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Supporting the transition to low carbon farming
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M&S backs British farming.
We know our customers want to know where their food comes from and are increasingly concerned around ethical sourcing and the sustainability of food. That’s why Marks & Spencer works with more than 7,000 farmers across the UK that we know and trust to source our products with the utmost care.
When it comes to supporting British farming, our commitment has always been based on the great work being done every day on farms across the country – not just in terms of high production standards, but also in providing wildlife habitats, looking after soil health, and ensuring the land is managed for the benefit of future generations.
To support this further, M&S has started a new five year 'Farming with Nature' collaborative programme to help its Select Farmers become more resilient to the biggest environmental challenges they face – spanning climate change, biodiversity, soil health and water usage.
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The production of safe, good quality, nutritious food is a vital role played by the agriculture industry and we are supporting our farmer suppliers through our Select Farms sourcing standards and activities to reduce their emissions while enhancing the environment and nature.
We support our farmers to enable them to grow low carbon, responsible food, use fewer pesticides, enhance their soil, protect natural resources and drive innovation.
In 2021, we introduced our biodiversity- focused Farming with Nature programme to more than 7,000 produce and livestock M&S Select Farms in the UK, aiming to help our farming base to become more resilient to the environmental challenges they face.
As part of this programme, we’ve set up a network of 19 Indicator and Innovation farms to trial and monitor new approaches to sustainable agriculture, communicating learnings with our wider farmer base.
During 2021, with the support of The Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) and Fera Science, we worked to create a tailored plan for each farm and completed baseline assessments for the whole network.
Here’s some of the work that’s been taking place across our supply base…
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Acoustic technology trial to monitor pollinators
With bees and other pollinators estimated to contribute approximately £690m to the UK economy each year, M&S has collaborated with Agrisound at its Indicator & Innovation farms, Plumford Farm Ltd in Kent and G’s Growers in Cambridgeshire, to trial acoustic sensor technology that aims to improve pollinator management as part of our Farming with Nature programme.
The specialist listening devices combine acoustic technology and environmental sensors to automatically detect and monitor the density of key pollinators, including bumblebees and honeybees, as well as the wider insect community remotely.
Habitat analysis on free-range poultry farm
Capestone Organic Poultry is one of the M&S Indicator Farms in the poultry sector – and they have been working with Farming and Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG) to look at their environmental impact and identify actions to further enhance the environment on their organic poultry farm.
Over the last 18 months an in-depth Habitat analysis has been carried out, starting with a baseline survey to understand the starting point for any improvements and to identify some of the actions that can be taken around the farm to enhance habitats and biodiversity.
Ideas under consideration include:
- increasing the floristic variety on semi-improved grassland to support butterflies, moths, bees and other pollinators.
- erecting nest boxes due to the lack of mature trees over some of the windswept areas of the farmland,
- varying the composition of wildlife cover crops to the benefit of songbirds
- ensure there are seed-bearing plants present over winter, the most crucial of periods for over-wintering birds.
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Potato grower studies soil health
M&S potato supplier, A H Worth, based near Holbeach in Lincolnshire, is one of our Indicator & Innovation farms and has been working alongside the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) on a project looking at regenerative agriculture and soil health.
The Indicator & Innovation project has been investigating the impact of cover crops and reduced cultivations on soil health and carbon sequestration, through detailed analysis of soil microbial activity and in particularly nematode ecosystems.