Farm animals in the flooded fields of Yorkshire are feeling the effects of unusually wet weather as a result of global warming.
Farm animals in the flooded fields of Yorkshire are feeling the effects of unusually wet weather as a result of global warming.
Climate change may also have an impact on where livestock is located, and how it is housed, transported and cared for in the future. That will have financial implications for producers and will also have wider environmental consequences for society.
This issue is being addressed in a two-year, Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs- financed project led by economist Dominic Moran of the Scottish Agricultural College. There will also be input from industry stakeholder the Institute of Grassland and Environmental Research (IGER) and a multidisciplinary team combining expertise in grassland modelling, animal nutrition, health and welfare, and economics.
The team will look at the extent of the impact of climate change on UK livestock and will assess how much, if anything, should be spent by government to adapt the sector to potentially adverse impacts.
According to Moran, there will be at least 2˚C of global warming in the next century and it could be as bad as 5˚. "Everywhere will be warmer and Scotland will be wetter, so all livestock will be affected," he warned.
He reckons that animals grazing inundated fields could be prone to lameness, or there could be problems with heat stress, particularly during transportation. Increasing problems with parasites such as ticks, or new diseases such as blue tongue moving north, have already occurred as a result of warmer weather.
After forecasting how warming weather will have an impact on UK livestock production practices, the team will then consider the best possible combination of adaptation measures and their costs. That could include new methods of housing, quarantine or vaccination programmes.
Dairy industry offered advice
THE dairy industry was yesterday urged by four of its leaders to use rising milk prices wisely to lay down sustainable and profitable foundations for the future.
The advice came after the publication of a report "Routes to Profitability 2: Practical Steps Forward" by the Milk Development Council (MDC).
The report examines why and how the industry should focus on developing innovation, relationships and efficiency as a long-term way out of current pricing and supply difficulties. Chief executive of the MDC Ken Boyns, NFU Scotland president Jim McLaren, NFU dairy board chair Gwyn Jones, and Dairy UK director general Jim Begg appeared together at the Royal Show, Stoneleigh, Warwickshire, to give a joint statement.
They welcomed the report's contents, especially the opportunity it identified to turn around the UK's growing trade deficit in dairy produce that increased to 944m in 2006.
They agreed that the recommendations for high levels of on-farm efficiency matched by similar measures from milk processors could create a platform for investing increasing market returns in added-value products.
While it was accepted that new products could be expensive and difficult to introduce, the report identified clear opportunities for "quick wins", for example by differentiating existing produce on the basis of provenance.
McLaren explained that there were tremendous opportunities to add value to the UK dairy industry.
"There is an enormous and growing trade deficit for dairy products in the UK, primarily because we are exporting low-value products like cream and importing high value cheese and butter.
"We need to turn that around to have a viable future."
Jones added: "We must ensure that we are not exposed to commodity markets in the future."
The report can be down loaded from the MDC website on www.mdc.org.uk or ordered by calling the MDC publications line on 01285 646510.
