Agrii, in partnership with Viterra and Whitworths, has developed a new sustainable wheat programme for harvest 2025. The programme aims to quantify the emissions associated with growing a wheat crop, with the ambition to reduce emissions per tonne in the future.
Farmers on this programme will be rewarded a guaranteed premium of £5/t for inputting field data into Contour and the Cool Farm Tool, with the ability to increase to £10/t by adopting optional practices which can help further reduce emissions. Farmers must use Agrii’s Contour platform to be eligible for this programme.
Optional practices are encouraged and rewarded according to their environmental impact and complexity to adopt. This is reflected through a points-based system, where actions are aligned with the aims of the sustainable farming incentive.
Given that tillage, soil health, and nutrition are the main factors influencing crop emissions, the programme focuses on rewarding against these categories. For example, more points are allocated for a crop established by no-till than by deep cultivation, and similarly with drilling a diverse cover crop mixture versus none at all. Using this points-based system means farmers have the flexibility to work this programme around the most effective system for their farm.
The same approach has been used to improve nutrition efficiency. The programme provides a list of practices for a grower to choose from. The more practices they adopt, the more points they earn. At the end of the year, those with more points can earn up to £10/t (including the guaranteed £5/t). Over time, we expect that the emissions per tonne of wheat will be reduced by adopting these practices. Given the desire to monitor this trend, farmers are expected to engage in the programme for a minimum of 3 years, with the ability to alter their hectarage annually.
We see these types of programmes playing an important role in future farm income, where benefits can be stacked alongside each other to help improve farm resilience. We hope to continue providing more opportunities like this through our close relationships with Viterra and GB Seeds.
Please speak to your Agrii agronomist if you are interested in signing up for Harvest 2025.
Find your local agronomist here
