Morrisons has announced it will collaborate with The Institute for Agriculture and Horticulture (TIAH) to support its farmers with skills and net zero goals.
The retailer will trial the skills organisation's digital platform, which is part-funded by Defra, to help address the skills gaps in agriculture.
TIAH, together with the School of Sustainable Food & Farming at Harper Adams University, has developed four modules offering farmers a step-by-step approach to learning the key information.
The topics will cover calving best practice; common beef disease; measuring and improving growth; and efficient forage.
The news comes after Morrisons, McDonald’s and the NFU founded the School of Sustainable Food & Farming in 2022 to support farmers to produce food more sustainably.
The school has already welcomed more than 100 farmers to Morrisons stores where events have encouraged networking and helped provide farmers with a better understanding of the wider supply chain and sustainability.
A further calendar of events is planned for the upcoming months, the supermarket chain confirmed.
Stephen Jacob, chief executive of TIAH, said: “We are pleased to be working with Morrisons to develop this unique programme to support livestock farmers with their sustainability goals.
"We will work to ensure this trial will enable us to learn about the way in which farmers want to access and action learning for impact on their farms.”
Morrisons has a commitment to introducing sustainable products across all areas of its business through lower emissions sourcing and reducing the amount of plastic used.
It forms part of the retailer's ambition to be completely supplied by net zero carbon British farms by 2030. Last year, it became the first supermarket to introduce its own carbon neutral egg.
Sophie Throup, technical director at Myton Food Group for Morrisons, said: "We’re proud to be the first retailer to partner with TIAH to support our livestock farmers in reducing their environmental impact.
"We are looking forward to testing and trialling new practices with 20 of our farmers to help us develop the next phase of our march towards net zero by 2030.
"Better information leads to better practices and this new partnership will help deliver that.”
