How can South West farmers reduce emissions and build climate resilience?

Thinking differently to withstand industry pressures

For Becky Willson, resilience is about much more than climate alone.

“It’s really about the ability of an individual or a business to withstand challenges and to have that sort of elasticity in it. The ability to bounce back,” she says.

Those challenges might include volatile input prices, changing support schemes, extreme weather or the personal pressures that come with running a farm business. Becky believes resilience starts with asking questions about why things are done in a certain way and whether there might be a better approach.

At Blable Farm in Cornwall, Mike Roberts has spent the last few years making significant changes to improve resilience. After introducing paddock grazing, herbal leys and a greater focus on soil health, he says farming has become more rewarding.

“It's been absolutely fantastic, really. It's revived a new interest in farming.”

Building resilience through improved soil health

The changes have also reduced costs. Fertiliser use has fallen dramatically, cultivation has been reduced and direct drilling has been introduced. Mike suggests healthier soils and better grazing management are central to building resilience.

“Resilience is about trying to build our soil and learning more. We all need to learn a lot more about the biology.”

Becky explains these types of changes benefit both the environment and the farm business. Every input brought onto a farm carries an associated carbon footprint, meaning reductions in fertiliser, fuel and other purchased inputs can lower emissions while improving profitability.

At the same time, farms have a unique role in capturing carbon through plants and soils.

“We are the only industry able to deliver that solution through how we manage our land.”

Healthy soils, diverse swards, cover crops and carefully managed grazing all contribute towards storing carbon, improving water retention and helping farms cope better with both drought and heavy rainfall.

This approach also helps tackles the industry's ambition to reach net zero, with many South West mixed and grazing livestock farms well placed to make significant progress because they can store carbon in grassland and soils.

Progressing through a combination of small steps

Farmers wondering where to start are encouraged to make small, practical changes rather than wholesale transformation. Trialling herbal leys or paddock grazing on a small area first, extending grazing periods, improving manure management, keeping soils covered and improving fuel and energy efficiency are all recommended starting points.

Episode showstoppers

1.      Thinking about climate and carbon and asking questions about whether your business is well balanced for the future is vital for its ongoing resilience.

2.      Start by making a single change, such as a different crop within a reseed, an altered grazing pattern or reviewing your manure management.

3.      Meaningful progress often comes through a series of small steps. Individually they may seem modest, but together they can transform a farm business.

Listen to the full episode below - also available via Spotify and Apple podcasts.

About our guests

Becky Willson is Business Development and Technical Director at Farm Carbon Toolkit. A Nuffield Scholar, Becky’s work centres on developing tools and resources to support farmers build sustainable businesses by having a focus on soil health. Becky also appeared on Farming Focus™, in a live panel session recorded at the 2026 Devon County Show, talking about how collaboration is shaping the future of farming. Listen here. 

Mike Roberts is a third-generation farmer, running a Stabiliser suckler herd on Blable Farm in Wadebridge with his wife and family. The farm is a Farm Net Zero Demo Farm, showcasing the changes made since 2020 to increase business and financial resilience.

This episode was published in August 2023.