Cheese maker to give eco dairies financial incentive
THE UK’s largest independent cheese producer has announced it will financially reward its milk suppliers for adopting sustainable farming practices, as part of a new scheme.
Somerset-based Wyke Farms, whose products are consumed in around 165 countries globally, has introduced a new incentive programme as part of wider efforts to achieve net-positive carbon emissions in farming.
The family-run business, which has been making cheddar in the Mendip Hills since 1861, said the idea is to incentivise farming practices in five areas:
■ Feed management
■ Soil and land management
■ Manure management
■ Herd management
■ Energy management.
Suppliers can earn an extra 0.2 pence per litre (ppl) of milk for each area that meets its criteria, meaning an additional 1ppl if addressing all five.
Wyke Farms said the sustainability bonus would be built into the headline price paid to farmers. It added that its new ‘five pillar’ scheme would replace the previous Wyke Sustainability bonus of 0.2ppl for any milk supplier that adopted sustainability into their working practice.
The company also said it would be co-funding projects with farmers that deliver environmental benefits, such as energy management surveys with plans and soil sampling.
Wyke Farms, which sources all its electricity and gas from both solar and biogas generated from the farm and dairy waste by its own anaerobic digester (AD) plant, said soil health was “critical” to capturing carbon and securing a net-zero future for farming.
Richard Clothier, Wyke Farms managing director, said: “Our industry is facing an existential threat and we have to change. We are on a journey together, together we will improve our knowledge base and strive to be better environmentalists.
“The financial incentive is an important part of the project, but equally important is the knowledge share and building knowledge of environmental best practices with suppliers. We are identifying best practice beacon farmers in each of the pillars who demonstrate what ‘good’ looks like, so this knowledge can be shared and the industry can move forward.”
In February, Wyke Farms reported a record £107 million turnover in the last financial year, driven by a 20% rise in exports to the EU and the rest of the world.
The company opened a huge new £3.5 million distribution hub in Wincanton earlier this year. In addition to more of its own cheddar stock, the business confirmed the facility would accommodate products from smaller South West cheesemakers to help them export to the EU, amid rising costs and more complex regulations.