Morrisons has announced a new team of experts who will provide specialist woodland advice to its 3,000 farmer suppliers.
The advisors will offer advice to farmers on a case-by-case basis and will work with farmers to create individual woodland planting and management plans.
They will identify which trees are best in which place, how tree planting can complement farming business activity and what environmental benefit they will bring.
They will also advise how to unlock government and grant funding to finance the planting of trees, as well as how to secure income from their projects.
The initiative forms part of Morrisons plan to become supplied by net zero UK farms by 2030 and net zero for emissions by 2040.
Farmers at the retailer's 50 net zero blueprint farms will be the first to be offered access to the scheme, which will be rolled out more widely in the coming months.
Sophie Throup, head of agriculture at Morrisons, said: "Many farmers, while recognising the value of trees in their landscape, are worried that tree planting initiatives will mean that valuable land is taken from food production - even when funded by the government.
"We want to take this worry away and help farmers identify what trees work for them on their farm, in the right places and for the right reasons.”
New government targets have outlined that approximately 7,000 hectares of woodlands should be planted by 2024.
In 2019, Defra launched the Woodland Carbon Guarantee to boost tree-planting rates and create new woodland in return for payment.
The scheme offered £50 million to land managers who planted trees to sequester carbon and who could sell ‘woodland carbon units’ back to the government.
Support has also been offered by the England Woodland Creation Offer, along with grants from the Countryside Stewardship and the Woodland Trust.
