I harvest more than
compensates for that use of fossil
fuel. The fossil-free energy we are
creating goes a long way when
agricultural products are being
transformed into food on the
table,” he concludes.