Climate arguments against meat are too simplistic, says sheep farmer

David Cross, of Glovers Farm in Sedgeford, near Heacham, has joined the knowledge-sharing "farm excellence" network run by the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB).

He farms in partnership with his father John as tenants on the Sedgeford Hall Estate, managing a flock of 900 ewes alongside an arable enterprise, with around 30ha of the 360ha home farm sublet to a free-range pig operation.

With livestock being a significant contributor to agriculture's greenhouse gas emissions, plant-based diets are often suggested as a key part of the solution to climate change.

Part of the farming industry's counter-argument is that livestock is the most effective way to produce food from 65pc of UK farmland which is best suited for growing grass - and that animals grazing on carbon-storing pastures are not the same as those on intensive feedlots in other parts of the world.

But for Mr Cross, the main benefit of livestock is cycling nutrients through a mixed farming system - boosting the health of his sheep while improving the soil for arable crops and reducing the use of nitrogen fertilisers which are a major source of emissions.

The farm is about to begin a carbon audit, balancing its livestock and arable emissions against data on the carbon stored in the soil underneath grazing leys based on legumes - forage plants which can fix nitrogen in the ground, removing the need for manufactured chemicals. The nutrients recycled by the grazing animals will also be taken into account.

"It feels to us that having a mixed farm is the right thing to be doing," said Mr Cross.

"The argument against it [meat] is ridiculously simplistic. You can say it in a sentence - stop eating meat. But the counter argument is incredibly complicated.

"It is such an injustice to farmers. Most of us are trying quite hard and take it quite personally when we are told we are destroying the world, but how can a sheep wandering around on this pasture be doing that? It is just crazy. But the onus is on us to quantify what we are doing, and that is part of this whole project.

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"Red meat is not the problem, it is how it is produced. I am not saying we're doing everything right, but we are 100pc forage-based and we are trying to create this whole holistic farm operation that all works together and cycles nutrients rather than being forced to use bought-in nutrients - which can't be the long-term answer.

"This audit is going to answer that question. A carbon-efficient business is just an efficient business, however you want to measure it. A huge proportion of our emissions will be nitrogen usage, and that is the same for most people's farms. The driver for the whole livestock in arable thing is getting that nitrogen use down."

Mr Cross has also completed a trial on different grazing mixtures including plants such as lucerne, which he describes as "rocket fuel" for growing sheep, as well as having deep tap roots to improve the drainage and drought resilience of the soil.

David Cross with one of the legume-based grazing leys on his farm in Sedgeford (Image: Chris Hill)

"It is multi-pronged," he said. "It is weather resilience, soil repairing, fixing nitrogen, cycling nutrients, finishing lambs faster, trying to reduce the chemical inputs.

"People get caught up singularly on carbon emissions, but there is a sustainable ecosystem here cycling nutrients as well, and we don't want to be completely dependent on the petrochemical and gas industries for our fertiliser, so we have to start making use of legumes - and in my mind it makes sense to cycle those legumes through an animal that produces food.

"And we are creating a sustainable ecosystem. These fields are full of skylarks in the summer. It is resting our soils and producing food while creating space for wildlife and insects. It all just fits together."

David Cross, who runs a mixed sheep and arable farm in Sedgeford, has joined the AHDB Monitor Farm network (Image: Copyright John Eveson)