Farmers are on the front line of climate change – vulnerable to changes in temperature and rainfall, as well as increasingly frequent extreme weather events.
They also face criticism, in particular over greenhouse gas emissions from the meat and dairy industry, with calls for a move to a more plant-based diet.
Agriculture is currently responsible for about 9% of the UK's greenhouse gas emissions, mostly from methane.
The National Farmers' Union (NFU), which represents 55,000 UK farmers, has set a target of net-zero emissions in British farming by 2040.
That is not enough for some environmentalists, who say a comprehensive overhaul of farming practices and a move to less intensive production is long overdue.
But some new and surprising changes are happening on the UK's farms.
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- Focus on Farming
1. Sending in robots
Scientists in Wiltshire are part of a growing group of experts around the world developing small battery-powered robots that could drastically cut tractor use.
Tractors use diesel, a major source of carbon emissions in farming.
"Using robots cuts the energy used in cultivation by about 90%," says Sarra Mander of the Salisbury-based Small Robot Company.
The machines rely on artificial intelligence to sow seeds, identify individual weeds, and apply exactly the right amounts of pesticide and fertiliser in the right places, rather than spraying it across a whole field.
"If you had a few weeds in your garden, you wouldn't spray the whole garden, you'd just spray the area with the problem. That's what we do. It's all about precision," adds Sarra.
Sowing is done by placing individual seeds in the ground, without ploughing. Less soil disturbance means more carbon stays locked in the soil.
Robots are still relatively unusual in UK arable farming but machines are being developed all over the world to handle everything from mapping to planting, pruning and picking.
The investment bank Goldman Sachs is among those predicting a huge global shift to technology-driven "precision farming" in the coming years.
2. Using drones to map fields
Drones and tractor-mounted sensors are also being used to help farmers work out the exact patterns of moisture, weeds and pests.
The data is fed to precision machinery to target areas that need work – and leave the rest undisturbed.
Nitrogen fertiliser takes a lot of energy to produce and, particularly if it is applied at the wrong time and in the wrong quantities, bacteria act on it to make nitrous oxide.
Nitrous oxide is 200 to 300 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide.
Mapping and analysing each field enables farmers to target nitrogen fertiliser in only those places where it is needed, at the right time – and cut their emissions.
"This kind of innovation is fantastic for us," says Becky Willson, of the Farm Carbon Cutting Toolkit organisation. "It's not a total answer but it can really help."
3. Planting more trees
Like Becky, many environmental campaigners also believe applying new technology without fundamental change to intensive farming practices is not enough.
Nick Rau, of Friends of the Earth, says: "New technology is helpful – but simple, low-tech solutions, looking at whole farms over a number of seasons have been grossly neglected."
Nick believes there's huge potential in a range of solutions and points, in particular, to tree planting.
Friends of the Earth is calling for a doubling of tree cover – to boost carbon storage, help with flooding and prevent soil erosion.
Cambridgeshire farmer Stephen Briggs agrees. "It's about taking lessons from nature," he says.
He now grows 13 different varieties of apples over 125 acres (0.5 sq km), about 8% of his farm.
The apple trees stop soil erosion, lock carbon into the ground, support biodiversity and deliver a new crop.
His profitability, Stephen says, has improved since he made the change, 10 years ago.
"By growing trees alongside wheat, you expand the productive space up into the air and down into the soil, plus you extend the period of the year that you're capturing the sunshine," he says.
Wind protection from trees can also reduce the time livestock need to be kept indoors in the winter, again saving on energy and cutting emissions.
4. Keeping livestock outside for longer
Farmers who keep their animals outdoors for longer in the UK can help to cut emissions thousands of miles away.
When animals are taken indoors, they are sometimes fed on soya imported from Latin America.
Soya is often cultivated on land that was previously rainforest, so the demand for animal feed in the UK is, critics say, exporting deforestation./BBC news