The Nitrogen Climate Smart (NCS) project seeks to transform UK agriculture by reducing emissions through increasing the production and consumption of pulses, displacing imported soyabean meal in livestock rations.
This updated Cost-Benefit Analysis, the second of this project, evaluates the economic and environmental implications of making these changes at a farm level. These results are then extrapolated to demonstrate the potential impact on UK arable and livestock production.
For the arable sector, increasing pulses to 20% of rotations has the potential to reduce emissions up to 600 thousand tonnes of CO2e or 9.4%. The savings are primarily driven by a reduction in the level of fertiliser required in the arable supply chain.
With the present five-year average economics of arable farming, the benefits of reducing emissions are offset by the loss in margins resulting from a move to 20% in rotations. The benefit-cost ratio ranges from 0.77:1 to 0.79:1 depending on the pace of change.
For the poultry sector, trials conducted by SRUC and modelled here demonstrate the strong environmental benefits that could be delivered were results replicated in a commercial setting. For the poultry trials the use of beans in layer and broiler diets demonstrates a maximum benefit-cost ratio of up to 4:1 and 20:1 respectively. This highlights an opportunity for a demand pull in reducing emissions. In the broiler trials data suggested that lower inclusion levels could in fact have a positive effect on producer margins. However, these trials are small scale.
For grazing livestock, the results from trials, and represented in this analysis are mixed, and warrant further research. Much depends on cattle performance for the beef sector and trials showed a mixed impact on days to slaughter. While beans may reduce the emissions from feed, slower growth increases methane emissions from enteric fermentation. For dairy, the trial used for this analysis shows that the benefits to society of increased emissions do outweigh the cost to the farmer of increased feed.
This analysis shows that there is net benefit for the livestock sector of increasing the intake of pulses in diets. However, this same net benefit is not observed for the arable sector at present. To drive change and achieve the benefits for the environment, all sectors of the agriculture industry need incentivisation to maintain a flow of pulses to the end consumer.
