First Farmers Paid Through Cefetra’s Sustainable Farming Drive: A Milestone for Agriculture

17 September 2025

The first farmers to take part in a programme launched by agricultural market leader Cefetra to support the transition to more sustainable practices have been paid through the scheme.

Cefetra Ecosystem Services gives farmers financial incentives to cut their carbon footprint while offering customers grains and oilseeds with Science Based Targets initiative-eligible Scope 3 reductions, covering indirect emissions, achieved in the supply chain through regenerative farming.

The landowners who took part in the initial phase of the programme have received the first payments through the scheme, which was launched to tackle climate change in 2023 by Cefetra, a group of leading companies and brands in the animal nutrition and food and drink ingredient industries.

Cefetra Ecosystem Services is the first initiative to set high standards for climate positive supply chains and reward growers for adopting sustainable farming practices, acting as a bridge between customers tasked with sourcing sustainable suppliers and farmers wanting financial returns on sustainable farming practices.

Partnering with agronomy firm Soil Capital, it offers a toolkit of products and services based on each farm’s data plus courses of action.

Consumers get sustainable credentials, strengthening the appeal of Cefetra’s reduced impact grains to meet buyer environmental, social, and governance goals.

Cefetra Sustainability Specialist Agriculture Jason Hayward-Jones, who has led on the programme, said: “With recent hot summers and variable weather highlighting the need for incentives to encourage farmers to play their part, we are pleased to confirm that the first Cefetra Ecosystem Services cohort has been paid for its efforts.

“The second cohort is already under way, with 70 per cent more farmers than the first round. This group’s output encompasses 25 crops, with landowning covering 70 per cent more land, giving us confidence that the programme will continue growing in the future.”

Shona Robison, then Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Finance for Scotland, attended the Cefetra Ecosystem Services launch in November 2023 at Cefetra’s Ormiston Grain Storage Facility in Scotland, meeting with Cefetra Ltd CEO Andrew Mackay as well as Scottish farmers taking part in the scheme, independent agronomists, the Agricultural Industries Confederation, Cefetra customers and initiative partners.

The success of Cefetra Ecosystem Services comes as Cefetra continues to build on its strong heritage in agricultural trading, with the company maintaining its position as a leading player in the UK grain market.

With a national team of grain buyers, Cefetra has regional offices across England and Scotland and supplies customers in the animal nutrition, food and drink industries.

Founded in 1992, Cefetra Ltd has an annual turnover of over £1.5bn and has its headquarters in Glasgow.