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Farming sustainably

We see commercial and environmental sustainability as mutually reinforcing.

High quality farming and food production are integral to assuring the UK’s food security and to improving its self-sufficiency. We believe this must be done in an environmentally sustainable way - improving soils, eliminating pollution, enhancing biodiversity, conserving water, and recycling waste. We see it as the right thing to do to respond to the climate and nature emergencies, and as a way to improve the efficiency of farming and, ultimately, its economic sustainability.  

Carbon net zero

Our ambition is to be carbon net zero by 2030, contributing to Grosvenor’s global commitment to reduce emissions in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

Grosvenor Farms has the lowest carbon footprint for milk production of the farms profiled using Agrecalc - an independent carbon reporting calculator - that tracks the greenhouse gas emissions produced from farming activities. 

We are building on a strong track record, having achieved significant carbon reductions in our dairy activities since the upgrade of our farm in 2014 through the introduction of renewable energy from solar panels on our sheds, the recycling of sand for bedding, and the use of manures as organic fertilisers for growing our own forage.

Heating homes with cow manure

We are investing in innovative technologies like anaerobic digestion and a biogas upgrading facility to recycle cow manure, removing 7,000 tonnes of biogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere annually to reduce carbon emissions on the farm by approximately 2,500 tonnes CO2 equivalent per year and generating enough renewable energy to heat over 5,000 homes a year.

Having received planning permission for an anaerobic digestor at Grosvenor Farms we plan to begin construction in 2024 and for the site to be operational in 2025.

In addition to renewable energy, anaerobic digestion also improves air quality by reducing pollutants such as ammonia, removing methane, and lowering greenhouse gas emissions.

Enhancing and conserving our soils

We manage our soils carefully and are working to improve their health and quality.

We use conservation tillage – cultivating our soils as little as practically possible - to retain carbon, reduce erosion and runoff, and recover nitrogen, an essential nutrient for plant growth. The manure from our cows is recycled into organic fertilisers to replenish our soils. This means that more than 80% of our animal feed is grown without artificial fertilisers. Moreover, we aim to increasingly promote our farming culture over the use of chemicals to become input-independent - only using artificial fertilisers and pesticides as an exception.

Satellite GPS for mapping the land as well as guidance for our machinery, whether we’re drilling seeds, fertilising, or foraging and harvesting, enables greater accuracy – to within 1.5m – and the more efficient use of resources, matching inputs against soil types to improve outcomes, as well as better data capture. We also use GPS and satellite monitoring to enable precision soil sampling, helping us to better protect and restore our soils. 

These initiatives have resulted in an increase of soil carbon – an indicator of its health and quality – averaging 3% – more than 50% better than the UK average for cultivated soils.

Benefitting ecosystem services

We only grow food on land where it’s sustainable to do so and work to enhance the environment where it’s not. We choose to manage approximately 12% of our land to support greater biodiversity, restore natural habitats, while also improving the quality and quantity of water on the farm, reducing the risk of pollution downstream. 

In the last three years, we have planted more than 24,000 hedge plants, part of over 138km knitting their way through our farmland. Hedgerows act like wildlife corridors and support a wide range of pollinators including insects, birds, and mammals as well as plants.

We have restored 40 ponds, 17 of which were identified as high wildlife value by Natural England, supporting an important ecosystem, and planted more than 100,000 trees to help remove atmospheric carbon as they grow. 

We’ve already regenerated 72 hectares of floodplain into species-rich flood meadows and a further 52 hectares into wetland habitats– supporting increasingly rare flora and fauna such as critically endangered water vole as well as developing important breeding sites for red-listed species such as lapwing.

Every watercourse on the farm is buffered by up to 12m of species-rich grasses which help to slow the flow of surface runoff into nearby tributaries, reducing the risk of pollution from nutrients. 

Research from the Welsh Dee Trust, an environmental charity working to restore the River Dee catchment, found that water leaving Grosvenor Farms was better quality than when it entered, benefiting over three million people downstream for whom the river is a source of drinking water.

Our field margins are planted with a combination of woodland edge strips, pollen and nectar flower mixes, and winter bird foods to improve biodiversity. These strips connect 340 hectares of woodland habitats and help to create wildlife havens across the farm. 

Enhancements to habitats include 72ha of species-rich mixes for winter bird food, pollinators, and habitat for ground nesting birds, mammals, and insects.  Indicator species such as barn owls, brown hares, skylarks, lapwings, grey partridge, otters, and a host of invertebrates are monitored to measure the health of the farm’s ecosystems.


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