February 10, 2024
Spotlight Story
Spotlight – ESG Clarity takes a look at how we’re going to feed 10 billion people by 2050. Check out the story, here.
Industry Updates
Agribusiness giant Cargill is giving the University of Minnesota $2.5 million to study a pair of crops that could become transportation fuels of the future. The University of Minnesota said it will use the funds to research two novel oilseed crops known as winter camelina and domesticated winter pennycress. Oil from these two plants could be used to develop “low-carbon transportation fuels” and provide new revenue streams for farmers. The university said that the two crops’ oil could be used as a “drop-in replacement” for jet fuel and diesel. It could be used as food or animal feed, too. Cargill’s donation is specifically going to the school’s “Forever Green Initiative,” a program designed to identify and grow new forms of food, feed, and biomaterials. The Forever Green Initiative is now studying a portfolio of more than 15 perennial and winter-annual crops. [link]
A number of farmland transactions took place across the U.S. Midwest during 2023, with some of the more notable purchases taking place late in the year ranging from $8,800 per acre all the way up to an incredible $23,700 per acre. In Sioux City, Iowa, a 39.4 acre cropland farm sold for $23,700 per acre in November 2023. In Carroll County, Missouri, four different tracts of land totaling 692 acres sold between $8,800/acre to $20,000/acre during the same month. And in Illinois, multiple transactions of farmland ranged from $15,900/acre up to $22,700/acre during November, as well. [link]
The inaugural ReACH Innovation Summit, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at fostering innovation in regenerative agriculture, was held on February 6, 2024, in St. Louis, Missouri. Co-hosted by BioSTL and Bayer, the summit was part of the concerted efforts by the Heartland Regenerative Agri-Food Alliance (ReACH) to address formidable challenges such as diminishing arable land, water, and energy resources. ReACH is a powerful coalition that includes prominent companies and producers such as AB Inbev, ADM, Bayer, Bunge, and Burger King. The alliance's primary objective is to collaborate on devising and implementing regenerative agricultural techniques that can sustain the planet's future. The summit featured pitches from 13 startups from various regions who presented their innovative solutions to real-time challenges in agriculture. The innovations spanned a wide array of areas including artificial intelligence, soil health, carbon credit generation, and more. [link]
The Delmarva Soil convention kicked off this week at the Wicomico Youth and Civic Center in Salisbury, Maryland. The event focused on giving farmers better tools to improve and measure soil health. It also highlighted the impacts that those practices can have on crops, groundwater, and the health of surrounding communities. Farmers say they are learning how to quickly diagnose soil health and learn how to respond. They added that leaving the soil healthy for generations to come is the most important job of a farmer. [link]
5th World, at the forefront of regenerative agricultural innovation, is set to present a talk at the South by Southwest (SXSW) event in Austin, Texas, titled "The Soul & Science of Regenerative Agriculture." The presentation will address urgent topics in sustainable agriculture and propose innovative solutions to the pressing challenges facing our ecosystems and food systems today. The talk will explore how regenerative agriculture, when integrated with cutting-edge technologies, can heal our climate, restore our health, and rejuvenate our soil, thereby securing an abundant future for all. [link]
UK farmers are invited to join a new research project that aims to develop a soil health sensor that measures microbial diversity and fungal-to-bacterial ratio to improve farm productivity. The three-year Thriving Roots Underpinning Total soil Health (Truth) project is looking to involve up to 30 UK farmers to carry out a series of on-farm trials for which they will be paid. The intention is to deliver a platform comprising soil/root health testing tools and a knowledge exchange group that can inform sustainable soil management practices. [link]
Advancing Eco Agriculture (AEA), a company empowering growers to implement scalable regenerative agriculture solutions, has launched a data-driven standard for growing regenerative cotton called Integrity Grown. This new standard sets a high bar for regenerative cotton growing practices that increase yields, lower chemical inputs and water usage, and improve soil health. The program’s purpose is to empower and attract more cotton growers to transition to regenerative practices. So far, more than three million pounds of regenerative cotton have been sourced through the initiative. [link]
A new project in the UK links artificial intelligence and indoor farming to improve the sustainability of food production. The Advanced Crop Dynamic Control (ACDC) project led by LettUs Grow, in partnership with Fotenix, Rothamsted Research, Crop Health and Protection, and Vertically Urban, focuses on the application of image-based analysis, artificial intelligence, and bespoke software to create indoor farming systems that are not only energy-efficient but also sustainable. Innovate UK has announced its support for the ambitious ACDC project with £757,151 in funding through the Novel Low Emission Food Production Systems competition. The primary goal of the project is to address and rectify the inefficiencies in temperature controlled environment agriculture (TCEA) operations by harnessing cutting-edge technologies and innovative approaches to enhance energy efficiency across the board significantly. [link]
The Innovation Institute for Food and Health (IIFH) at the University of California, Davis has received a $500,000 grant from The Rockefeller Foundation to evaluate links between food production, nutrition, and personal health. With support from The Rockefeller Foundation, the IIFH and the North American Center of Excellence for the Periodic Table of Food Initiative (PTFI) will leverage newly developed tools and robust life cycle analysis to comprehensively define how agricultural practices (e.g., conventional vs. regenerative) impact the molecular composition of foods, and further, people’s health and well-being. [link]
Olam Agri, a leading agribusiness in food, feed, and fiber, has launched its global regenerative agriculture program across the U.S. Cotton Belt to help meet the growing demand for traceable and sustainably grown cotton. Olam Agri started its regenerative program in cotton in 2020 to provide cotton farmers with the tools, resources, and access to market opportunities to mitigate climate risks, increase soil fertility, sequester carbon, encourage biodiversity, and manage water and energy use. The new program is the culmination of this work and will offer customers cotton products with full chain of custody certification from production, harvesting, ginning, and storage, to shipment. All the farms and ginning facilities under the program are regenagri certified. [link]
Farmers Business Network (FBN), the farmer-to-farmer network, has announced updates to its Gradable platform along with its sustainability partnerships and supply chain programs. Those updates, according to FBN, will allow for regenerative financing offers for farmers for 2024 as part of its efforts to increase grower profitability while enhancing sustainability. FBN and Gradable enable farmers to access voluntary and regulatory rewards within the supply chain through practice and outcome claims created by partners like ADM, POET, and the Environmental Defense Fund. [link]
In the UK, the Coca-Cola Company is conducting a trial where labels will be removed from Sprite and Sprite Zero bottles in an effort to better manage waste. During this experimental phase, bottles will sport an embossed logo on the front in lieu of traditional labels, with product and nutritional information laser-engraved on the back. A significant challenge in recycling lies in material separation, with recyclable materials needing to be separated from contaminants and non-recyclables before then being sorted into their respective material categories, such as metals, plastics, glass, and more. With this perspective in mind, eliminating labels—distinct from bottles despite their recyclability—could theoretically streamline the recycling process by obviating the need for their separation from bottles. This could also lead to a reduction in packaging material usage. Given the millions of soft drink bottles produced and sold annually, such efficiencies could yield significant environmental benefits. [link]
In Case You Missed It…
In mid-October last year, General Mills announced a collaboration with Walmart and Sam’s Club to advance the adoption of regenerative agriculture on 600,000 acres in the United States by 2030. Read more, here.