Question: How does your work on the farm make you more environmentally conscious?

Sharron Kenny answered on 14 Jun 2023:

We do a lot of environmental initiatives on the farm. we direct drill the crops into the ground these days rather than plough. this saves disruption to the soil bed so we are not releasing carbon like traditional ploughing would.

we set aside so much ground each year for wildlife and on this ground we plant flowers for bees and butterflies as well as plants that seed well to feed the birds.

we see more wildlife than previously especially wild deer and the hare population has really increased. we have a healthy population of badgers. lapwings and curlews all nest on the farm and as ground nesting birds we simply fence off the area and work around them. ducks and geese have also moved in

for the future we are in the middle of planting several acres of trees across the farm as the big storm Arwen took out a lot of the farms natural shelter.

we have also looked at how we farm and the livestock we keep. instead of continental breeds of cattle high inputs and welfare needs we have now changed to more native breeds that are more suited to living outside all year around such as Aberdeen angus cattle.

we also keep a rare native breed of pony – this is good for the farm as mixed grazing between sheep cattle and the ponies has many benefits for all and also benefits to the land they graze on.

to take this back into the laboratory seeing how agriculture is making progress and changes towards net zero inspires me to continue that in my scientific life and look at sustainability in the lab and it also interests me how our catalysts go into the production of new and improved fertilizers for agriculture.

on the farm as technology advances we will move into either battery or hydrogen fuel tractors but for now we look at how we can use them less or do more at once so have implements that also go on the front as well as the back of the tractors so your only driving over the ground once.