Maximizing the Impacts of Regenerative Agriculture
Regenerative agriculture – farming that restores soil health, conserves water and fights climate change – is the way of the future. And one of Bayer’s important goals is to scale up regenerative practices to make a big difference in restoring Earth’s resources. But what does “scaling regenerative agriculture” really mean? And what kind of collaborations are making it happen? Let’s break down how Bayer partners with leading food and feed companies to make sure regenerative practices on the farm turn into real sustainability progress for companies – a result that’s good for the planet and for businesses around the world.
Q. What are food company collaborations and how do they promote sustainability?
A. Companies in every sector are under tremendous pressure from consumers and investors to make their products more sustainable in order to reach sustainability commitments and safeguard supply chains against climate-change related disruptions. Those sustainability choices begin long before a product makes it to the store shelves, all the way back to suppliers and their practices. For food and feed companies, these choices usually start on the farm. When companies partner with farmers who use Bayer’s regenerative agriculture systems, they can be sure the crops that go into their products are grown with technologies that can save water, improve soil health, and even fight climate change. (Think no- and low-till farming, cover crops, precision irrigation and more.) And thanks to Bayer’s digital services such as ForGround platform and PRO Carbono, they can measure the impact of these farming practices on their overall sustainability – and pass that information to their customers and investors. So it’s a win for their businesses, for consumers, for Bayer and most importantly, for the planet.
What kind of value chain partnerships does Bayer have?
Bayer has had collaborations with food companies for more than 15 years to help improve access and sustainability across agricultural markets. As consumer and regulatory demands evolve to focus more on regenerative agriculture, so have our collaborations. What hasn’t changed is that famers, food company partners and entire value chains have crucial roles in achieving global sustainability goals.
At Bayer, our collaborations extend to growers in 44 countries working on more than 70 different crops.
Some of our recent regenerative agriculture collaborators include Perdue Agribusiness, which is working with farmers to lower its carbon footprint in the US with feed grain grown with regenerative systems. With Bayer’s regenerative solutions and Perdue’s broad sourcing network, the collaboration aims to take over a million metric tons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere – a big step toward decarbonizing the value chain of the poultry products that end up on store shelves.
PepsiCo is one of Bayer’s longest-standing food chain partners with more than 10 years of collaboration. They have presence in more than 200 countries around the world and source potatoes, corn, oats, wheat, and oranges from farmers for whom Bayer provides inputs. For example, in India, Bayer partners with PepsiCo and the potato farmers who supply the company’s food arm, Frito-Lay, to help grow a consistent crop of high-quality potatoes and fight late potato blight with customized plant protection tools. Farmers involved in the project also receive tools to improve traceability and identify the costs/benefits of participating in the collaboration.
In Latin America, Bayer has partnered with Fyffes, one of the largest and oldest tropical produce importers and distributors and the top importer of bananas in Europe, to speed up the adoption of good agricultural practices (GAP) that fight banana diseases, reduce chemical crop protection and comply with strict EU import regulations. Another example of how Bayer is contributing to food security and nutrition supply through collaboration is the company’s effort to curb the spread of the banana disease Tropical Race 4 (TR4), which threatens the global banana crop. Through a collaboration with Global Alliance Against TR4, Bayer has helped train hundreds of banana farmers on prevention against TR4. Bayer also works with Fruidor, a commercial organization that belongs to farmers, farmer organizations, and UGPBAN (a joint association of banana growers), which ripens and sells the bananas to supermarkets in France and other EU countries. Fruidor is the market leader in France and the important link to the European retailers, and therefore permanently driving the willingness to build innovative solutions that comply with retail requirements and consumers’ expectations.
What does regenerative agriculture have to do with food security?
Climate change is a critical threat to food security. But don’t take our word for it – listen to farmers themselves. Ninety percent of growers we surveyed in 2023 said they’ve experienced an increase in weather changes, and 37 percent said they expect negative impacts on their harvests due to changing weather patterns.
Anything we can do to scale regenerative agriculture systems, which can help slow climate change, conserve water and improve soil health while maintaining and ultimately increasing yields also contributes to fighting hunger and keeping food affordable. Food prices have significantly increased since the pandemic, in some countries by more than 100%, and one in 10 people in the world don’t have enough to eat. Advancing regenerative agriculture and improving food security go hand in hand.
What’s in it for our farmer customers?
Meeting the changing demands of the market while stewarding land for the future is a tall order under any circumstance. Add in the pressures of climate change and inflation, and the pressures on agriculture can be even more harsh. One in six farmers we surveyed said they experienced income losses of more than 25 percent over the past two years due to changes in weather. The good news is that agriculture can be a major part of the solution to climate change, and Bayer’s collaborations with the value chain will ensure that farmers are rewarded for their efforts with premiums, favorable contract terms, and access to markets.
Regenerative agriculture can only be scaled if it provides financial benefit for farmer customers, ensuring their long-term viability as a business. With quality inputs and increasing yield, regenerative agriculture can provide a realistic and appealing return on investment for the farmers, and our collaborations are key to making that return a reality for farmers. Bayer’s collaborations provide growers a chance to make the most of their harvests, take advantage of new opportunities, and take their place at the center of the conversation about sustainable solutions for our growing world.
Click here to learn more about our food chain collaborations in the Americas, Africa, Asia-Pacific and Europe.