Arla calls for collaboration with government to transform the UK’s food and farming system

Few sectors have felt the volatility of recent times more than the food and farming industry. Yet as the continued demand for nutritious food grows as we become a growing population, now more than ever British farmers need the support of government and the food industry to keep our shelves stocked and accelerate the transition to a more sustainable food system.  

Arla Foods, the UK’s biggest dairy cooperative owned by thousands of farmers across the country, is calling on the government to collaborate with the food industry and dairy farmers of Britain to support their sustainability journey.

Arla’s UK Managing Director, Ash Amirahmadi OBE, a keynote speaker at the NFU conference this week, comments, “There is no doubt that we are at a defining moment for British farmers. Our population is growing and we need to feed more people with nutritious food. Yet we are also in a climate crisis and the need to produce this food in the right way has never been more important. Farmers need the support and collaboration of the government and wider industry if we are going to accelerate our actions and produce sustainable food for the future of Britain.”

Arla has set out five key areas that are important for collaboration between the food industry and the government:

• Make it as easy as possible for farmers to access funding through the new ELMS regime for promoting sustainability on their farms, particularly when they are already part of respected standards schemes like Arlagarden

• Provide the same support in England and Wales as in Scotland for completing carbon footprints of farming activities

• Coordinate more closely with the devolved nations to make sure there is a consistent UK-wide approach to new regulations where possible, for example on packaging, to minimise costs and maintain consumer choice

• Make sure famers can access affordable grid connections without delay to facilitate greater use of ‘green’ electricity and on-farm renewables like solar, boosting the UK’s energy security and supporting Net Zero

• Work with us to attract more people into food and farming by making sure everyone understands that our sector these days is at the cutting edge when it comes to tech, data and sustainability

“The Dairy industry is perfectly placed to lead this agenda but it can’t be done alone. We need government consistency across the devolved nations, more support for farmers on decarbonisation and an attractive labour market that ensures the food industry is an attractive career of choice for the next generation. If we can take a combined effort to act now, British farmers will thrive in putting quality food on the table for years to come,” concludes Amirahmadi.

As part of its journey to accelerate sustainable food production, Arla has already launched a number of initiatives to support its farmer owners. In a milestone announcement, from 2023, the price farmers are paid for their milk will be linked to their actions on reducing emissions through the new sustainability incentive model.

This is linked to Arla’s climate check programme, which gives farmers an independent assessment of their own individual carbon footprint to help identify and plan where the best impact can be made in reducing their emissions.

Read more about Arla’s sustainability initiatives:  https://www.arlafoods.co.uk/sustainability/

ENDS