Climate resilience on-farm action planner – beef, lamb and dairy

Guidance and actions to help you identify any climate change risks to your farm business and draw up a plan to make it more resilient for the future.

Climate change is making weather patterns more unpredictable, altering recognised seasonal patterns. In the future we can expect hotter, drier summers and warmer, wetter winters, with more frequent and intense extreme weather events, such as droughts and flooding.

So, it’s crucial to assess and understand where the risks and vulnerabilities may be to your farm and to identify short- and long-term actions to improve the resilience to future climate impacts. You should also consider other measures to improve business resilience at the same time.

It will help you:

• Spot where your business might be vulnerable by thinking about the weather and climate hazards, risks and impacts you may face now and in the future
• Identify appropriate actions you can take to counter that threat and prepare for future risks
• Recognise new opportunities presented by climate change
• Create an action plan for building resilience against climate change
• Support business planning by sitting alongside other business resilience information and tools without adding unnecessary work
• Find useful guidance, information and tools

Step 1: Review the hazards, impacts and actions

• Click on the potential weather and climate hazards below and see how they might affect you. Consider your exposure to these problems and where you might be vulnerable
  • High summer temperatures/heat extremes
  • Drier summers and low rainfall
  • Changing winter temperatures
  • Wetter winters and extreme rainfall
  • Storms and wind
  • Rising sea levels
• Think about what actions you can take to reduce these impacts and protect yourself from future events. These may be short-term actions against seasonal problems or longer-term ones to build resilience over time. We’ve also included examples of potential opportunities
• Please note these examples are not exhaustive and will depend on your particular situation. Some are site-specific and will need to be carried out appropriately for the best results. There may be additional threats and actions that apply to your business

Step 2: Prioritise – risk scoring

Score each risk using the template below so you can see which areas need the most attention and action first.

Step 3: Action plan

Choose the actions most appropriate for your situation and consider think how you can implement them alongside your other business objectives. Use the template below to create an action plan for your farm.

Find out about funding grants and schemes available for farmers and landowners in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.