Transitions to resilience and sustainability through UK dairy systems and supply chain innovation
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Liverpool
Department Name: Institute of Infection and Global Health
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Planned Impact
Impact goal: to develop and use a whole food system model to evaluate and then propose a range of dairy farming interventions that can increase the resilience and sustainability of production in the face of difficult to predict interactions between environmental, social and market forces. To achieve this goal, we will:
* Work with the dairy industry to identify cost-effective farm and food system-level interventions that can enact the principles contained in the Dairy 2020 Vision and the Leading the Way Sustainable Growth Plan and deliver measurable improvements in environmental sustainability and securing long-term milk supply
* Work with dairy farmers, the dairy industry and Government to develop scalable new pricing models based on Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) that can generate additional income for farmers whilst providing security of supply and protecting natural capital, in the context of the emerging post-Brexit agricultural policy regime in England and Scotland
* Combine empirical, experimental and monitoring in-situ and remote sensing to gather data on environmental impacts, animal health and milk yield to build a scientifically robust evidence base on the impacts, synergies and trade-offs of identified interventions on biodiversity, vegetation, soil, water, animal health and milk production
* Engage will innovators and influencers from business, government and the third sector to support the transformation of ecosystem management within the dairy supply chain, in Cumbria and Girvan, and across different commodities at a national and international scale
* Work with the devolved administrations, Defra (notably feeding into their forthcoming 25-year plans) and Third Sector to inform the development of food, farming and environmental policy relating to PES, natural capital and adapting to environmental change, and supporting Government's role in providing early warning of major, notifiable or new and emerging animal diseases in the diary sector
Engagement with the farming community: The research has been designed to build on, and work closely with, a significant and active programme of dairy farmer engagement that is being carried out by Nestle and its partners (Business in the Community (BiTC), Innovation for Agriculture, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), Rivers Trusts (RTs)), in both study areas. This on-going programme - part of their 'Working With Nature' initiative - already involves an investment of around £2 million per year by Nestle in the form of milk price premiums paid to farmers carrying out land-based environmental interventions as part of the programme. This creates a guaranteed pool of 101 farmers, with whom we will have direct access for the research.
Engagement with the Global Food Security programme: the project team, led by the PI, will engage with ongoing and future activities of the GFS to ensure effective two-way knowledge exchange with GFS partners.
Planned engagement with other stakeholders via Advisory Group (roles and activities in Case for Support):
* Nestle UK&I (Andrew Griffiths)
* ASDA (Chris Brown) and Co-op (Sarah Wakefield)
* Arla (Richard Laxton), FirstMilk (Ian Critchley) and Dairycrest (Matt Bardell)
* Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (Gemma Cranston), N8 AgriFood (Katherine Denby/Jonathan Oxley)
* BiTC (Gudrun Cartwright/Katie Spooner), Innovation for Agriculture (David Gardner), GWCT (Alistair Leake), RTs (Alistair Maltby)
* Defra (Lucy Dorey-Robinson), Natural England (David Burton), Scottish Government (Nia Ball), Scottish Natural Heritage (Cecile Smith)
Complemented by a wider Reference Group regularly updated on project progress, including:
* Sainsbury's
* Tesco
* Waitrose
* M&S
* Unilever
* Wheatsheaf/Grosvenor Estate Farm
* Müller Milk & Ingredients
* Meadow Foods
* Danone
* Crown Estates
* Anglian Water, United Utilities and Scottish Water
* Volac
* Glanbia
* Yara
* Lactalis McLelland
* AH
* Work with the dairy industry to identify cost-effective farm and food system-level interventions that can enact the principles contained in the Dairy 2020 Vision and the Leading the Way Sustainable Growth Plan and deliver measurable improvements in environmental sustainability and securing long-term milk supply
* Work with dairy farmers, the dairy industry and Government to develop scalable new pricing models based on Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) that can generate additional income for farmers whilst providing security of supply and protecting natural capital, in the context of the emerging post-Brexit agricultural policy regime in England and Scotland
* Combine empirical, experimental and monitoring in-situ and remote sensing to gather data on environmental impacts, animal health and milk yield to build a scientifically robust evidence base on the impacts, synergies and trade-offs of identified interventions on biodiversity, vegetation, soil, water, animal health and milk production
* Engage will innovators and influencers from business, government and the third sector to support the transformation of ecosystem management within the dairy supply chain, in Cumbria and Girvan, and across different commodities at a national and international scale
* Work with the devolved administrations, Defra (notably feeding into their forthcoming 25-year plans) and Third Sector to inform the development of food, farming and environmental policy relating to PES, natural capital and adapting to environmental change, and supporting Government's role in providing early warning of major, notifiable or new and emerging animal diseases in the diary sector
Engagement with the farming community: The research has been designed to build on, and work closely with, a significant and active programme of dairy farmer engagement that is being carried out by Nestle and its partners (Business in the Community (BiTC), Innovation for Agriculture, Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT), Rivers Trusts (RTs)), in both study areas. This on-going programme - part of their 'Working With Nature' initiative - already involves an investment of around £2 million per year by Nestle in the form of milk price premiums paid to farmers carrying out land-based environmental interventions as part of the programme. This creates a guaranteed pool of 101 farmers, with whom we will have direct access for the research.
Engagement with the Global Food Security programme: the project team, led by the PI, will engage with ongoing and future activities of the GFS to ensure effective two-way knowledge exchange with GFS partners.
Planned engagement with other stakeholders via Advisory Group (roles and activities in Case for Support):
* Nestle UK&I (Andrew Griffiths)
* ASDA (Chris Brown) and Co-op (Sarah Wakefield)
* Arla (Richard Laxton), FirstMilk (Ian Critchley) and Dairycrest (Matt Bardell)
* Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (Gemma Cranston), N8 AgriFood (Katherine Denby/Jonathan Oxley)
* BiTC (Gudrun Cartwright/Katie Spooner), Innovation for Agriculture (David Gardner), GWCT (Alistair Leake), RTs (Alistair Maltby)
* Defra (Lucy Dorey-Robinson), Natural England (David Burton), Scottish Government (Nia Ball), Scottish Natural Heritage (Cecile Smith)
Complemented by a wider Reference Group regularly updated on project progress, including:
* Sainsbury's
* Tesco
* Waitrose
* M&S
* Unilever
* Wheatsheaf/Grosvenor Estate Farm
* Müller Milk & Ingredients
* Meadow Foods
* Danone
* Crown Estates
* Anglian Water, United Utilities and Scottish Water
* Volac
* Glanbia
* Yara
* Lactalis McLelland
* AH
Publications
Charlier J
(2022)
Disease control tools to secure animal and public health in a densely populated world
in The Lancet Planetary Health
Coyne L
(2021)
Identifying economic and societal drivers of engagement in agri-environmental schemes for English dairy producers
in Land Use Policy
| Description | A scoping exercise has been completed using the Enhanced Infectious Diseases 2 database (McIntyre et al 2017), literature searches and inputs from farmers and veterinarians to identify infectious and non-infectious diseases of cattle that have an environmental component in their transmission. A prioritised list of diseases was produced. Two scoping meetings have been held with members of the farmers signed up to the project. Information on the project has been shared and 12 farmers who signed up to collaborate with the project have all been visited and questionnaire data collected. On each farm, sites for vector monitoring and disease surveillance has been identified with a view to regular monitoring over the 2019 transmission season. A transmission model for Bluetongue has been developed that incorporates hypothetical increases in midge numbers associated with two interventions, namely planting hedgerows and fencing water courses. The preliminary outputs suggest that increases in vector-host ratios does not affect overall spread of bluetongue virus assuming an incursion into Cumbria. This is particularly pertinent in view of the recent report of bluetongue virus into North Yorkshire in two cows imported from France (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/bluetongue-virus-detected-and-dealt-with-in-two-imported-cattle). 2020: 12 farms were surveyed last summer, snail habitat was mapped around areas of intervention (fencing of waterways) and with no interventions. In addition questionnaires were used to gather information about motivations behind engaging with agri-environmental schemes for this group of farmers. 2021: A full stochastic transmission model has now been developed for Fasciola hepatica and is undergoing final validation. Field work was hampered in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but we were able to get out onto farms in August. Initial analysis suggests that numbers of the snail vector for Fasciola hepatica are lower in sites where fencing has been introduced as part of an agri-environmental scheme. In those areas the number of F. hepatica infected snails is also lower. Sampling of dipteran insect vectors associated with hedgerows planted under the AES was not successful. A qualitative study highlighted the key parameters that incentivise farmers to implement agri-environmental measures to protect the environment (Coyne et al 2021). 2022: We have now analysed three years worth of data collection from collaborating farms. Preliminary analysis suggests that snail numbers are reduced in areas of pasture that are fenced off to protect waterways. These areas are not accessible to livestock, liver fluke infection rates in snails collected from these fenced areas were significantly lower compared to snails collected from pasture. This suggests that fencing off water bodies as l as protecting water quality, also reduces risk of liver fluke infection in livestock. We are currently analysing data to determine if planting hedges affects incidence of summer mastitis. |
| Exploitation Route | The data will be analysed and results published. Preliminary findings are suggesting that implementing environmental protection schemes for example through ELMS, may have a beneficial effect on reducing disease vector populations |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
| Description | Interview with Radio Cumbria discussing outputs from the project. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2021 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink |
| Impact Types | Societal |
| Description | GIS-based Liver Fluke Risk Forecasting System |
| Amount | £395,770 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | 104619 |
| Organisation | Innovate UK |
| Sector | Public |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 12/2018 |
| End | 05/2020 |
| Description | N8 Agri-food |
| Organisation | University of Leeds |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | large consortium, led by Newcastle involving food producers (nestle) and conservation groups |
| Collaborator Contribution | investigating how agri-environmental, ecosystem services and flood mitigations schemes affect disease transmission, this led by Liverpool. |
| Impact | grant application under development, multidisciplinary. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | N8 Agri-food |
| Organisation | University of Newcastle |
| Country | Australia |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | large consortium, led by Newcastle involving food producers (nestle) and conservation groups |
| Collaborator Contribution | investigating how agri-environmental, ecosystem services and flood mitigations schemes affect disease transmission, this led by Liverpool. |
| Impact | grant application under development, multidisciplinary. |
| Start Year | 2016 |
| Description | Transitions to Resilient Dairy |
| Organisation | Newcastle University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | Partner and coapplicant on GFS 2 funded project exploring how to make dairy farming in the uk more resilient to external pressures such as climate change, economic change and consumer choices. Investigation of how PES changes disease risk on farm. |
| Collaborator Contribution | Lead - Newcastle University, exploring farmer - business interactions. Co-app Leeds University measuring impact of PES on biodiversity and ecology. |
| Impact | Multi-disciplinary, business linked. GFS funded grant. |
| Start Year | 2017 |
| Description | Article on parasite control published in the First Milk monthly newsletter |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | An article on worm control in dairy cattle commissioned and published in the monthly newsletter produced by First Milk - a dairy farmer co-operative that over 700 farmers supply their milk through. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| Description | COWS technical chapters updated |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I rewrote the Fasciola hepatica technical chapters for the Control of Parasites Sustainably [https://www.cattleparasites.org.uk/] for the farming industry |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019,2020 |
| URL | https://www.cattleparasites.org.uk/ |
| Description | Final Farmer meeting |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Study participants or study members |
| Results and Impact | Final meeting with collaborating farmers and other stakeholders to share results. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |