Photo cred: NFU.
Harriet’s research is focused on figuring out the best ways to farm for people, the planet and pigs! There is growing evidence that land sparing (increasing yields on existing farm land and sparing intact habitat for nature) would have the best biodiversity outcomes. However, it is thought that high yield systems perform poorly in other ways, including being associated with poorer animal welfare outcomes, antibiotic use and carbon footprints. These trade-offs are largely lacking evidence, so Harriet is testing if, where and to what extent these trade-offs exist in UK and Brazilian pig production, with the aim of identifying optimal systems.
Last week BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today were featuring young voices and their opinions on re-thinking food and farming. Third year BBSRC DTP student Harriet Bartlett was part of the line up and was interviewed about her opinions on the challenges and opportunities in agriculture.
You can listen to it here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000p8fg and as part of the weekly summary here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000pf5c