The Scotch whisky producer partners with Scottish barley growers, fostering sharing and collaboration to reduce its carbon footprint and help future-proof the industry
Chivas Brothers, the Pernod Ricard business dedicated to Scotch whisky and makers of Chivas Regal and Aberlour, announces a new agriculture programme supporting sustainable farming practices among Scottish barley growers represented by Bairds Malt and Scotgrain.
The pilot programme is a collaboration between Chivas Brothers, Bairds Malt, a malt producer for the brewing and distilling industry in the UK and internationally, and Scotgrain, the leading Agricultural Merchant covering the supply of arable inputs, agronomy, procurement & marketing of grains, oilseeds and pulses.
The partnership has been established to work collaboratively to facilitate and further the continuous improvement of farms and to help future-proof the livelihoods of farmers in regional Scottish communities. It is also intended to help secure the supply of barley – a critical ingredient in the whisky-making process – and reduce Chivas Brothers’ indirect carbon footprint.
Chivas Brothers is one of the biggest purchasers of malted barley in Scotland – the majority of which it sources from Bairds Malt – underscoring the significance of this project and Chivas Brothers’ responsibility to the industry to invest in sustainability trials, research and information transfer.
The pilot programme, named the ‘Dalmunach Growers Pilot Group’, will run over a three to five-year period and is initially comprised of eight farmers who have voluntarily elected to be a part of the first on-farm trial. In addition to carbon emissions reduction, trials will cover various approaches both to improvements in soil health – to create a more resilient growing process – and biodiversity, from fertiliser use and cover-cropping to wildflower strips.
