Drinks giant Diageo – one of the major end-users of Scottish grain- has announced a regenerative agriculture programme to encourage growers to adopt sustainable farming practices.

The initiative, which follows on from a similar project launched last year in Ireland for growers supplying grain for brewing Guinness, will focus on reducing the carbon emissions of growing wheat and barley used in the production of Scotland’s leading export, whisky.

The latest project is being run by the company in partnership with SAC Consulting and Scottish Agronomy. 20 farms have already been recruited for the project and together they will provide the main technical and agronomic inputs to the programme.

Diageo said that the farms in the country’s main cereal-sourcing regions will form three clusters: Aberdeenshire (Northern Cluster); Fife and Angus (Central Cluster); East Lothian and Scottish Borders (Southern Cluster).

At each farm, the programme will complete a whole farm carbon baselining exercise using Agricalc, and will also look at approximately four fields in more detail at each farm. This autumn/winter, soil carbon specialists, Agricarbon will conduct a detailed soil analysis (coring) to establish soil carbon baselines and James Hutton Limited will baseline soil physical, chemical and biological parameters.

“As the participating farms are at different stages of their Regenerative Agriculture journey, the results will allow for comparison between farming systems and regions,” said, Diageo’s Global Head of Regenerative Agriculture, Vanessa Maire.

“In Scotland, we recognise that a lot of farmers are already making significant efforts in this space and the programme will look to help them develop the evidence around what they are already doing through a data-driven and scientific approach. The farmers will work closely with the programme’s technical partners, share learnings, and together advance locally suitable regenerative agricultural interventions.”

Ms Maire stressed that Diageo’s approach would be adapted to the specific local conditions, recognising the differences in soil type, climate and crop rotations on different farms:

“Diageo are interested in how regenerative agriculture can benefit farms and provide long-term prosperity by reducing carbon intensity, improving water quality and biodiversity.”

While the earlier Irish project found that almost three-quarters of the grain’s carbon footprint came from the use of nitrogen fertiliser, detailed analysis of GHG footprinting and soil analysis will tell if the same holds true for Scottish barley.

“The programme will help build resilience across their farming systems and ensure long-term availability of quality barley and wheat by using regenerative techniques. The growers will also receive technical advice on how to improve the carbon and overall environmental performance of their farms.

“As the programme evolves we will look to explore how best to support farmers in trialling more innovative interventions.”

The programme will also contribute towards Diageo’s own green credentials as part of its ten-year ESG action plan - as scope 3 emissions (those that it is indirectly responsible for up and down the supply chain) are increasingly being scrutinised and agriculture currently accounts for one-third of the total in this area.