Tesco will reward British farmers across its pig, lamb, beef and dairy sustainable farming groups as part of an incentive to achieve environmental and animal welfare goals.
Producers will be rewarded for progress on sustainability metrics, with Tesco stating that more than 400 UK-based farmers would benefit from the incentive.
From September, up to 160 farmers in the Tesco Sustainable Lamb Group (TSLG) will benefit from bonus payments for the planting of herbal leys.
Tesco Sustainable Pig Group (TSPG) farmers are set to earn incentive payments across a number of metrics, including animal welfare improvements, biodiversity and soil health, and emissions reduction. The moves follow similar payments for farmers in the Tesco Sustainable Beef Group (TSBG).
Around 260 UK dairy farmers, which make up a part of Tesco’s Sustainable Dairy Group (TSDG) and who supply Tesco’s liquid milk through processor Müller UK, will earn up to an extra 2.5p per litre of milk if key targets on emissions reduction, animal health, feed conversion efficiency and genetic improvements are achieved, with the group also taking part in a baselining exercise over the next year to establish targets for soil, water and biodiversity improvements.
The retailer said it was acting on farmer feedback it collected as part of its Greenprint for UK Farming Report, which set out a number of recommendations for Government and the industry to ensure a transition to a low carbon UK agriculture sector. Exploring new payment models and incentives was a key recommendation put forward by farmers.
“A key area identified by farmers was the introduction of incentive schemes to help achieve our shared sustainability goals.”
Ashwin Prasad, Tesco
Ashwin Prasad, Tesco UK CEO, said: “Earlier this year, as part of our farmer-led Greenprint for UK Farming Report, we published a set of recommendations for the Government and industry aimed at ensuring the UK agriculture sector is equipped to transition to a low carbon future.
“A key area identified by farmers was the introduction of incentive schemes to help achieve our shared sustainability goals. We’re pleased to be acting on these recommendations with the roll-out of sustainability-linked incentives for a number of our Sustainable Farming Groups. These incentives will play a crucial role in ensuring our farmers remain economically and environmentally sustainable for the long-term.”
