General Mills, Danone Double Down on Regenerative Ag Funding, Initiatives
Both General Mills and Danone have launched new regenerative ag initiatives and have committed funding to drive success for reaching each of their specific goals.
General Mills has already committed to bring regenerative ag practices to a minimum of 1 million acres by 2030, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 28 percent across its value chain by 2025.
As a first step, the company, which is one of the biggest buyers of oats in the food industry, launched a pilot program engaging 45 oat farmers and 50,000 acres of farmland in North Dakota and the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. In January of this year, General Mills launched a second initiative for the wheat used in its Gold Medal flour and Pillsbury product lines that involves 24 wheat farmers with operations in and around a 650,000-acre watershed. Performance indicators are being used in both these projects to monitor the impact of both of these projects in soil health, soil erosion, pollinator health, biodiversity and profitability of the farm. In Kansas, farms are also being monitored for water quality and consumption. Danone, which has pledged $6 million for soil health research, has doubled down on its support of regenerative ag with two new sources of funding arranged with both public and private partners. Open to the farmers in Danone’s cost-plus model, the funding is earmarked to be used to invest in new seeds and equipment that support a farmer’s shift to more regenerative production.
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