Morrisons has partnered with leader in land management solutions, Downforce Technologies, to model soil health and calculate new emissions across five pilot farms.
Downforce Technologies is providing intelligence across the grocer’s five “Blueprint Farms” in the UK to assess the soil carbon and biodiversity tends.
Morrisons will receive insights to optimise sustainable farming practices, which will help to reach its target of becoming the first UK supermarket to be directly supplied by net zero carbon British farms by 2030.
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With Downforce Technologies, Morrisons has a high-resolution view of the carbon profile of each site in Northamptonshire, Wales, Cumbria, Scotland and Yorkshire.
The data can inform and monitor strategies, such as changing tilling practices, adopting crop rotations or promoting agroforestry.
Morrisons technical and sustainability director, Sophie Throup, said: “Reaching net zero is an ambitious goal and one we need to deliver by working to improve soils, biodiversity and landscapes.
“One of our mantras for this project is ‘seeing is believing’ and Downforce Technologies will be crucial here by helping us measure carbon sinks and prove the success of our Blueprint Farms.”
Downforce Technologies CEO, Josephine Wapakabulo, added that Morrisons “is truly leading the way for more sustainable supermarkets in the UK”.
“The platform models how close each farm is to achieving net zero and provides Morrisons and its partners with the data needed to instigate and maintain sustainable approaches to land management,” Wapakabulo concluded.
