UK growers could pay as much as 10 per cent more for energy in the next few years, rural advisor ADAS has warned.

ADAS appealed to farmers and growers to assess their energy usage to aid the environment and save money.

Ruth Kendal, rural economy consultant at ADAS, said: “Saving energy, water and inputs have always been a priority for farmers - resourceful land managers realise the positive effect efficient resource use has on profitability. Understanding your energy use is the first step to realising significant savings on your energy bills and to identify areas where energy can be used more efficiently.”

Kendal said there is a clear link between resource efficiency and financial savings, but now farmers are also under additional pressure to ensure their environmental performance is up to scratch.

Agriculture and horticulture has targets to meet in the Low Carbon Transition Plan, a government white paper designed to move the UK towards a more sustainable future. But Kendal said the rural sector has a complex relationship with the environment, action to reduce carbon emissions in one area of the business may actually lead to an increase in output elsewhere.

She said: “A good example is outsourcing the disposal of farm waste as it may reduce an operation’s direct emissions, but greenhouse gas output associated with transport and processing may ultimately lead to an increase in the overall emissions total.”

“Farmers could also look to save energy and create an income stream by installing a renewable energy system that is covered by the government’s new Feed-in Tariff scheme (FITs). The Department of Energy and Climate Change has used powers in the Energy Act 2008 to introduce the FITs system to incentivise small scale, low carbon electricity generation.”

The FITs scheme went live on in April and covers wind, hydro and solar power as well as anaerobic digestion among others.

Through the use of FiTs, the government hopes to encourage deployment of additional low carbon electricity generation, particularly by organisations, businesses, communities and individuals who are not traditionally engaged in the electricity market.