Rochelle Toplensky writes in The Wall Street Journal about corporations who are supporting sustainable agriculture.
- Governments and major corporations are taking steps to accelerate adoption of regenerative agricultural methods like cover cropping, reduced tilling, and agroforestry, which can improve soil health, biodiversity, climate resilience and farm economics after an initial transition period.
- Barriers to wider adoption include economic risk for farmers during the 3-5 year transition, need for technical assistance, misaligned subsidies incentivizing unsustainable practices, and cultural resistance to new methods that can make fields appear “untidy.”
- Companies like Mars, Diageo, McCain, PepsiCo and Cargill have launched pilot programs, financial incentives, field days and partnerships to educate farmers and de-risk adoption of regenerative practices across their supply chains to meet sustainability goals.
“Other methods are quite new. McCarty’s farm reduces water consumption by using soil-moisture probes and smart cow-cooling technologies and ups energy efficiency with electric tractors, LED lighting and variable speed motors. The longer-term, direct supply relationship with Danone has really changed the trajectory of his family’s farm, he said.”
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The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
