Table 3.

Additional comments for not growing short rotation coppice and miscanthus (131 comments)

Segment		Typical comments—summarised	Selection of quotes
Interest and morality	11	•Not interested •Moral point towards using land for food production	“Simply not interested in growing either crop”
			“Not interested in diversifying to bioenergy crops, would rather focus on business as it currently runs”
			“Should be producing agricultural produce as land best suited for that”
			“Not sustainable, think it’s a fad”
Current and future farming/business activities	19	•Doesn’t fit with current activities •Desire to continue/expand current agricultural production •Planning towards retirement	“Farm focusses on livestock production rather than arable, no interest in bioenergy crops”
			“Son joined partnership and aim to increase production with large investment in place so no thought of reducing agricultural output”
			“Too old to consider long term commitment”
			“Currently running very profitable low labour simple grass based system. Don’t need any complications”
Land resource availability	32	•Not enough land for bioenergy crops •All land needed for current activities •Would have to reduce other production due to land constraint	“Farm needs all land to support dairy herd so no area to grow energy crops”
			“Need grass”
			“Not prepared to give up valuable forage land”
			“Not enough land to spare. Currently rent in a lot for own livestock needs”
Land quality/topography	41	•Land too productive for energy crops •Poor quality land only suitable for grazing •Hill land or steeply sloping •Wet land and wet weather conditions	“This is a hill farm, no land to grow this type of crop”
			“Farm all permanent pasture with some SDA [Severely Disadvantaged Area] land”
			“Land not suited for bioenergy crop production - hard enough getting quality forage to grow”
			“Land is largely inaccessible, better suited to grazing and a bit of hay making.”
			“Topography of farm [steep slopes] eliminates all possibilities of growing these crops”
Knowledge	14	•Distance to energy processing plant •Lack of knowledge of this crop •Knowledge of companies not fulfilling contracts to buy crops	“Don’t know anything about husbandry for this”
			“Too far away from power station”
			“Used to grow Miscanthus but found it unprofitable and little local market”
			“There is a local market for the crop but local experience has shown that they do not always buy available crops”
			“Neighbouring farms have SRC and have heard bad reports about lack of profitability and management”
Other	14	•Tenancy/landlord constraints •Conflict with current environmental schemes	“Cannot plough—in ESA [Environmentally Sensitive Area] scheme”
			“All land is situated within a National Park”
			“Land committed to HLS [Higher Level {environmental} Scheme] and Organic schemes”
			“Duration of tenancy”