Grasslands cover more than 70% of UK agricultural land and already hold over 500 megatonnes of carbon, but their management is not yet optimised for net zero. The problem is that current farming practices on these vast areas—used mainly for grazing livestock—are not delivering the greenhouse gas reductions the UK needs to meet its climate targets. The Committee on Climate Change has calculated that a 4% increase in UK forest area could cut 24% of annual agricultural emissions by 2050, yet grasslands remain an underused asset for mitigation. This project will test a range of practical changes—such as low-methane forages, legume-rich pastures, silvopasture, and woodland establishment—across all four devolved nations. Researchers will run controlled trials to measure actual greenhouse gas outputs, work with farmer-led clusters to see what works on real farms, and model the trade-offs between land use, profitability, biodiversity, and social well-being. If successful, the project could save the UK more than £1.6 billion per year while helping agriculture transition to net zero. The findings are intended to inform devolved policies that protect natural and cultural heritage and support the Net-Zero Growth Plan.
View original technical description
Temporary and permanent grasslands cover >70% of UK agricultural land and provide a vital natural asset for achieving national and international climate, nature, and biodiversity targets, whilst providing feed for ruminants that convert human-inedible forage into nutrient-dense food. UK grasslands contain and protect in excess of 500 megatonnes of carbon, whilst soil carbon sequestration, mainly under grassland, covers 50% of agriculture's total mitigation potential. The IPCC emphasise that agricultural systems must prioritise improving grazing land and livestock management and the Committee on Climate Change highlights that a 4% increase in UK forest area could abate 24% of annual agricultural greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) by 2050. Therefore, optimising grassland use (e.g. through upland grazing, low-carbon and methane-mitigating forages, multispecies legume-rich pastures, silvopasture, agroforestry, biomass production, woodland establishment) could help the UK realise its mitigation potential whilst saving >£1.6billion/year. It is therefore urgent to re-appraise grassland land-use and promote realistic policy-making solutions that enable large-scale, long-term, integrated grassland management as part of a UK agriculture's transition to net zero. The project will provide crucial evidence for this process, by bringing together leading innovators in transdisciplinary research on sustainable and resilient livestock systems, to address the transformation of UK grasslands for net zero whilst also improving soil health, biodiversity, and the economy. This will be delivered through five transdisciplinary work packages (WPs): WP1 will facilitate co-designed scenarios and net zero pathways to answer the question of how we can deliver sustainable, acceptable, and accessible land use for net zero in UK grassland areas. WP2 will support 6 innovative grassland management participatory clusters - exploring mitigation measures on-the-ground in all four devolved nations to assess whether existing agroecological innovations provide viable and effective strategies for achieving net zero on grassland-based farms. WP3 will utilise controlled trials for assessing the mitigation potential of different grassland management innovations by measuring the GHG outputs following their implementation. Close interaction between experiments, industry partners and wider stakeholder will be fostered throughout all tasks to ensure relevant experimental assessment of grassland solutions. WP4 will provide sustainability assessment of innovations and farm systems for improved policy design and improved the understanding of system interactions and trade-offs between land use, environment, profitability, and social well-being when adopting grassland innovations. WP5 will provide project coordination, communication, dissemination, and demonstration, overcoming barriers to implementation and enabling transformation of grassland use. In summary, the project will provide innovation assessments, co-creation of adoption pathways and policy-making solutions (assessed via Life Cycle Assessments, Global Farm Metric, experimental trials, land-use scenario modelling, stakeholder engagement) and will embrace both unique and common characteristics in England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland to develop devolved policies that will target public goods and regulatory mechanisms, protect natural and cultural heritage; and support the Net-Zero Growth Plan.
Plain English summaries and category classifications on this site are generated by AI and may not perfectly reflect the original research.
Is something wrong? Let us know