Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference, Tesco’s chief commercial officer Ashwin Prasad called on the government to set a clear vision for sustainable agriculture, including greater investment and policy certainty, to drive sustainable economic growth in the industry.
The recommendations are based on a new report, produced by Tesco in collaboration with Harper Adams University, which consulted more than 300 UK farmers on the future sustainability of the industry.
Poor financial returns and policy uncertainty
This report found that 74% of farmers surveyed are concerned about the impact of climate change on their farms and two thirds (67%) are already seeing the effects. Three quarters however (76%) haven’t been able to implement all the environmental measures they want to due to high upfront costs, the risk of poor financial returns and a lack of policy certainty from government.
Tesco is calling on government to better support UK farmers through a long-term land use and food security strategy and improved funding for all stages of innovation that aids sustainability.
It also wants common environmental standards set up which farmers can regularly measure against to help prioritise investment in the most effective and sustainable farming techniques.
At the same time, Tesco says it will continue to support the industry to implement clearer sustainability requirements and standards. It promises it will work with farmers to simplify and standardise data collection and explore new models and incentives that could help farmers manage investment risk.
Two low carbon concept farms
It comes as Tesco announces plans for two low carbon concept farms in its UK supply chain. In a multi-year commitment Tesco will trial new technologies and share learnings to scale the adoption of sustainable approaches.
The farms – one in partnership with potato supplier Branston and one in partnership with livestock processor ABP – will explore low carbon fertilisers, alternative fuels, state-of-the-art cold storage, and carbon removal techniques.
Other innovations will explore include soil health, grazing management, biodiversity assessment and management, and genetic improvements. The farms will aim to provide farmers in Tesco’s supply network with a practical demonstration of a route to net zero, helping pave the way to more low carbon farms in the future.
Tesco is already involved with initiatives to promote sustainable farming practices. For example, it has partnered with NatWest bank to offer discounted rates for farmers wishing to incorporate sustainable methods. It has launched the Tesco Future Farmer programme, in partnership with Harper Adams University’s School of Sustainable Food and Farming, which aims to support young farmers in developing skills in sustainable agriculture.
It also supports a new £1 million fund which aims to enable supply chains to financially reward farmers for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and which is now open for applications. Developed by Soil Association Exchange, the ‘Market Exchange’ programme will operate as an insetting fund without any sales of carbon credits.
Farmers can earn £60 per tonne of CO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent) reduced annually, with half of payments provided upfront to help fund their transitions. On-farm actions could include reducing fertiliser usage by introducing nitrogen-fixing companion crops, better fuel efficiency or investing in solar.
How significant these schemes will prove is questionable. The Tesco Future Farmer programme scheme only provides training to 75 farmers under the age of 40 each year.
“Many of the solutions we need exist today”, added Prasad, “but government and the food industry need to make sure we have the right incentives in place so that UK agriculture can reach its potential as a driver of both sustainability and economic growth.”
You can’t go green if you’re in the red
Harper Adams University Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Michael Lee said, “farmers know the importance of tackling climate change – with most reporting they are already seeing its effect on their farms.”
But it seems unlikely the government will ramp up meaningful support for greener farming any time soon.
British farmers at the Oxford Farming Conference were hoping for a government U-turn on hugely disliked changes to inheritance tax. Farmer groups believe this will devastate farms and threaten food production. They also believe it is an example of more action preventing the likelihood of them being able to invest in the machinery, technology and innovation to boost food security.
“Change is coming,” the UK’s environment secretary Steve Reed told farmers at the conference. He made no inheritance tax concessions but announced a consultation on national planning reforms to make it easier to build farm buildings, barns and other infrastructure, due to launch in Spring.
Despite Reed’s promises for reforms and a “cast-iron commitment to food production”, the National Farmers' Union’s president Tom Bradshaw said that the announcement “fails to recognise that the industry is in a cash flow crisis, with the lowest farmer and grower confidence ever recorded”.
