Pig sector - reducing greenhouse gas emissions: bringing home the bacon - report
Report from the Scottish Pig Industry Leadership Group, one of the farmer-led groups established to develop advice and proposals for the Scottish Government. It focusses on how to cut emissions and tackle climate change, something that was re-emphasised in the updated Climate Change Plan.
2. Background
Pig producers in Scotland have been on a challenging journey, partly because the sector has not historically benefited from direct agricultural support through the Common Agricultural Policy. They have been compelled to be more efficient, productive, and resilient in the face of many challenges and forced to make tough decisions for their farms and units based on evolving science, best practise, and consolidation in the processing plant network. This has resulted in a smaller core of professional, market-focussed farmers with sound business acumen for investing and thriving. The current challenges of Covid-19, abattoir closures and the African Swine flu prevalence globally are very real examples of business shocks which our pig farmers are currently having to contend with.
Nonetheless, the Scottish Govt has laid out urgent and ambitious targets to reduce emissions by 75% by 2030, and the collegiate and progressive Pork sector already has the rudiments of data recording and best practise knowledge sharing in place to build on the progress already made in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
This report explains how further reductions in emissions can be achieved.
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