Seven in ten Brits have a bigger appreciation for the sights - and smells - of the great British countryside since lockdown.

According to a survey by farmer-owned dairy cooperative Arla, 66% of Brits are planning a post-lockdown day trip to the countryside this summer and just under 50% will head off for a rural staycation.

Research shows that 43% would like their home to smell like a fresh country meadow with Arla working alongside experts CPL Aromas and TV star Ben Fogle to produce a ‘fresh country air’ fragrance.

The move is also designed to inspire more dairy farmers to explore alternative and sustainable forms of spreading the nutrient-rich slurry across their land.

These environmentally friendly techniques avoid leaving ammonia and other smelly gases suspended in the air, as is the case with the traditional ‘spreading’ method - meaning those countryside walks smell just that little bit sweeter.

New techniques include injecting the slurry directly into the ground with specialist equipment leading to a reduction in air-born emissions of between 30 and 90 per cent, which makes a noticeable difference to the smell of the air. 

These alternative techniques also have additional environmental benefits as they place the slurry directly onto or into the ground, leading the nutrients within it to be pulled further into the soil, enriching it with nitrogen and also stopping nitrous oxide from being leaked into the atmosphere.

They say farmers are just used to the smell - but even they admit new methods have their advantages.

“Manure handling typically contributes towards a dairy farm’s emissions, so anything we can do to reduce that amount by using alternative ways to spread the nutrient-rich manure across the land, then it feels like an obvious option to explore," said Arla farmer Jason Bayley, who runs 400 cows on his property in south Derbyshire,

"I must also say, even though I’m used to the smell of manure after all these years, I do notice it’s fresher around the fields when the slurry has been put directly into the ground.”