“We’ve teamed up with Soil Association Exchange to create the largest, most comprehensive review of farm environmental performance ever carried out in the UK.”

Andrew Walton
Chief Sustainability Officer and Chief Corporate Affairs Officer
18 September 2024
5 min read

The UK agriculture sector is a crucial part of our economy – providing half of the food we eat and employing just under half a million people.1  

Yet at the time of writing, farmers face unprecedented challenges that, if ignored, could threaten the UK’s chances of reaching net zero emissions by 2050, harm the economy and even curb future food supplies.

You see, while agriculture undoubtedly improves and nourishes the country’s nature and biodiversity, it’s conversely one of the largest emitting sectors of harmful gases too.2 The problem is, the intensification of well-meaning farming activities to meet current demand for low-cost food has resulted in soil degradation, costing £1.2 billion per year in England and Wales.3

So, how can farmers reduce harmful emissions and drive meaningful environmental change, while also ensuring they are financially successful and able to meet future food production demands? 

As the UK’s biggest bank for farmers, we’ve teamed up with Soil Association Exchange – a partnership fostered over 10 years – to tackle these complex challenges by creating the largest, most comprehensive review of environmental performance ever carried out on UK farms. 

 

 

Grounded in evidence, A way forward for British farms

We’ve teamed with Soil Association Exchange to create the largest, most comprehensive review of farm environmental performance ever carried out in the UK.

Read full report PDF opens in a new tab (PDF), 0.5MB.

Our latest report with Soil Association Exchange 

So far, our partnership with Soil Association Exchange has resulted in over 4,000 bespoke recommendations to 685 farmers across the UK. And it’s thanks to this unprecedented level of engagement that this latest, landmark report was made possible.

What’s transpired as a result of our partnership is the largest and most thorough baseline of environmental farm performance and action plans ever carried out in the UK. Indeed, this is the first data-set large enough to support real change – covering 238,494 hectares of farmland, and focusing on six areas: soil health, carbon, biodiversity, animal welfare, water, and people & society.

I believe that if this report were to reach every farmer in the country, it could lay the groundwork for a new approach to delivering meaningful change across the UK agriculture sector. The data gathered plainly highlights the difference between farm types, and clearly explains how sustainability, productivity and profitability can all be increased together in unison. 

What challenges are farmers currently facing?

From small, family-run farms to larger agricultural operations – our data shows that the agriculture sector faces many challenges. And given the diverse nature of these businesses’ operational capacities, there’s no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to the obstacles ahead. And most of the main barriers identified relate to a lack of direction. 

Back in 2022, for example, the Department for environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) published its National Food Strategy.4 But the agriculture sector still isn’t clear on the direction of future farm policy and investment decisions. And while the Agriculture Transition Plan and the Enviromental Improvement Plan both offer sound advice to farmers, they are limited on specific, actionable guidance. 

It’s perhaps no surprise, then, that UK farmers cite a drawn-out and complicated introduction of the Sustainable Farming Initiative, difficulties around awareness and understanding of private financing initiatives and no standardisation of UK methodologies in carbon calculators and no national farming strategy as some of the main barriers.

Helping farmers on their net zero journeys

Hear from Helen Browning, farmer and CEO, Soil Association on the challenges facing farmers. And Victoria Read, Relationship Director of  Agriculture, visits Southend farm in West Sussex to find out how the Group's partnership with Soil Association is helping them on their transition.

Watch video

Our policy asks

While the quality data and expert advice found in our report can provide answers, collaboration from a number of actors – including the UK Government and financial institutions – is absolutely vital. 

To that end, we’re calling on the UK Government to back a standard method for measuring farms’ environmental impact, develop and deliver a decarbonisation and nature strategy for agriculture and to release the blocks holding back flows of green finance to UK farmers. 

 

"While the quality data and expert advice found in our report can provide answers, collaboration from a number of actors – including the UK Government and financial institutions – is absolutely vital."

Find out more about our policy asks

How else is Lloyds Banking Group supporting farmers?

Here at Lloyds Banking Group, we’re proud to be the biggest lender to the agriculture sector in the country. And we will continue to support UK farmers in all of the crucial work they do. 

Our expert agriculture relationship managers have extensive training, including a tailored course delivered in partnership with the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, and custom training to deliver our partnership with Soil Association Exchange. These relationship managers closely monitor events in the sector, visit our clients' farms, conduct round tables and host weekly webinars and question time events. 

Alongside this we also provide reduced finance for initiatives to make farms more sustainable, with one percentage point margin discount lending available on loans of up to £50,000.5

But our support doesn’t end there. As part of our partnership with Soil Association Exchange, we’re piloting a new scheme to reward farmers for sustainable practices. 

The cross-supply-chain model – with the working name ‘Exchange Market’ – will pool funding from a range of supply chain businesses and allow us to make payments to farmers over sustained periods to support their transition to more sustainable practices.

Using Soil Association Exchange’s own platform, environmental outcomes will be monitored and verified which will in turn allow supply chain partners to evidence the impact and progress made towards Scope 3 emissions reductions.

"Using Soil Association Exchange’s own platform, environmental outcomes will be monitored and verified which will in turn allow supply chain partners to evidence the impact and progress made towards Scope 3 emissions reductions."

Download our report to find out more

Looking ahead

It’s clear that current farming and food production practices must change if the UK is to meet its legally binding net zero goals. This will also ensure farmers are financially secure for the future. 

This research shows there’s plenty of room for optimism. Historically, famers have demonstrated an appetite for dealing with uncertainty. And with the new government’s growth agenda signalling the chance to support partnerships, now is the time for governments, policymakers and financial institutions to come together to ensure the UK agriculture sector will thrive for generations to come.6

It’s my hope that this report can act as a blueprint for helping to deliver the change needed for UK farmers to become more financially stable and sustainable for generations to come.

Andrew Walton
About the author Andrew Walton

Chief Sustainability Officer & Chief Corporate Affairs Officer

Andrew joined the Group as Chief Corporate Affairs Officer in December 2018, taking on responsibility for internal and external communications, reputation management and public affairs. In October 2023 Andrew also took on the role of Chief Sustainability Officer, responsible for shaping the Group’s approach to environmental sustainability and responsible business.

Prior to joining the Group, Andrew was Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Financial Services for the strategic communications segment of FTI Consulting.

Follow Andrew on LinkedIn.

Andrew's background Read Less

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