The Environment and Farming

It is self evident that the environment is central to successful and sustainable agriculture. Yet many farmers have, in the past, found themselves at odds with environmentalists whose demands they have found unreasonable and, perhaps more seriously, unprofitable. The challenge was to find common ground on which reasonable people from both interest groups could meet and agree. LEAF believes that Integrated Crop Management, which it promotes and seeks to develop, could be that common ground. It advocates lower, more targeted inputs of fertilisers and agrochemicals which it believes can produce optimum yields and maximum profit. The concept has already brought together a wide range of previously antagonistic interest groups with representatives of farming, the supply trade, food processing and retailing and the environment, working together in unity. It is part of a multi national initiative which has spread across much of Europe and beyond. Its moderate, balanced approach enjoys widespread support. It has been recognised by some prominent politicians as "the way forward for agriculture".