Red Tractor has unveiled a timetable to make its Greener Farms Commitment (GFC) available from April 2024.
The assurance body's new module offers farmers a single route to demonstrate the steps they are taking on the environment.
It is a voluntary addition which will operate very differently from its typical core standards.
The GFC will enable farmers to make commitments and track their own progress across five key areas for environmentally focused farming.
These include carbon foot printing; soil management; nutrient management; waste management; and biodiversity.
It will recognise other schemes or programmes such as the SFI and devolved government schemes, aiming to cut cost and complexity and make easy for farmers to complete.
And the GFC will have its own logo, enabling farmers to demonstrate their environmental credentials to consumers.
The assurance body has been working on the environment module since 2020.
Red Tractor CEO, Jim Moseley said the sector had a unique opportunity to make this common industry approach work.
He said: "We're providing the supply chain with a definitive timetable for making the Greener Farms Commitment available on 1 April next year.
"The initiative takes a new approach which will offer benefits to everyone. It gives Red Tractor farmers a new way of differentiating their product and a consistent framework to talk about their environmental credentials.
"The GFC is designed to protect farmers from future audit demands, costs and complexity. There is clear evidence from some agricultural sectors that alternative schemes have added cost, duplication and complexity for Red Tractor farmers."
From 1 April 2024, the scheme will be open to the supply chain across all sectors where members are already certified against Red Tractor's core standards.
However, the GFC is designed to be a different experience for farmers who choose to take part, as it will be administered by Red Tractor directly, rather than by appointed Certification Bodies.
Unlike core standards, the GFC does not require the same thing at every farm, but instead requires farmers to register a plan for progress that is unique to their circumstances.
Mr Moseley added: "For processors and packers, the common industry approach should reduce the need for a multitude of product lines to be segregated, which could be substantial if customers start to develop their own bespoke programmes.
"For retailers, out of home operators and brands, the GFC provides the evidence they need to show that their sourcing strategies are from farmers committed to looking after the environment."
Red Tractor is setting up a dedicated Development Advisory Panel (DAP) to oversee the detail, operation, and evolution of the GFC.
Their first task will be to give feedback on the technical content of the module before it is finalised and published.
