A DAIRY farmer from the Cirencester area has been chosen to take part in M&S's newest green initiative.

Austin Russell runs Church Farm in Barnsley alongside his wife, Eloise, and mother, Lesley, and supplies the supermarket with milk through Muller.

The farm covers 860-acres of the Cotswolds AONB, and is home to a herd of 240 pedigree Holstein Friesians. 

Church Farm is one of seven farming enterprises taking part in the supermarket's new Farm of the Future Programme which seeks ways to rapidly decarbonise and maximise wildlife and habitat creation. 

Mr Russell hopes that by participating in the programme the farm’s biodiversity and sustainability credentials can continue to improve, while helping the industry arrive at solutions to other current issues such as carbon, soils, and community engagement.

The dairy farmer said: “Our goal is to set up an accompanying micro-AD plant, which we can power with slurry to generate all the electricity the unit needs. 

"We are also choosing to bed our cows on sand to improve welfare, but we want to be able to reuse the sand and are keen to establish what this process would look like. 

"We hope that both features will ‘close the loop’ somewhat to make it a truly sustainable unit.

"Additionally, we have implemented a no-till system which has increased the resilience of soils and increased the presence of beneficial fungi and bacteria within them. 

"This has led to significant increases in yields in recent years.”

Steve McLean, head of agriculture and fisheries at M&S Food, said: “As part of our sustainability action plan, we have committed to reducing our carbon footprint to net zero by 2040. 

"Over 70 per cent of the emissions of our food business come from primary agriculture, particularly the livestock and ruminant sectors, so it is clear this needs real focus. 

“We recognise the challenges this brings on farm, and the need to continue to produce affordable, high-quality food from sustainable supply chain relationships. 

"We are committed to helping our farmers navigate these challenges, and the findings from this new initiative will be shared across our whole supply base and the wider industry to help drive real change."