Policy & Research

Farmer support on the ground only works if the policy environment makes it viable. We work at both levels.

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Our policy work

What we have submitted

Stockfree Farming engages directly with governments across the UK to make the case for a support framework that enables and incentivises transition away from livestock agriculture. This is not optional work. Without policy change, individual farmer transitions remain fragile and underfunded.

We believe farmers who want to change the way they manage their land should not have to absorb the full cost of that change alone. Our policy work aims to secure public funding, targeted support schemes, and a regulatory environment that makes stockfree transitions financially viable.

Policy
February 21, 2025

Our Manifesto

Cultivating Change: A Vision for a Stockfree Food, Farming and Land Use System...
Policy
June 16, 2025

Policy Brochure 2025

A concise evidence-based overview of our policy asks, covering farmer support, land use change, and the role of stockfree agriculture...
Policy
June 15, 2025

Implementing Agricultural Solutions for Net Zero

A letter and detailed submission sent to Daniel Zeichner, Minister of State for Food Security and Rural Affairs, setting out...
Policy
June 14, 2025

Scottish Greens 2026 Holyrood Manifesto Submission

Stockfree Farming was invited to contribute proposals for inclusion in the Scottish Greens’ manifesto for the 2026 Holyrood election. Our...

Our research

Research
July 31, 2025

‘Death by a thousand cuts’: The Role of Moral Distress and Moral Injury in Farmer Mental Ill-Health

Published in the Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 2025. This peer-reviewed study is the first to systematically examine the...
Research
February 6, 2025

Healthy, Affordable Food from Local, Profitable Supply Chains

Working with a multidisciplinary research team, Stockfree Farming is investigating a model that could substantially increase the volume of food...
Research
green grass
February 5, 2025

High-Quality Plant Protein for Human Consumption from Grass and Clover

In collaboration with SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College), we have been involved in a two-year project developing a scalable, affordable, allergen-free,...
Research
October 4, 2024

Strengthening the Welsh Sustainable Farming Scheme

Evidence supporting policy recommendations on agriculture and land use reform in Wales 1. Emissions – While the First Carbon Budget...

Research
October 3, 2024

Adaptive Grazing: The Climate, Soils, and Biodiversity Solution?

We were recently asked to respond to a reader’s letter published in a Scottish magazine that extolled the merits of...
Research
August 8, 2024

Repurposing the Scottish Upland Sheep Support Scheme

Support for farmers in Less Favoured Areas (LFAs) dominated by low productivity grassland should centre around the scientific consensus that...
Research
March 27, 2024

Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture – Ten Principles of Practice

Sustainable agriculture and regenerative agriculture are two different but overlapping concepts. Therefore, it is important to define both separately and...
Research
March 1, 2022

Farmers and Crofters Survey

Stockfree Farming conducted a qualitative survey of Scottish farmers and crofters from 2021 - 2022....