These are very uncertain times to be a farmer.  


Wetter winters and drier summers, changes to subsidies and fluctuating costs of diesel and fertiliser have led to protests in Britain and across Europe.  
However, a joint project between Lancaster University and Lake District Farmers, based in Ulverston, is hoping to find a way for farmers to become more financially and environmentally resilient.  
Founded in 2009, Lake District Farmers brings together producers to supply Michelin-starred restaurants and multinational hospitality businesses across the UK.

It works with a network of 50 farms in Cumbria, southern Scotland, Lancashire and Yorkshire. 
However, when Dan Austin - who co-founded the business alongside the late Ray Armstrong - attended a course at Lancaster University with leading carbon emissions researcher Mike Berners-Lee, he came back determined to make sustainability a priority. 
Since summer 2023 Lake District Farmers has been engaged in a knowledge transfer partnership with the university to investigate ways in which farmers can move towards net zero production.  
However, as Phil Scott, who leads on purpose and sustainability for the company explains, moving towards net zero also has financial benefits for farmers, as well as helping them become more resilient to fluctuating prices and extreme weather.  
He says the project has come to focus on improving soil health, which reduces the need for chemicals and fertiliser and also leads to a greater diversity of plant life and wildlife.

However, maintaining healthy soil is also fundamental to producing food.

“If we degrade the soil to the point where it can no longer provide food for us, then that’s when it really starts to become a massive issue,” said Phil. 
Lake District Farmers is working with case study farms at Loweswater, Orton, Grasmere and Cartmel Fell to investigate ways they can reduce and sequester carbon, while increasing biodiversity and producing food.

The university’s Professor Jan Bebbington is looking at how different decisions around farm management can influence both the environment and finances.  
When the project concludes in July next year, Lake District Farmers is hoping to be able to use some of the approaches from the four farms to develop a framework which can be picked up and adopted by others it works with.