Tesco dairy farmers and WWF team up to tackle climate change and improve herd health
Tesco has teamed up with WWF to launch a new trial in which it offers UK dairy farmers subsidies that support growing feed more sustainably for their livestock.
The scheme has been created to help reduce the environmental impact of the average shopping basket.
Some 15 farmers in Tesco’s Sustainable Dairy Group have been given an 80% seed subsidy to plant a soil enriching grass mix of plants, legumes and herbs called herbal leys which is used as feed for dairy cows. The seed mix can help increase on-farm biodiversity, reduce carbon footprints, and improve soil and animal health.
As Tesco dairy farmers have reduced their carbon emissions by 6.5% since 2016, the supermarket has now introduced a new emissions reduction target with the aim of helping them to reduce their emissions by a further 10% by 2025. Plans to improve soil quality, water usage and biodiversity will also be implemented on each farm.
Tesco agriculture manager Tom Atkins said: “We want to ensure we’re doing all we can to continue to support our farmers and, in this critical decade for climate and nature, help make our dairy farms some of the most sustainable in the world. We will continue to work with our farmers to both reduce carbon emissions and continue to increase the amount of biodiversity on farm. We will also be working together on more innovative initiatives like our herbal leys project, which should bring huge benefits in terms of soil health and biodiversity.”
Tesco said the project could be opened up to more Tesco Sustainable Dairy Group farmers over the next two years
