NCS Project on forage bean wholecrop: Spilling the beans…

Could growing more pulses and legumes help UK farming reduce its carbon footprint and become self-sufficient when it comes to animal-fed protein? This is part of the NCS study, and last year we took part in a trial looking at ways on how to most efficiently harvest the crop. Here are the findings.

Each year the UK imports around 2.4 million tonnes of soya for use as animal feed. For health reasons we wouldn’t advise delving too deeply into the maths, but scarily that equates to some £1.1bn going out of livestock farmers’ pockets each year and generally landing in South America. So what if we could cut that figure in half? A project funded by DEFRA through Innovate UK is looking to do just that. Set up in 2022, the Nitrogen Climate Smart (NCS) initiative is looking at ways of reducing our reliance on bought-in protein and artificial fertilisers. On paper the scheme’s aim is primarily to cut farming’s carbon emissions, but in doing so it is hoped it can also help underpin UK agriculture’s bottom line. Part of that is a…

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Profi (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025

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