SOIL FOR LIFE
At James Wellbeloved, we’re beginning our regenerative agriculture journey through The Beloved Soil Initiative.
Research shows that 49% of dog parents don’t know that soil is critical for growing the healthy ingredients for our pets’ food (Censuswide, 2025). We want to help them see that the connection between soil and pets extends far beyond just them rolling in it.
That’s why we’ve launched The Beloved Soil Initiative. In collaboration with Agrii and Soil Association Exchange,we’ve launched a pilot project partnering with three farmers as they transition to regenerative farming practices as described below.
The Beloved Soil Initiative is James Wellbeloved’s regenerative agriculture pilot, providing three of the farmers producing our oats and barley with financial incentives, education programmes and tailored training to support these farmers as they transition to the regenerative farming practices set out below.
How it works?
Through the Beloved Soil Initiative, we’re working with three farmers via our partnership with Agrii and Soil Association Exchange to help them to make a positive difference across three key areas:
Capturing carbon in the soil
Healthy soil acts like a natural sponge and can soak up carbon, helping to reduce carbon in the atmosphere, while keeping land more fertile (Saving Our Soils).
By offering financial incentives and training via our partners we are supporting the selected farmers to:
· Plant cover crops to absorb carbon, helping to improve soil structure and prevent erosion.
· Use organic fertilisers and precision nutrient management to help reduce reliance on artificial inputs.
Minimising soil disturbance
Healthy soil is full of life and disturbing it too much can break down its natural structure, making it harder for crops to grow (Regenerative Food and Farming).
We are working with the selected farmers to:
· Minimise soil tillage, helping to reduce disruption to soil ecosystems (DEFRA).
· Support the switch to no or reduced-till farming, helping to keep soil intact and improve health and resilience over time (DEFRA).
Attracting more life to the land
Biodiversity is nature’s way of keeping things in harmony. An abundance of plants and wildlife is a good barometer of healthy land (WHO). We are encouraging our selected farmers to:
· Help diversify their crops, by growing a variety of plants that can contribute to improved soil fertility and health.
· Protect and restore hedgerows, which can provide shelter for wildlife and more soil stability.
By partnering with these three farmers to help support them to protect soil, we’re taking steps to promote regenerative farming practices supporting high quality, natural ingredients that are available now and for generations to come.
WHO'S INVOLVED
The Beloved Soil Initiative brings together a network of expert partners to help us to deliver James Wellbeloved’s regenerative agriculture pilot.
Our partners include:
· Three farmers – who will be doing the hard work on the farm, implementing regenerative agriculture practices in order to supply regeneratively farmed ingredients.
· Agrii – our trusted supplier, responsible for managing the relationship with farmers, assigning advisors and ensuring we are meeting the programme criteria and delivering premiums to reward farmers for their hard work.
· Soil Association Exchange – who are supporting to independently verifying the programme, offer farmers access to tools and resources to support with their regenerative agriculture transition and measure and monitor programme’s success.
HIGHLIGHTING THE SCALE OF THE ISSUE
As we provide three of the farmers that form part of our oat and barley supply chain with financial incentives and hands-on support to help make regenerative farming more viable for them, to help improve soil health, through the Beloved Soil Initiative, we’re bringing to life the urgent need to help support farmers to protect soil for future generations with a statement nobody can ignore – a fifteen-foot Mucky Pup Statue in the heart of London.
And Ellie isn’t just a joyful pup, she carries a powerful message… her size contextualizes the problem of soil degradation, meaning a deterioration in the soil’s quality and diminished capacity to support life such as plants, representing the amount of soil lost every second, worldwide.
FIND OUT MORE
Find out more about James Wellbeloved’s sustainability journey here and explore the ways in which Mars’ is supporting regenerative agriculture practices across the globe in the Sustainable in a Generation Plan, here .
