The Royal Countryside Fund receives renewed funding from McDonald’s to support British farmers

As part of the new agreement, McDonald’s will support the charity to provide free-to-access programmes for family farmers for the first year of a new three-year partnership. The funding renewal was announced at a regenerative farming event, held at Somerset House, and attended by McDonald’s and a number of Herefordshire farmers.

This new funding will allow the RCF to continue its popular ‘Savings in Soil’ programme for a further year. To date, the RCF’s Savings in Soil programme has supported over 120 family farms across England and Wales to better understand their soil health and how healthy soil can benefit both the environment and the resilience of their business. Over 78% of attending farmers are now making changes to their soil management as a result of the workshop, impacting thousands of hectares of UK farmland.

At the event the RCF, in partnership with McDonald’s, also unveiled a new publication Savings in Soil – a practical guide to soil health for farmers – and showed a short film on the importance of soil health, filmed with farmers from across England who have benefited from the RCF’s programme.

Keith Halstead, Executive Director, The Royal Countryside Fund, said: “At The Royal Countryside Fund, we want to see a thriving countryside, and productive farms that work in harmony with nature. Our Savings in Soil programme, run with the valuable support of McDonald’s, has already helped farmers to measure and monitor the health of their soil, and improve its quality, which is a vital part of this work.

“As family farms face increasing pressures from climate change, extreme weather, and the unrelenting costs of fertiliser, fuel and feed, it has never been more important to find ways to cut input costs and protect the longevity of our soils. By extending our Savings in Soil programme, we want to increase the resilience of UK farms and invest in the future of farming for generations to come.”

Alistair Macrow, Chief Executive Officer, McDonald’s UK and Ireland, said: “Sustainability is front of mind at McDonald’s, which is why we have supported the Royal Countryside Fund’s Savings in Soil programme for the last three years to help farmers deliver environmental benefits, protect their farms from extreme weather, and maintain their soil for generations to come. Soil is at the heart of so much of what farmers do and we know how important good soil health is to the farmers we work with.

“As part of our sustainability strategy, Plan for Change, we have committed to becoming net-zero carbon – including across our supply chain – by 2040. We’re proud to work with the Royal Countryside Fund to provide farmers with the support they need to remain resilient to the evolving challenges they face.”

McDonald’s is committed to supporting British farmers as part of its global involvement with the Sustainable Markets Initiative, a private sector organisation founded by HM King Charles III. The SMI’s Agribusiness Taskforce, of which McDonald’s is a proud member, aims to accelerate the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices and address climate change.