The role of food businesses in agricultural supply chains

Map of Ag, European Food and Farming Partnerships (EFFP) and the Allerton Project will be presenting in the Kellogg’s sponsored Soils Tent for a session that is focused on sustainable food production at Groundswell, Regenerative Agriculture Show and Conference on 23-24th June 2021.

Clive Blacker, Head of Arable Produce and Hugh Martineau, Head of Sustainability at Map of Ag will join Duncan Rawson, Partner at EFFP, Phil Jarvis, Head of Farming at the Allerton Project, and Dave Fitzgerald, Head of Responsible Sourcing Europe at Kellogg to discuss the role of food companies in the agricultural supply chains, and to showcase on-going trials to increase productivity and improve environmental outcomes.

The session will introduce the Kellogg’s Origins programme and set out why it is so important for food businesses such as Kellogg’s to actively engage with their suppliers. And then with a focus on Nitrogen use efficiency, the largest carbon liability for cereal crops, the session will go on to cover the framework developed by Map of Ag to benchmark and improve nitrogen use efficiency across a group of Origin’s farmers, before moving onto the Allerton Project and their work with Kellogg’s exploring the benefits of field margins as part of an integrated pest management approach.

Working together as part of the Origins project, the team are able to bring together the technical, data, and sustainability knowhow of Map of Ag, with the supply chain expertise of EFFP, and environmental capability of the Allerton Project, to challenge the boundaries of thinking, to improve processes throughout the supply chain and positively impact farmer livelihoods.

The Groundswell event will be held at Lannock Manor Farm, Hertfordshire on 23rd – 24th June 2021 providing a forum for farmers and anyone interested in food production or the environment to learn about the theory and practical applications of Conservation Agriculture or regenerative systems. Tickets can be purchased from groundswellag.com

The Speakers

Duncan Rawson

Duncan Rawson is a partner at European Food and Farming Partnerships (EFFP) working with food businesses across Europe helping them to reconnect back to the roots of food production – introducing sustainability programmes that deliver practical benefits to their farmer suppliers, as well as meeting their own sustainability targets.

With a background in farm management, and as a qualified agronomist Duncan has been able to put together innovative initiatives with a long-term focus. He was instrumental in developing the Kellogg’s Origins Programme 8 years ago and has been managing it since. Duncan is also Chairman of Evolution Farming, a progressive and rapidly expanding dairy farming business.

Clive Blacker

Clive Blacker has been involved with Precision Agriculture for over 22 years and was one of the pioneers of precision farming technology in the country. After adopting Precision Farming and using the technologies on his home farm in 1998 he now provides, technologies, solutions and data insight to farmers and agribusiness wanting to get more from their soil, equipment, data and protect the environment.

He continues to challenge the boundaries of technology to connect, inform and transform data to increase productivity and profitability of farmers globally. After successfully growing the first crop in the world totally robotically (The Hands Free Hectare) with Precision Decisions, he continues to push innovation to benefit the industry.

Hugh Martineau

Hugh Martineau is Head of Sustainability at Map of Ag. He has led and delivered research projects, working with government departments and private-sector clients to review, analyse and develop strategies to measure and reduce environmental impacts in farming systems.

A major focus area has been in relation to climate change mitigation; developing measuring and monitoring programmes for greenhouse gas emission/removals and assessing the impacts of actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in agriculture. This has included assessment of ‘net zero’ emissions strategies.

 

Dave Fitzgerald

Dave Fitzgerald leads European Responsible Sourcing for Kellogg. He has worked for over 20 years in the food and beverage sector including 15 years with a major drinks multinational and more recently for 4 years with a dairy cooperative as Group Head of Sustainability. In his current role Dave works with Kellogg’s suppliers to ensure that the ingredients, packaging materials and services they supply are sustainably produced and delivered. This includes leading the Origins Program™ where Kellogg invests in sustainable agriculture projects with growers and includes a wheat project in the UK and a rice project in Spain.

 

Phil Jarvis

Phil is Head of Farming, Training and Partnerships at the GWCT Allerton Project. The farm based in Leicestershire has, until recently, been in an 800 hectare, arable and livestock joint venture. The demonstration farm has been extremely influential in feeding into UK landscape policy and is involved in many National and European collaborations. Carbon and biodiversity form the cornerstones of a climate friendly approach to land management. Phil has an interest in streamlining policy and research into practical effective applications for farmers and land managers.

Phil is the current Chair of the Voluntary Initiative, an industry led organization promoting the responsible use of plant protection products through the adoption of an IPM-based approach to deliver responsible protection of environmental resources and sustainable food production. Phil is a member of the National Farmers Union, Environmental Forum and a former Chair.

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