UK farmers are eager to play a part in encouraging biofuels and are staunch supporters of its promotion as a viable alternative to conventional fuels. The reasons for this are primarily the benefits which the rural economy would experience should they become largely involved in the production of biofuels. Advantages that farmers might experience are as follows:

Revitalisation of UK agriculture - The deputy chairman of Hampshire NFU, David Ashcroft says that he feels that biofuels would “reverse the fortunes of struggling arable farmers” ref11. Farmers face a variety of problems that can effect their livelihood including cheap imports, increasing housing pressures and pressures to sell, rising demands for high quality healthy produce, and concerns over intensive production on the environment, all point to increasing concerns over the future of UK agriculture. In addition, if woody fuels such as willow are encouraged then it will not just be farmers with good quality arable land that would benefit but those with poorer land also (see ethanol production from wood section)

Rural job creation – By creating a new market for the supplying of biofuels new and additional jobs would be created. European Commission figures show that on an EU-scale, between 45,000 and 75,000 jobs would be created by the biofuels industry and these would be in mainly rural areas ref11. There would possibly be other opportunities created for the secondary processing of crops in which by-products are processed and other markets are created.

Crop diversification – The inherent problems involved in growing single crops in large quantities have been known for a long time. The potato famine, which occurred in Ireland in the 1800’s, is a major reminder of this fact, where a fungus destroyed the potato crop which the country’s population was heavily dependent on. While more varied crops are grown in the UK, by growing energy crops as well as food crops would boost farm diversification.

We feel that biofuels would benefit UK agriculture as a whole but we do not see it as the “magic pill” to all its problems either. Many of the issues faced by farmers are a result of other pressures and circumstances, which the growing of energy crops would have little impact on, such as the pressures faced by the shortage of land in certain areas in the UK. However, if biofuels were to become widespread through the growing of energy crops and in sufficient quantities, then we feel they would provide valuable extra income, revitalise the rural economy whilst simultaneously improving the environment.