Frontier Agriculture and the UK biscuit and confectionary maker pladis are working together to incentivise growers to move to more regenerative and sustainable farming practices. Frontier believes that private sector schemes have a fundamental part to play in the longevity of sustainable food production.
The pladis group, which owns brands such as Jacob’s, McVitie’s and Carr’s biscuits and snacks, has supported UK wheat growers for the last decade through its Back to Farm wheat programme.
The collaboration with Frontier is in addition to pladis’ current programme. The first year will see over 4,000 hectares of land farmed using sustainable practices, with the potential to produce 36,000 tonnes of grain at average yields. This would be enough for the entire annual UK production of McVitie’s Original Digestives – over 50 million packets of biscuits. In the longer term, the partners aim to produce enough wheat through the scheme to make all of the McVitie’s range.
Participating growers will benefit from technical expertise from Frontier’s sustainable crop production team. This includes the support to adopt more practices focused on soil health, biodiversity and nutrient management. The compay says the choice of actions within the programme is designed to be broad enough to ensure the growers can adapt their crop production programmes to suit the natural conditions of their own farming environment, ensuring they have the flexibility to do what is best for their business and overall land management goals.
Frontier says schemes like that from pladis are important in connecting the supply chain and rewarding growers for their good work – helping all parties meet their sustainability targets while ensuring long-term, quality food production. It states that private sector schemes have a fundamental part to play in the longevity of sustainable food production, with Frontier’s position in the arable supply chain allowing it to support farmers to make the most of privately funded schemes.
“We’ve been looking at sustainable farming methods for a while, as many farmers have. This programme gives us the confidence to expand our activity,” says Frontier sustainability manager Jim Knightbraid. “For the farmers we work with, it’s also about de-risking crop production and improving the resilience of their farming systems to safeguard productivity and profitability. All of that is vital if we are to secure the future of farming and sustainable food production. Support from businesses like pladis to help achieve this is hugely welcomed.
“We’re delighted to be working with pladis and McVitie’s to expand their Back to Farm programme, working with our network of UK growers to implement more sustainable and regenerative farming practices. Through this programme we can track, evidence and report on the positive environmental outcomes of farm practices, whilst rewarding farmers for their role in achieving these outcomes,” Mr Knightbraid concludes.
Jennifer Parise, director of procurement and sustainability for pladis UK&I adds: “Building a sustainable future is a shared responsibility for us all. We know growers are looking at regenerative farming, but it’s a big ask for them to transition without additional support, especially given ongoing reductions in subsidies for farmers.
“By expanding our successful Back to Farm programme, we hope that we’ll be able to continue building partnerships with growers, to better understand and help them address the challenges they face, as we all seek to make food production more sustainable.”