The development and use of farm-level indicators in England

In recent years the concept of ‘sustainability indicators’ has become important within agricultural policy development. However, as policy tools, many indicators are highly technical in nature and often appear relevant only at national level. Consequently, the key messages underpinning the indicators can easily become lost at farm level. In order to drive progress towards sustainability it is important to define indicators at a level that is meaningful to the target audience and that encapsulates the spatial and temporal diversity of the farm environment. In support of policy objectives the pilot national set of indicators of agricultural sustainability has been re-cast into indicators that can be collected, interpreted and compared at a farm level. A software package that prioritizes the indicators according to farm type and that links trends with farm management decisions and practices, identifying steps for improvements, is used as the main means of knowledge transfer