14 Nov The launch of our new ground-breaking initiative
The launch of our new ground-breaking initiative
14th November 2023
It’s been a busy few months in planning and preparation, but finally, it’s here. The launch event for our ‘groundbreaking’ new initiative to enable farmers to see a financial return for their sustainable practices was launched on Wednesday 8th November at our Ormiston Grain Store.
The event, attended by the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance for Scotland – Shona Robison, introduced the initiative – a new partnership with Soil Capital and the newly formed Cefetra Ecosystem Services. Cefetra Ltd CEO Andrew Mackay said: “As a trusted industry partner, Cefetra is uniquely placed to make sustainability work for all by acting as the bridge between farmers and customers seeking consistent supplies of high-quality low-carbon grains.
It’s the first initiative of its kind from within the UK and Ireland agricultural supply chain. It sets high standards for climate-positive supply chains and reward growers for adopting sustainable farming practices. The programme for UK and Irish growers is already available for 2024 crops.
Following a presentation of the service and a talk from the Deputy First Minister, she was taken on a short tour of the facilities including inside one of the 11 grain stores at the site and a visit to the lab, where the high-level testing of grain quality and provenance is carried out for up to 1,500 tonnes of grain per day during harvest. The Deputy First Minister commented “The Scottish Government welcomes the launch of the Cefetra Ecosystems Services initiative to help more farmers unlock the financial benefits of sustainable practices. We want Scotland to become a global leader in regenerative agriculture so that everyone working in the sector can play an important role in reducing emissions and tackling climate change.
With the Minister’s visit concluded, the Cefetra team then hosted a Q & A session with an expert from the Soil Capital team, Andrew Voysey and Uwe Schroeder from Cefetra Group, Cefetra Ecosystem Services Sustainability Specialist – Jason Hayward-Jones and Thomas Todd, farmer and Cefetra Grain customer, who is already embracing regenerative practices.
The session saw a lively debate discussing the initiative and questions from the farmers in the audience regarding the implementation of the programme, platform interaction, insetting and the benefits of regenerative agriculture. The debate was followed by a further tour for all guests of the facilities and networking over lunch drew a close to the day.
The event was a resounding success with great feedback from the farmers and the perfect platform to support the various roadshows scheduled for the rest of the year which will see the team travel the country presenting the programme and onboarding new farmers, both in the UK and overseas where Cefetra will be the bridge between climate positive activities on farm and consumers for agricultural commodities and specialities.
With a need to respond to the challenges of environmental change, Cefetra Ecosystem Services can offer a package to give farmers the means and financial benefits of implementing climate-positive agricultural practices. The longer-term goal is to offer valuable inputs as well as knowledge-sharing opportunities.
For more information about the international farming programme, please visit https://cefetra.co.uk/ecosystem-services/
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