Ensure food is available to meet consumer demand
Activities making a positive contribution:
| Activities | Score |
| Use high yielding crop varieties | 9 |
| Use trickle irrigation | 8 |
| Install artificial sub-surface drains | 8 |
| Use boom irrigation | 8 |
| Use pesticide products that are less toxic to non-target invertebrates | 8 |
| Use raingun irrigation | 8 |
| Avoid spraying when crops or weeds are in flower | 7 |
| Do not apply sewage sludge to arable soils with a pH of less than 5 | 7 |
| Do not exceed the limits for the average annual rate of addition through sewage sludge of toxic elements on arable soils | 7 |
| Do not use sewage sludge on arable land | 7 |
| Do not use sewage sludge on arable land where the limits for PTEs have been exceeded or will be exceeded if the sludge is applied | 7 |
| Do not use sewage sludge on arable soil that has not been properly sampled and analysed | 7 |
| Do not use sewage sludge that has not been properly sampled and analysed on arable soils | 7 |
| Reduce the incidence of Varroa in bee colonies | 7 |
| Choose a variety with a high standing power score (on the Recommended List) on lodging-prone sites | 6 |
| Do not locate field manure heaps in any single position on arable land for more than 12 consecutive months | 6 |
| Do not locate field manure heaps on arable land in the same place as an earlier one constructed within the last two years | 6 |
| Restrict applications of nutrients to arable crops when plant uptake is low | 6 |
| Solid poultry manure used on arable farms that does not have bedding mixed into it is covered with an impermeable material | 6 |
| Establish a low plant population (less than 200 plants/m2) if drilling early (before October) | 5.5 |
| Accurate calculation of nutrient requirements of arable crops | 5.3 |
| Use pest and disease resistant varieties for food crops | 5.2 |
| Predict crop nutrient requirements using canopy management or chlorophyll testing | 5.1 |
| Clean up any spills or splashes of pesticide immediately | 5 |
| Create an artificial windbreak between sprayed areas and surrounding environment | 5 |
| Shallow spiking, slitting or subsoiling | 5 |
| Use tunnel pesticide sprayer | 5 |
| Ensure that your pesticide store is secure and located more than 10m away from a watercourse and/or drain | 5 |
| Hard surfaces where pesticides are handled drain into proper sewers or treatment facilities | 5 |
| Improve greenhouse structure/design | 5 |
| Improve thermostatic controls in greenhouses | 5 |
| Include a grass/clover ley during the rotation | 5 |
| Incorporation of FYM into arable land | 5 |
| Loosen compacted soil layers on arable land | 5 |
| Maintain pesticide equipment to prevent leaks and failures | 5 |
| Operators are steady on their feet when pouring pesticides directly into a tank, preferably on the ground or a platform at the right height | 5 |
| Pesticide handling facilities are located at least 10m away from any watercourses or vulnerable sites | 5 |
| Pesticide handling facilities are located away from existing farmyard flash flood routes, rain water outlets and gutter outfalls | 5 |
| Pesticide stores are capable of retaining spills and leaks | 5 |
| Plant a vegetative windbreak between sprayed areas and surrounding environment | 5 |
| Reduce air leakage from greenhouses | 5 |
| Reduce the height of the sprayer boom | 5 |
| Reduce the travelling speed of the sprayer | 5 |
| Replace caps on pesticide containers after rinsing and draining and store them upright in an outer carton | 5 |
| Sprayers are washed in a bunded area and washings are collected | 5 |
| Sprayers are washed in the field | 5 |
| Sprayers are washed on biobeds | 5 |
| Use a fill-level alarm, flow meter or pre-set shut-off valve when filling sprayers | 5 |
| Use a suitable funnel and fill slowly so air can enter while pouring when filling sprayers | 5 |
| Use air-assisted pesticide sprayer | 5 |
| Use banded pesticide sprayer | 5 |
| Use closed transfer systems | 5 |
| Use low drift nozzles when applying pesticides | 5 |
| Use mechanical or flame weeding on food crops | 5 |
| Use mechanical or flame weeding on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 5 |
| Use no crop zones | 5 |
| Use no spray zones | 5 |
| Use sensor-equiped pesticide sprayer | 5 |
| Use shielded pesticide sprayer | 5 |
| Use a diverse crop rotation to reduce the incidence of weeds, pests and diseases in food crops | 4.8 |
| Use a diverse crop rotation to reduce the incidence of weeds, pests and diseases in non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 4.8 |
| Avoid mechanical field operations on arable land when the soil is waterlogged | 4.7 |
| Accurate calculation of nutrients available in livestock manure used on arable crops | 4 |
| Avoid tramlines over winter | 4 |
| Avoid unsuitable supplementary feeding | 4 |
| Incorporate crop residues | 4 |
| Plant a vegetative windbreak around greenhouses | 4 |
| Reduce livestock stocking rates | 4 |
| Regularly change the position of supplementary feeders | 4 |
| Use low ground pressure tyres/wheels on machinery | 4 |
| Accurate spreading of fertiliser on arable land | 3.8 |
| Cover crop after harvest through the winter | 3.8 |
| Do not use synthetic pesticides | 3.5 |
| Reduce the number of pesticide applications on food crops | 3.5 |
| Reduce the number of pesticide applications on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 3.5 |
| Regular soil nutrient testing on arable land | 3.5 |
| Do not burn crop residues | 3 |
| Ensure ball-valves on livestock water troughs are not damaged and are correctly set | 3 |
| Only use pesticides on food crops when pest thresholds have been exceeded | 3 |
| Only use pesticides on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) when pest thresholds have been exceeded | 3 |
| Reduce pesticide application rates on food crops | 3 |
| Reduce pesticide application rates on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 3 |
| Regularly calibrate pesticide sprayers used on food crops | 3 |
| Regularly calibrate pesticide sprayers used on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 3 |
| Use biological control on food crops | 3 |
| Use biological control on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 3 |
| Use pest and disease resistant varieties for non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 3 |
| Use plant growth regulators (PGRs) on cereal crops | 3 |
| Use spray additives | 3 |
| Use thermal screens in greenhouses | 3 |
| Control stem-base diseases | 2.7 |
| Minimal tillage | 2.3 |
| Calibrate fertiliser spreader used on arable land | 2 |
| Convert arable land to extensive grassland | 2 |
| Do not use manufactured nitrogen fertiliser | 2 |
| Only use legally approved pesticide products | 2 |
| Place limits the amount of nitrogen applied to arable crops | 2 |
| Reduce nutrient inputs to arable land | 2 |
| Use pesticide products in accordance with any requirement or condition specified in the approval or in any extension of use or on the label of the product as required by the approval or extension of use | 2 |
| Use synthetic pesticides on food crops | 1.6 |
| Use synthetic pesticides on non-food crops (incl grass and forage) | 1.2 |
| Zero tillage | 1.2 |
| Create 6m uncropped cultivated margins on arable land | 1 |
| Create beetle banks | 1 |
| Sow 6m wide blocks or strips with a mixture of pollen and nectar rich plants | 1 |
Activities making a negative contribution:
| Activities | Score |
| Apply nitrogen in excess of arable crop requirements | -6 |
| Convert grassland to arable (by ploughing) | -5 |
| Do not heat greenhouses | -5 |
| Drain and cultivate peat soils | -5 |
| Use pesticides that are not legally approved | -5 |
| Continuous cropping (monoculture) | -4.8 |
| Undertake mechanical field operations on arable land when the soil is waterlogged | -4.7 |
| Arable land is left with a rough surface following operations such as ploughing, discing or tine cultivation | -3 |
| Ball-valves on livestock water troughs are damaged and/or not correctly set | -3 |
Defra Project IF0131
Assessment of reduction in environmental burdens through targeted measures compared with whole farm approaches in cropping and livestock systems
© AERU, University of Hertfordshire
Friday 30 October 2009