County’s Nuffield scholars take the stage at industry conference

1:29pm Friday 21st November 2008

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The aim of the Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust is to give enthusiastic individuals the opportunity to study aspects of farming, land management, horticulture and the food chain.

A Nuffield Scholarship “opens doors” – giving scholars an opportunity to look at new ideas, meet movers and shakers and the leaders of the agricultural industry and politicians from around the globe.

Herefordshire probably has more Nuffield Scholars than any other county, topping the 2007 list when scholarships were awarded to Heather Gorringe, to look at the development of the web and social media; Louise Manning, who studied water use and availability; and Mike Tyers, whose topic was to look at ways poultry farmers could reduce their environmental footprint.

As well as producing a report, the returning scholars have to present their findings at the organisation’s annual two-day conference and the Herefordshire team had the daunting task of facing their colleagues and other industry leaders at Exeter recently.

n Heather Gorringe began by talking about the future of the internet. She looked back at its rapid development as a communication tool and use in business and its incredible uptake since it was launched just 17 years ago, with 20% of all worldwide communications now done via the internet.

Heather went on to talk about the possibilities which will be offered by Web 2 and Web 3 when they come on-stream and quoted the lyrics in the song: “Baby, you just ain’t seen nothin yet”.

She said the internet was a very powerful business tool and explained that by using the web, Wiggly Wigglers had reduced its advertising budget by 80%, with 50% of the mail order business now coming through the webpage.

Wiggly Wigglers’ innovative use of the internet for Facebook and weekly gardening and farming blogs was recognised when it received the 2008 UK Dell Small Business Excellence Award and subsequently went on to take the Global Award.

n Louise Manning’s Nuffield study focused on the impact of water quality and availability for agriculture and food production.

She told the conference: “I believe water security is the biggest single issue facing the planet.”

With 70% of the world’s fresh water being used in agriculture she said water would drive national and foreign policy in many regions of the world.

Looking at the UK, Louise pointed out that we have one of the lowest per capita water resources in Europe and questioned: “Is it a good use of resources to let half our rainfall to flow straight out to sea?”

Currently, 76% of the water is extracted by municipal water providers and the energy industry, with just 3% used by the agricultural industry, but she warned that with the increase in the population, the demand for water would increase.

Louise added that the rivers in the east and south east of England were already over-licensed and those licences were being reviewed.

Looking to the future, Louise queried whether we could rely on command and regulation, as in the past, or should we develop new mechanisms based on sound and responsible business practice, based on a water policy which can provide a template for future agricultural policy. n Mike Tyers visited the United States, Germany and Holland looking for ways the poultry industry could reduce its eco footprint, which he described as “not necessarily best environmental practice, but the most socially responsible” but which he said must be based on sound science and had to be economically viable.

He produced a staggering figure when he said the UK industry produced more than 62,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year, which is the equivalent to what would be produced by 188 space shuttle launches.

Mike asked how the industry could reduce its energy use, which would also reduce its emissions of carbon dioxide.

His figures showed that if there was a 40% saving on 50% of the poultry farms, the industry’s annual use of propane would be reduced from 200 million to 40 million litres.

Towards the end of his presentation, Mike described a system that could reduce propane use and carbon emissions based on recycling the air from broiler houses.

The system extracts stale air from the shed, passes it through a large heat exchanger, where ambient fresh air is filtered and warmed before being blown under low pressure into the broiler house through a large duct.

Mike says it is a win-win situation. It reduces the demand for heat and electricity, while at the same time reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and improving the welfare of the broilers.