UK grocer Morrisons has teamed up with Harper Adams University’s School of Sustainable Food and Farming in an effort to help farmers in its supply chain accelerate towards net zero farming.
At the heart of a new programme devised by the organisations is the Morrisons Sustainable Farm Network which aims to bring farmers together to develop the practices and make the changes required for them to reach net zero farming in a holistic way. There is also hope from those behind the scheme the work will inspire other farmers across Britain in the process.
Morrisons said it will be launching a new incentives programme for farmers working towards net zero farming, which will include Morrisons shopping vouchers for reaching different milestones on the programme.
The details for the Morrisons Sustainable Farm Network were unveiled at a farmer engagement event at the retailer’s Skipton store last week, with Morrisons’ supply chain farmers gathering an understanding of how they can operate in a way that is better for the environment than is currently the way.
Over 70 farmers from across the Morrisons supply chain will join the Sustainable Farm Network in its first year, supported by the School of Sustainable Food and Farming and its partners. It is positioned to give them access to the latest insight to help them on their journey to net zero farming. Morrisons works directly with more than 2,700 farmers and growers all year round.
Sophie Throup, technical & sustainability director for manufacturing at Morrisons, said: “Farmers across our supply chain are already doing a lot of great work in driving forward more sustainable practices.
“By launching the Morrisons Sustainable Farm Network, we’re hoping to link them up to industry specialists, academic expertise and crucially, other farmers. Participating farms will be leading examples of the ways in which we can hone our practices as we transition towards a more sustainable future – not only for other suppliers in the Morrisons supply chain, but also for our food and farming sector as a whole.”
Director of the School of Sustainable Food and Farming, Simon Thelwell, added: “At the heart of this programme will be the experience of farmers up and down the UK working day-in, day-out to bring Morrisons customers the fantastic produce they expect.
“We’re looking forward to being part of a great team equipping farmers with the knowledge they need to understand their carbon footprint and ways to decarbonise – and linking them with the experts and equipment they’ll need throughout that journey. We’ll also identify ways in which they can change their systems – making them both commercially viable and environmentally friendly, boosting wildlife and improving biodiversity.”
Map of Ag will support the data integration and analysis element of the programme, and the company’s technical director of sustainability, Hugh Martineau, said: “We ensure that the data we collect and analyse can be used to not only support the sustainability of the supply chain but also provide insights and act as a benchmark for farmers to help make their farm business more resilient.”
[Image credit: Green Retail World]
