nmental assessments on sixty case study farms to assess environmental features in relation to farmland birds, wider biodiversity and resource protection.
The collective findings from these different assessments showed that no single factor is responsible for driving farmers’ attitudes to the environment, which appear to be based on a complex set of factors. A key finding is that farmers are not solely driven by financial motivations, and that other factors play a part, such as personal interest in environment, game shoots, a sense of social responsibility or farming self-image.
The research also found that there is an increased acceptance within the farming community of the need to demonstrate their environmental credentials, and that farmers generally appear to have a much greater sense of social responsibility for the environment than previous generations. Evidence from the research also pointed to widespread informal agri-environmental management, particularly on the margins of the farm where it has least impact on agricultural production.
The overall findings of the research suggested that policy-makers should continue to encourage and reinforce a sense of civic responsibility for environmental management amongst the farming community, particularly given the emerging discourse about the need to maximise food production to counter the threats of food security.
The research took place over a period of two years and was led by Jane Mills and the CCRI.Download CCRI Project Summary
Final and summary reports can be accessed from the University of Gloucestershire research repository
Project updates and activities
A paper produced by CCRI providing insights into farmers’ willingness and ability to undertake environmental management has just been published in the Journal of Agriculture and Human Values.
Jane Mills gave a presentation at the Association of Applied Biologist’s Conference on Environmental management on farmland in Lincolnshire based on a CCRI report compiled for Defra on Farmer Attitudes to Environmental Management
A research report released today has revealed that farmers’ motivations and behaviour in connection with the environment management of their farms are influenced by multiple factors, and that financial inducement is a contributing, but not a sole, factor.
Defra have published a CCRI lead report that investigated farmer attitudes to environmental management.