// Morrisons “For Farmers” scheme reaches £20m
// Sales of Morrisons “For Farmers” dairy and egg ranges help British farmers invest in sustainability and animal husbandry
// Scheme has led to increased woodland and insect habitats, more grazing and free roaming time, and new cow comfort initiatives
Morrisons customers have raised £20 million to support British farms and the countryside by choosing to pay a little more for products across the grocer’s For Farmers range.
The Big 4 retailer said the funds raised have been “ploughed back” into a range of farm schemes to improve biodiversity and further improve animal welfare, in a period when British farmers faced financial uncertainty due to Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.
In October 2015, Morrisons was the first British retailer to launch a dairy product where part of the purchase price went directly back to farmers.
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Milk For Farmers was the original product – at 10p-a-litre more than Morrisons’ own-label standard milk – with the full difference passed on to its dairy farmers.
The range now includes Cheese For Farmers, Cream For Farmers and Eggs For Farmers which similarly give customers the opportunity to pay a little more to support farmers directly.
Morrisons also said funds from the For Farmers range have helped the farmed and natural environment, citing its For Farmers ‘Chuckle Eggs’ range as an example.
Costing an extra 1p per egg more, the retailer said this has enabled farmers to invest money in planting woodland and creating insect-friendly wildflower habitats for their free-range chickens to roam around in.
To date 169 acres have been planted, Morrisons said, and this month a similar insect habitat scheme is being rolled out across all of the grocery giant’s milk farms.
Meanwhile, money from the Milk for Farmers range has enabled more investment in animal husbandry from the 140 dairy farmers aligned to Morrisons.
Farmers directly selling into the Morrisons Milk For Farmers range grazed their cows for an average of 224 days last year – over a hundred more days than are required.
Unlike other supermarkets, Morrisons deals directly with the farmers who stock its shelves – around 3000 of them – rather than with wholesalers.
“Our farmers continue to face some uncertainty due to the impact of Brexit and the pandemic,” Morrisons head of agriculture Sophie Throup said.
“So we are pleased to have passed on £20 million from our For Farmers range to help fund initiatives which may otherwise have suffered from under-investment.
“It’s great to see many customers want to pay more to support British farmers – and want to buy dairy products from cows that have been let out to graze and eggs from free range hens who can roam in enriched woodland and grassland areas.”
Meanwhile, Morrisons has already embarked on a programme to be completely supplied by net zero carbon British farms by 2030, five years ahead of the market.
Over the next nine years, the grocery is set to work with its 3000 farmers and growers to produce affordable net zero carbon meat, poultry, fruit and vegetables.
Morrisons will also work with universities, farming and countryside organisations and carbon experts as part of the programme.
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