A collaboration project in the malting barley industry aims to use regenerative agricultural techniques to cut crop carbon emissions by half in just five years. 

Set up by global beverage company Suntory, malt supplier Muntons, consultancy firm Future Food Solutions and a group of farmers lead by Dewing Grain, the project will explore how barley can be grown in a more sustainable way to reduce emissions and protect water sources.

See also: Why Norfolk farmer squared off fields with miscanthus

Farmer baselines

Starting from the 2022 autumn drilling campaign, the trial will see a group of 16 Norfolk farmers set a baseline for all crop-related emissions across a 160ha area.

Data will be collected to design a programme that seeks to reduce emissions, enhance soil health and protect water, while maintaining crop performance and grain quality.  

More than 1,000t of grain from spring and winter varieties will be dedicated to the trial and made into malt by Muntons before processing into Suntory’s beer and whisky from 2024.

The project will focus on a number of sustainable farming techniques including:

• Inter-row cropping
• Using less-invasive measures to prepare the land
• Optimising crop nitrogen use efficiency
• Growing cover crop mixes such as siletina oil radish, winter rye, winter oats, berseem clover and phacelia.

Cover crop © Tim Scrivener

Malting barley currently makes up 39% of the carbon footprint of a pint of beer, and 41% for whisky. The aim is to reduce this by 50% within the next five years.

Outcomes will be measured in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide sequestered by the soil and the reduction in the amount of nitrogen needed to be added to the crop to produce healthy yields.

This trial is part of a Suntory global programme with the aims of reducing carbon emissions and capturing carbon dioxide in the soil.

Industry views

Steve Cann, director at Future Food Solutions, explained that the opportunity to build field-based collaborations between global brands such as Suntory and UK barley farmers could bring added value to the UK’s food and drink sector.

“Focusing on improving efficiency, lowering carbon dioxide emissions, while also improving on-farm biodiversity benefits everyone, including the environment,” he says.

Josh Dewing, trading director of Dewing Grain, added: “We’re delighted to be taking part in this Suntory initiative to trial low-carbon farming. With the trial covering a huge amount of acreage, it has the potential to generate some really positive outcomes.”