Why We’re in a Critical Period in the Development of Regenerative Agriculture

Is regenerative agriculture a trend some are jumping on, or an honest attempt to overhaul a broken system?

Danone’s greenhouse gas emissions are around 26MtCo2e, and agriculture accounts for 61% of them. Nestlé’s footprint is 92MtCO2e with 71% from ‘ingredients sourcing’. At Arla Foods, its UK emissions are 4.8MtCo23 and 83% of those come from its farms. For food companies, the emissions from production are huge and devilishly hard to tackle – which is why an increasing number of businesses are pinning their net-zero hopes on regenerative agriculture.

Nestlé is investing CHF1.2bn (US$1.24bn) on what has become known colloquially as ‘regen ag’ across its supply chain, for example. Arla is running pilots with 24 farmers in the UK, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark to “explore regenerative farming methods in a structured and coordinated manner”. PepsiCo wants to spread regenerative agricultural practices across seven million acres, while General Mills recently reported that 115,000 acres are currently enrolled in its regenerative programme (the target is 1 million acres by 2030).