McCain’s third Farm of the Future, a 202-hectare working blueprint for regenerative agriculture, will be opened in North Yorkshire this year.

In partnership with the University of Leeds, this is McCain’s third commercial-scale research and innovation site to trial regenerative agriculture practices, marking a major milestone in the company’s efforts to advance future-focused farming methods. The farm will now join McCain’s existing Farms of the Future in its hometown of Florenceville, New Brunswick, Canada, and Lichtenburg, South Africa.

The Farm of the Future programme is designed to help accelerate the adoption of regenerative practices in real-world farming conditions. McCain’s recent Farmdex research underscores the need for action, with many British farmers are concerned about the future of UK farming (77 per cent agree that sustainable practices are essential).

The new farm will be the most advanced Farm of the Future to date, adopting practices such as controlled traffic farming, year-round soil cover, and biodiversity building. It will also be the first Farm of the Future location to pilot a circular nutrient system, developed in partnership with the University of Leeds National Pig Centre, using pig manure to enrich soils, reduce waste, and demonstrate how mixed farming systems aim to improve soil health and biodiversity while helping to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Like the Canadian and South African Farms of the Future, these results will be published annually in dedicated reports, ensuring transparency and global knowledge-sharing. Insights from the UK farm will feed directly into McCain’s global network of 4,400 farmers, supporting wider adoption of regenerative agricultural practices worldwide.

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