The retailer has become the first UK supermarket to partner with the professional farming body
Morrisons has partnered with The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH) to support its farmers on the journey to net zero.
As the biggest direct customer of UK agriculture, the supermarket chain will trial TIAH’s digital platform, part-funded by Defra, to help address the skills gaps in agriculture.
TIAH, together with the School of Sustainable Food and Farming at Harper Adams University, has developed several modules offering farmers a step-by-step approach to learning the key information.
The topics will cover measuring and improving growth and efficient forage, among others.
Morrisons, McDonald’s and the NFU founded the School of Sustainable Food and Farming at Harper Adams University in 2022, to support farmers to produce food more sustainably.
The school has already welcomed more than 100 farmers to Morrisons stores, which have helped provide the farmers with a deeper understanding of the journey their produce goes on from their farms to supermarket shelves.
It also forms part of Morrisons’ ambition to be completely supplied by net-zero carbon British farms by 2030.
Technical and sustainability director at Myton Food Group for Morrisons, Sophie Throup said: “Progress towards net zero in agriculture requires constant innovation, new thinking and challenging the accepted practices.
“We’re proud to be the first retailer to partner with TIAH to support our livestock farmers in reducing their environmental impact.”
She added: “We are looking forward to testing and trialling new practices with 20 of our farmers to help us develop the next phase of our march towards net zero by 2030. Better information leads to better practices and this new partnership will help deliver that.”
Chief executive of TIAH, Stephen Jacob, said: “We are pleased to be working with Morrisons to develop this unique programme to support livestock farmers with their sustainability goals.
“We will work to ensure this trial will enable us to learn about the way in which farmers want to access and action learning for impact on their farms.”
