Integrated Nitrogen Management on Yorkshire Farms (INMYFARM)

This project draws together and synthesises good practice to inform more integrated and efficient nitrogen use in mixed arable, livestock and mixed farming, with a focus on Yorkshire. While there is growing awareness of the problems with pollutants, and many farmers are tackling this, in many cases it is on an individual and ad-hoc basis. Only slightly more than half of farms in the UK currently have a nutrient management plan (e.g. Greenhouse gas mitigation practices – England Farm Practices Survey 2018) and it is unclear how many have actually fully implemented them.

In the current landscape with planned policy changes and consultation on those changes, now is an ideal time to ensure evidence supports the development of more coherent and joined up approaches, such as the new Environmental Land Management Scheme (ELMS).
The project has been developed using recommendations from participants working in farming, agricultural policy and scientific research who took part in an iCASP-sponsored workshop to explore approaches to integrated nitrogen management (INM).

Key outputs from the project are user-friendly guidance and briefing papers to support INM both at the individual farm level and to support developing national policy. Key stakeholders were involved in developing the guidance from a user perspective to ensure it is suitable for the target audience. The project takes a holistic approach and aims to assess key issues including the influence of nitrogen management on soil structure and function, understand the implications of different farmer practices, assess the potential benefits and trade-offs of farmer actions and understand the implications of the new Agriculture Bill for farmer practice and environmental outcomes.

This project is timely, given that Brexit provides a clear opportunity to influence policy changes, and that nitrogen use efficiency in farming is related to the UK pledge to have net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and Defra’s introduction of the 25 Year Environment Plan (25YEP) and the recent Agricultural Bill.

A partial storyboard example of the type of guidance that INMY Farm is developing for use by farm advisors.

The full guidance will be interactive tools with extensive links to existing resources, policy and science.