Brazil - ForwardFarming For a Regenerative Future
What happens when a former investment banker and her sister apply their knowledge to transform the family farm into a showcase of regenerative agriculture in the region? The launch of the second Bayer ForwardFarm in Brazil shows us.
Fazenda Estância is the second Bayer ForwardFarm in Brazil, it’s about 3 hours northwest of São Paulo. To support the family run business, Aline Vick pivoted careers from investment banking, joining her sister Nathalia and father José in managing the family farm. Now she applies her background in financial management to transform the 1,100ha farm into an even more profitable and sustainable business.
The combined economic and environmental benefits of regenerative farming are exactly why the Vick family, along with a growing number of farmers in Latin America, are embracing it. It’s an approach that makes it possible to achieve higher yields and incomes while conserving and replenishing natural resources at the same time. And it’s a future where the role of the farmer goes beyond just being a food and feed producer to one where the farmer provides essential ecosystem services – whether that’s improvements in soil health, preservation of natural habitats, conservation of water or carbon sequestered.
In practice, this means establishing a tailored farming operation – an entire regenerative system – that combines different types of solutions in an effort to boost agricultural yields and incomes while also providing measurable environmental benefits. To implement this vision, data is absolutely critical. And so is closer collaboration across the entire food value chain to bring the vision of regenerative agriculture to life for the benefit of farmers, consumers and the environment.