Marks & Spencer (M&S), which sources from more than 10,000 British farms, announced new commitments to British producers, including a £7m investment in sustainability and innovation over the next five years, on top of £7m already provided in its ‘Farming for the Future’ programme.
It also called on the government to set legally binding targets to increase the proportion of British food eaten in Britain.
The £7m investment includes £2.5 million available in grants over five years through the Plan A Accelerator Fund to support innovation projects tackling agricultural emissions.
Current projects include extending the season of British Tenderstem broccoli, precision pollination on strawberries, net zero wheat, and methane measurement in cattle. Previous projects include launching Polytag on milk and autonomously farming parsnips.
A spokesperson told AgTechNavigator: “Our new Farming for the Future programme provides a diverse range of farming systems across 50 farms across the country with a fully funded package of environmental monitoring, expert advice, and practical support.”
Farmers will receive personalised soil, biodiversity, and carbon assessments, as well as firsthand training and digital tools to evaluate, monitor and implement regenerative practices, such as planting cover crops and herbal leys, minimum or no tilling and planting trees or hedgerows.
“This practical support and insight will help better look after soils, protect nature, and reduce the farm’s carbon footprint to improve resilience while delivering the best quality British food,” they said.
Key elements of M&S’s ‘Plan A for Farming’ :
- Use of autonomous technology such as drones and robots for planting, weeding, and monitoring crops, which reduces reliance on heavy machinery and cuts carbon emissions significantly.
- Adoption of minimal tillage practices to keep carbon sequestered in the soil.
- Use of green fertilisers that convert nitrogen dioxide into plant-usable nitrogen during photosynthesis.
- Environmental monitoring and digital tools to help farms implement regenerative practices, improve resilience, and reduce carbon footprints.
- AI-powered monitoring, including pollinator activity sensors (e.g., AgriSound technology) and methane tracking in cattle, supporting biodiversity and emission reductions.
- The programme supports trials of new farming methods that enhance biodiversity on farms and improve environmental performance.
- It includes initiatives for training and apprenticeships to develop more technically skilled farmers for sustainable agriculture.
- M&S’s strategy integrates animal welfare, regenerative farming, and AI-led monitoring systems in new industry standards for beef and milk products.
Farmer headwinds ‘coming from all fronts’
British farmers are “increasingly fed up”, said Alex Freudmann, head of M&S Food, at the launch of the new programme. He noted the headwinds facing them “are coming from all directions”.
“Spring 2025 was the driest of the century. Winter 2023 was the second-wettest on record,” he said. “And global instability is spiking energy, fertiliser and feed prices… And it feels to our farmers like the government is making things harder.”
He said there was a “succession problem”, with almost one in three farmers aged over 65.
More tech needed for more farmers
It is important to have both more farmer numbers and more technology made available to them to support sustainable farming practices, said the spokesperson.
“It’s about creating an environment that creates the conditions for the farming sector to thrive. That includes investment in technology and innovation, as well as attracting more people to the workforce, including young people looking at future careers.
“For M&S it’s important that farmers are supported to produce quality food and manage the countryside, and in a way that makes the industry attractive to new entrants and the next generation.”
