Nick Easen of Wicked Leeks explores how the move to a peat-free future is impacting farmers.
Britain’s lowland peatlands are among nature’s most effective carbon sinks and are also home to some of the nation's most fertile farmland. These areas produce 40 per cent of the UK's fresh vegetables but, due to centuries of drainage, vast amounts of greenhouse gases are being released, contributing to 3 per cent of the UK’s total emissions. This makes lowland peatlands a significant environmental challenge.
The emissions from these peatlands surpass those produced by all British schools, the construction industry, and almost the entire National Health Service. For instance, British-grown peas cultivated on lowland peat could carry a carbon footprint up to ten times greater than soya beans farmed in the Brazilian Amazon. The UK government acknowledges that current farming practices on drained peatlands are unsustainable, with peat disappearing at a rate of up to 3cm per year. Yet, peatland restoration efforts are advancing at only one-fifth of the pace required.
Rewetting 243,000 hectares of England’s lowland peatlands could play a critical role in achieving the UK’s Net Zero goals. Submerging soil prevents carbon dioxide and methane from escaping, supports biodiversity, and reduces soil erosion. However, this approach could impact food security, lead to increased imports, or raise vegetable prices—posing challenges when families need affordable, healthy food.
“The general public aren’t really aware of the implications of this issue, however, farmers are. Over time we are going have to change our ways. Yet there are no easy answers. We’re losing peat rapidly, so we need to do something fast. Some farms are at risk of losing all their peat within the next 20 years and they’re really worried, so there is drive for change,” says Dr Jenny Rhymes from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH).
A Complex Challenge
The unsustainable use of peat is frequently debated, with the UK government planning a ban on the retail sale of horticultural peat by the end of 2025. Many retailers, such as the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), have already transitioned to peat-free products. For example, the RHS stopped selling peat-based compost in 2019 and aims to ensure all plants in its outlets and shows are peat-free by 2026.
Other organisations are also making strides. Riverford is developing its own peat-free growing media for vegetable seedlings, while Co-op’s Carbon Innovation Fund supports peat-free food production initiatives. These commitments reflect growing awareness, with supermarkets even offering peat-free mushrooms. However, wider adoption in vegetable production remains challenging without increased public willingness to pay higher prices.
“The reality is, lowland peat areas are where the UK is a cost-effective producer of vegetables; luckily it is only a third of the area under cultivation. If I were trying to tackle this problem head on I would start by ditching the arable crops grown on peat,” suggests Dustin Benton, managing director of Forefront Advisors and former policy advisor at the Green Alliance.
Growing crops like maize on peatlands for bioenergy is also problematic, as the carbon emissions are three times greater than burning fossil natural gas. Such agricultural practices have been expanding in recent years.
Paludiculture: A Potential Solution
Paludiculture, which involves raising the water table in peatlands, could significantly reduce emissions by keeping carbon in the soil. For example, raising the water table by just 10cm can cut emissions by three tonnes of CO2 equivalent per hectare annually. Certain crops, like celery, lettuce, and leeks, can tolerate higher water levels.
Projects such as UKCEH’s Lowland Peat 3 and the Wildlife Trust’s wet farming initiatives are exploring these methods. However, large-scale commercial adoption of paludiculture remains limited due to insufficient investment and attention.
“If you look at the amount of money that still goes into tree planting, it gets far more funding than peat research. Most people know that planting a hectare of trees reduces emissions, but I don’t think that many people are aware that rewetting one hectare of peat soils would produce even better results,” explains Zoe Lipkens, a PhD researcher at the University of Leicester.
The Climate Change Committee’s 2050 targets call for restoring 25 per cent of lowland peatlands and rewetting 50 per cent of lowland grasslands. However, progress toward these goals remains inadequate.
Incentivising Change
Financial incentives are vital to encouraging farmers to restore peatlands. Current schemes like Countryside Stewardship and Environmental Land Management (ELM) provide flat-rate payments, which may not fully reflect the benefits of emissions reduction. According to the Green Alliance, fully rewetting a typical lowland peat farm and compensating for avoided emissions could quadruple farmers’ incomes.
“Raising water tables to levels that are close to the ground surface (between 10 to 30 cm) is likely to limit the types of crops you can grow, but there are some crops that tolerate these conditions. If you raise the water table on peat you can get a payment from the government of £1,400 a hectare per year, but this doesn’t compete with revenues made from high value crops like lettuces,” notes Dr Rhymes.
Looking ahead, a government land-use framework could promote a shift towards growing certain crops on mineral soils, helping create diverse landscapes that balance food security, climate mitigation, and biodiversity.
“I think that farmers in these areas should be brought together to come up with their own ways of solving the problem. What do they think is practically possible?” concludes Dr Rhymes.
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