Waitrose has partnered with digital mapping tool Land App, in a bid support sustainable farming and encourage farmers to adopt nature friendly practises.

Using Land App’s technology, the premium grocer will be able to gather real-time data on the environmental health of its farm, measuring progress on over 60 key sustainability metrics. This will give Waitrose an indication of the current state of biodiversity in its supply chain.

Waitrose executive director James Bailey said: “British farmers are the backbone of our food system, and this partnership with Land App is about supporting them to secure a sustainable future for their farms.

“This latest technology will provide us and our farmers with data that we can use, evaluate and act on to support the adoption of nature-friendly farming with real insights on what works and what doesn’t.”

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Among other features, Waitrose farmers will have access to detailed mapping, tailored action plans and real-time reporting from the app’s digital dashboards.

The partnership marks a key step in Waitrose’s Farming for Nature programme, which aims to aid British farmers move to nature friendly farming practises, and boost the financial resilience on farms, as well as tackling the effects of climate change.

Land App director of growth Dan Geerah added: “This partnership with Waitrose represents a significant leap toward the widespread adoption of regenerative practices. We’re excited and hopeful to see the positive impact of this project ripple across the farming community for years to come.”

“Building resilience and sustainability on farms is more crucial now than ever. It not only supports nature, reduces flooding, and mitigates the effects of climate change but also secures food production for future generations.”

It is not the first time the supermarket chain has invested in the development of sustainable farming, in particular regenerative agriculture.

Last year, senior agriculture manager Jake Pickering told Grocery Gazette regenerative farming will not impact consumer food prices and says there will “always be exceptional value” at Waitrose.

“It’s about delivering regenerative agriculture, and it doesn’t have to cost more money. We can deliver this while being the very best value in the market,” said Pickering.

“We’ve seen that already in many of the things we’ve done across animal welfare. We’ve done that without significantly increasing the cost, so we know it can be done, and we would do the same in terms of farming in harmony with nature.”