Department for Environment, Food And Rural Affairs (National)

The students - all entrants in an essay competition on farming in 2026, had the chance to discuss their ideas with Sir Don as part of a fact-finding visit to the region by the head of the Group overseeing delivery of the Government's Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food.

In 2026, combating climate change and meeting the challenges of global warming will mean that farmers are harvesting energy through biofuels and alternative energy sources, and using GM technology to meet the planet's food needs. Dwindling supplies of fossil fuels will mean that consumers will be eating more locally - produced food, but at a higher cost to the consumer. Farmers will still be custodians of the British landscape, but as part an industry growing fuels, food and resources for manufacturing, rather than as 'park-keepers' in the views of one entrant. Although opinions differ on the relevance of the organic sector, the rising cost of transport will mean that more food is produced and sold locally, with farmers obtaining prices which reflect the cost of production.

Sir Don met the students, winners of an essay competition on the future of farming, at Askham Bryan College. He presented £150 worth of book tokens to winner Adam Bedford from Huddersfield and two runners-up (see notes to editors for entries and biographies).

Adam graduated from Askham Bryan College in the summer and is now studying for an MSc in Rural Development at Newcastle University. His winning view of 20 years time sets out a farming sector growing oil seed crops to replace fossil fuels and the host of products made from them, harvesting sunlight and wind for power and exploiting GM technology to feed a growing world population. Organic food standards would be the norm in this country, with consumer's demanding to know food's provenance and impact on the environment.

Adam said: "I would certainly like to be a farmer in 2026; but romance, traditional and memories should not cloud this decision."

Second and third prizes were awarded to Helen Ward from Thirsk who studies at Askham Bryan and Tom Borrill at Bishop Burton College. Tom comes from a farming family in North Lincolnshire.

The competition was organised by Framework For Change (F4C), the organisation delivering the Government's Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy in Yorkshire & the Humber

Sir Don said:

"It's very exciting to know that there is a confident generation of young farmers emerging from our colleges, aware of the opportunities available to rejuvenate British farming. These entries recognise that we face major national and global challenges and that we can exploit some of the aspects from climate change to produce alternative sources of energy, while others will influence how we obtain our food, bringing farmers and food producers closer to consumers. It is refreshing to see that they have taken a world view, acknowledging that they can make a positive contribution to a very serious global issue rather than seeing themselves as isolated producers working for a local market."

The competition and visit was organised by Framework For Change. Its chairman Tony Cooke, who farms in South Yorkshire, said:

"All too often news focuses on the current generation of farmers who are worrying that some traditional areas of farming are on the wane. We wanted to tap into the next generation and see what they thought - if you go by a lot of the coverage the industry gets at the moment you'd wonder why anyone would want to choose it as a career. What this demonstrates is that young farmers recognise the challenges posed by climate change and are enthusiastically embracing the opportunities to adapt traditional farming methods and grow new crops for new markets. It's a positive message from what they clearly see as a challenging future"

Notes:

1. The national Delivery Group is responsible for driving and overseeing the delivery of the Government's Sustainable Farming and Food Strategy. The Strategy builds on, and includes, a full response to the recommendations of the Curry Commission, published in January 2002.

2. The independent national Delivery Group members are:

Sir Don Curry Chairman

Richard Macdonald NFU

Rosemary Radcliffe Economist & Complaints Commissioner

Graham Wynne RSPB

Ed Mayo National Consumers Council

Melanie Leech Food and Drink Federation

3. Winning entries

First Prize

Adam Bedford, Askham Bryan College

The Future of Farming in 2026

In the past 20 years UK agriculture has seen a step change in public attitudes about where their food is coming from. GM crop technology has progressed on one hand, and huge increases in organic food production and consumption has become a reality on the other. We have seen a seismic shift from a production focus to a system which rewards environmental quality.

Change in the next 20 years will be even more drastic. Farmers will work to a wider definition of agriculture. The agriculture of 2026 will be based not on traditional food production, but on the efficient use of land. It is a short sighted fallacy to consider the future of UK farmers as a network of glorified park keepers. The big issues of the next 20 years are population growth, energy and waste. If we add in climate change we have a very different scenario. Farmers will produce energy through a change in land use. They will grow biofuels, produce biogas, and use land for solar panels and wind turbines. Some farmers may produce traditional food crops not for consumption, but for other uses such as a raw material for food packaging.

Farmers will continue to produce food. Organic food will have a place, but the public will lead the way in how they want their food to be produced. The provenance of food will be the main issue, and 'organic' may well be a standard which is just the norm. Agriculture will be a mix of farms producing niche products, larger farms producing commodities and some farms which do not produce any food.

I would certainly like to be a farmer in 2026; but romance, tradition and memories should not cloud this decision. The future of agriculture is bright, exciting and full of opportunity...and very different.

Second prize

Helen Ward, Askham Bryan College

The Future of Farming in 2026

The future of farming will be greatly influenced by the increasingly common conscientious consumer and the government's aims to reduce CO2 emissions.

There will be an increase in growing renewable crops such as willow and miscanthus. Such crops will be necessary as an alternative fuel source, and a method to reduce carbon emissions; converting CO2 as it is growing, instead of only releasing carbon into the atmosphere as it is burnt.

In a more indirect way, organic farming will also have a role in reducing carbon emissions, and will play an important role in the future of farming; to prevent damage to, or improve soil condition. The depletion of nutrients and minerals in the soil following intensive farming methods over recent decades can be limited by converting to organic methods. Consumer interest in organics due to environmental concerns has encouraged an increase in purchases of organic products to satisfy their desire to make a difference. Reducing the use of chemicals in agriculture will have an affect on the soil and also reduces its' environmental impact. This will be due to the reduction of burning fuel; to extract the raw materials, process and produce the chemicals, and their application to the land.

There will be a need for crop diversity due to climate change and an increase in growing genetically modified crops. This is because climate change will effect the growing conditions (for example the predicted drought), and it will be important that crops are able to grow effectively still.

To ensure that the future generations are able to live in rural areas to work towards the future of farming, affordable housing will be required in the countryside for those linked with agriculture.

In the year 2026, farming will play an important role in assisting industry's effect on climate change.

Third Prize

Tom Borrill, Bishop Burton College

Framework for Change - Farming in Twenty Years Time

In twenty years time farming will be very different from the way it is today. Once again agriculture will be one of the main industries in this country. With fossil fuels having nearly run out the need for crops as sources of both fuel and energy will cause demand to outstrip production. The government will be pushing farmers to cop every acre of land they have, doing away with set-aside, as with the increased alternative uses for crops will come less available for food. This will not only increase the cost of food for the general public but the prices that farmers receive for all their produce will rise dramatically.

With the increased prices farmers receive even with the inevitable production cost increases they will be able to compete on the global market without the need for production based subsidies. There will however still be environmental subsidies to avoid the return to the days of ripping out hedges. This will benefit both farming's image with the general public and help to counteract the effects of global warming.

The countryside will look very different. With global temperatures rising it will become possible to grow more diverse crops in this country. We will be seeing crops such as sunflowers and grapes being grown further north and it may become possible to grow crops such as soya in this country.

The organic sector will be no bigger than it is now. There will still be some demand for it but with the increased cost of food that will be seen, fewer people will be able to afford it. With increased farm profits there will be less need for businesses to look at adding value to their produce and so there will be fewer entries in to the organic sector.

There will no longer be such things as cheap food imports threatening home grown products as transport costs go through the roof making it unviable to import them, causing the price farmers receive for their livestock to be much greater than they receive now. Meat will be sold much more locally to where it is reared, due to transport costs being high, allowing farmers to deal more directly with supermarkets and so cutting out the middle man.

Overall the future for farmers looks very bright, now is the time to be expanding to take advantage of this.

4. Biographies

Adam Bedford

Adam is 22 years old and currently studying towards an MSc in Rural Development at Newcastle University. He completed an undergraduate degree in Sustainable Land Use at Askham Bryan College and gained a 2:1 in Summer of this year.

He is originally from Huddersfield in West Yorkshire, from a non-farming family. His interest in agriculture came from working for the local milkman whom he has worked for the past 9 years. He is able to shear sheep to BWB silver standard. In addition to this practical work at a farm level, he also writes an opinion piece for Farmers Weekly on a regular basis. He has written for Farmers Weekly in total for a period of just over 3 years, the first two of which highlighted his experiences of life at agricultural college.

In the Summer he spent a month in the North and South Islands of New Zealand, researching the agricultural industry over there without subsidy and what could be learnt by UK farmers. This was part funded by the Yorkshire Agricultural Adventurers.

Helen Ward

Helen is 25 years old and lives in Thirsk. She is currently studying BA (Hons) Business Management at Askham Bryan College, York. She returned to study after a few years working in the business environment, after the realisation that her main area of interest was agriculture and business matters related to this area. She comes from a farming background, has experience with working with animals in the veterinary environment. She is a member of Young Farmers Club, of which she was treasurer for a couple of years.

Tom Borrill