Supporting British Farming
Find out more about how we're helping farmers and growers in our supply base meet our M&S Select Farm Sourcing Standards and address the challenges ahead
- As part of the programme, we have established 17 Indicator and Innovation Farms across the UK, spanning fresh produce, dairy, beef, lamb, pork, turkey, chicken and eggs. The farms will be supported by M&S-funded specialist industry partners from The Wildlife Trusts, the Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group (FWAG), the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust and FERA. The farms will be trialling new ways of farming in harmony with nature and measuring environmental improvements and benefits over time - including testing of novel measurements like E-DNA and remote-sensing approaches - to provide farmers with new insight into the biodiversity on their farms. Learnings from these farms will be shared through knowledge transfer activity and farm events with other M&S Select Farmers and the wider industry.
- As part of Farming with Nature, for livestock we are now collecting environmental outcome measures alongside our welfare measures, to measure progress and showcase the great work already being undertaken by British farmers.
- To support M&S produce growers in delivering the Farming with Nature modules developed in partnership with LEAF and other subject matter experts, we are funding a programme of support that FWAG and The Wildlife Trusts will deliver to growers; from annual grower group events, to farm visits and remote 121 support.
Building capacity throughout the M&S supply base and strengthening future skills in the agricultural industry through educational and engagement activities
Industry engagement is key and we actively engage with the main sector influencers and government (including devolved administrations) on sustainability and industry issues. We have a programme of meetings covering the farming unions, the sector and devolved levy bodies, the key welfare NGOs (RSPCA, CIWF & RSPB) and we meet regularly with scientists and researchers from around the world.
We also continually engage with the wider industry through direct contact and via support of industry initiatives. In any given year we attend a number of major regional agricultural shows, such as the Balmoral Show in Belfast, the Royal Highland Show in Edinburgh and the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show in Builth Wells. And we routinely support major industry events such as the Oxford Farming Conference and the National Farmers Union Conference.
We also update our M&S Select Farm Sourcing Standards regularly, incorporating new thinking into these updates and broadening the scope of what's covered to drive continuous improvement at farm level.
Finally, to raise the profile of our 'Farming with Nature' activity we also make use of strategic sponsorship opportunities. For example, we support the LEAF Open Farm Sunday programme and the Prince’s Countryside Fund.
Monitoring and measuring our performance through sustainability outcome measures
We have developed specific sustainability measures for chicken, turkey, laying hens, pigs, dairy, beef and lamb, salmon, trout, seabass/bream and shrimp including welfare and environmental measures. These have been rolled out across our supply base and, where appropriate, we are evolving automated methods of data capture to ensure robust and independent outcome measure recording over time.
On Fresh Produce, our Farming with Nature modules are being developed with LEAF and other subject matter experts with an outcome-based approach; which is the direction that the LEAF Marque standard is taking in its development too.