Partner Insight: ADM explains how its regenerative agriculture programme rewards UK farmers with payments for practices such as planting cover crops and reducing tillage that can sequester carbon in the soil, as well as verifying the practices using the latest technology
Farmers across the UK are adopting practices to help protect the environment and fortify their businesses in the face of climate change and market volatility. And programmes from agribusinesses and food brands provide support to keep the momentum going and deliver on the promise of regenerative agriculture.
Martin Lines, whose Papley Grove Farm in Cambridgeshire, England has been in his family since 1936 says: "We need all partners to join together to create a healthy farming system that feeds the nation and also delivers resilience amid a changing climate."
Financial incentives and technical assistance from companies like ADM are giving Martin and fellow farmers more confidence to implement practices aimed at improving soil health, enhancing biodiversity, and curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Advances in data and technology, meanwhile, are helping to measure the impact of these approaches and providing farmers with crucial insights.
Like Martin, Staffordshire farmer James Daw is determined to secure the future of his farm and ensure that his children can respond to an array of challenges, especially the rising threat of climate change. Last winter was England's second-wettest on record, impacting farmers around the country.
"Today, the extremes are worse, whether it is the dry, hot summers or the excessive rainfall we've seen in the last 12 months," says James, who oversees about 3,000 acres of farmland at Woodhouse Farm and Thorpe Estate in the West Midlands north of Birmingham. "At the same time, the costs are high and the financial risks therefore in planting some of these crops are significant."
ADM's regenerative agriculture programme in the UK – part of a wider global effort that began in North America in 2022 - rewards farmers with payments for regenerative agricultural practices such as planting cover crops and reducing tillage that can sequester carbon in the soil, as well as verifying the practices using the latest technology. Healthy soils are better able to absorb heavy rainfall, and they're also able to hold much more water during droughts.
"We're doing this for the next generation," according to James. "If we don't do this everywhere, not just on our own farm, these soils won't be there to grow crops and provide food in the future."
James, who grows oats, wheat, barley, beans and oilseed rape, says he is encouraged by increasing support he sees for regenerative agriculture among companies across the food, agriculture and water sectors. Those industry contributions are key to scaling up regenerative agriculture and maximising its impact.
Few companies touch every part of the value chain like ADM, giving the company a critical role to play in uniting the key partners in the sector, connecting farmers across the world to major customers. While talking to farmers every day, ADM is also partnering with downstream customers such as PepsiCo, Nestle, Carlsberg and Bayer to scale up its regenerative agriculture efforts. The company's regenerative agriculture programme earlier this year increased its 2025 goal to five million acres globally.
In June 2024, ADM announced a partnership with Bayer in Poland, working with oilseed rape farmers covering about 9,000 hectares. A preliminary assessment showed emissions from those hectares relying on at least one regenerative agricultural practice were 15 per cent lower than those of conventional farms. As part of the next stage of the collaboration, the programme will expand into a broader range of crops such as corn, wheat and barley, and geographically across Eastern Europe.
Financial support is vital for adoption of regenerative practices, but so too are data collection, third-party technical expertise, and peer-to-peer networks. In the UK, partner Map of Agriculture is assessing emissions and metrics such as nitrogen use efficiency, carbon emissions and biodiversity to give famers a deeper understanding of their carbon footprint and sustainability performance.
ADM has also partnered with Ceres Rural to provide one-on-one technical support to growers, alongside farmer workshops to exchange knowledge. The strong enrolment of UK farmers in the programme in recent months is a positive sign for the global effort as countries look at accelerating these initiatives.
To learn more about ADM's regenerative agriculture programme, read the 2024 report.
This article is sponsored by ADM.
