Plans to make farming ‘net zero’ by 2040 - a decade ahead of the UK target - may not be achieved, the National Farmers' Union (NFU) has warned.
Reaching net zero means no longer adding to the total amount of greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere.
The NFU told the BBC a lack of investment in climate-friendly farming measures by the previous government had made doing that by 2040 “tricky” but insisted that the deadline would not be dropped.
Meanwhile, the Soil Association warned that UK agriculture would not be able to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions “without radical changes".
The government said it was “committed to reducing emissions in the farming sector”.
Farming is currently responsible for around 12% of the UK’s total greenhouse gas emissions, external, predominantly nitrous oxide from fertilisers and manure and methane from ruminant livestock, as well as carbon dioxide - to a much lesser extent - from energy and fuel.
Tom Bradshaw, NFU president, told the BBC he still believed farming was “very much part of the solution to decarbonising the UK economy” but that more investment was needed.
“Net zero is never going to be an ambition farmers can deliver alone,” he said.
To mark Back British Farming Day on Wednesday, Mr Bradshaw called for the UK’s total agriculture budget to be increased from £3.5bn to £5.6bn.
He said that was what was needed for farmers to produce more food while “delivering for nature, energy security and climate-friendly farming”.