Many farmers are already feeling the impacts of our changing climate and recognise that the changes will continue to accelerate. But what can they do? How can our family farms adapt to ensure that they will continue to succeed? What financial opportunities might there be for farmers in helping to mitigate climate change?
Climate Spheres UK (CSUK) offers science-based solutions, enabling farmers to adapt to climate change in a robust and cost-effective way. CSUK gives farmers the tools, knowledge and strategy to ensure that their farm is future-proof and remains profitable as the UK climate becomes more extreme, while being well positioned to benefit from the agricultural transition and Net Zero opportunities. CSUK provides data, consultancy, education and guides to funding.
Climate Spheres UK focuses on three specific products and services to address adaptation to climate change:
1) They have developed proprietary tools to perform in-depth analysis of the specific agricultural impacts that climate change will have at an individual farm location. From this they can provide advice on financial impact, sustainability, potential risks, and planning focuses, working with the farmer to identify practical adaptation measures and evaluate these based on their effectiveness for the specific farm and its location, the cost and any barriers to implementation.
2) CSUK has identified industrial hemp as a high-potential crop to give farmers a new source of income that benefits soil health and sequesters carbon. They will help farmers find the right variety for their farm, advise and assist them in acquiring a growing license and growing the plant, and help them get the seed to market. This is an emerging market meaning the market opportunity is strong and demand is increasing.
3) CSUK is helping farmers to improve their slurry management with state-of-the-art Anaerobic Digesters (AD).
“Farmers need to get ahead of the impacts of Climate Change. They need to understand how their specific farm will be affected and what they can do to ensure, not just survival, but profitability, in the future.” Said CSUK co-founder Kevin Holtzclaw.
Climate Spheres UK has recently won the UK 2022 Journey to Net Zero award, hosted by the School of Sustainable Food and Farming and has done pilot projects in England and Wales. It is now launching to the wider farming community and its supply chains, helping them to future-proof their farms and their livelihoods.