Sell carbon credits to ease loss of EU subsidies, urges Britain s first carbon farmer
Clive Bailye says production-based subsidies have made the UK agriculture industry lazy
Clive Bailye on his farm in Hammerwich, Staffordshire
Credit: Andrew Fox
SELLING carbon credits to major businesses could help English agriculture compensate for the loss of EU subsidies which have made the industry lazy , Britain s first carbon farmer has said.
Clive Bailye said farming in a way that kept carbon locked up in soil, and selling that carbon to companies that want to boost their environmental credentials, could help English agriculture become independent.
Mr Bailye, who farms several crops including oilseed rape and peas, recently sold credits worth up to £25,000 from 800 hectares of his arable farm in Staffordshire.