Sustainability on the Farm

Our Regenerative Farming Practices are Science in Action

Fri, 15 May 2026 13:20:45 GMT

By David Statham: Moree, New South Wales, Australia

Our brand is called Good Earth Cotton because we’re good to the earth and it’s good to us. Good Earth Cotton means that we sequester more carbon in our farming practices than we emit.

But it’s not just a brand. It’s a way of doing business. We can do well and do good at the same time—and we can even make farming fashionable.

Here on our farm in Australia, we’re telling a carbon-positive story about agriculture. We’re meeting both the needs and expectations of consumers by supplying companies with raw material for clothes and doing it in a regenerative way that helps the environment.

My wife Danielle and I run Sundown Pastoral, a conglomerate of 15 properties aggregated together between 1984 and 1998, encompassing 64,500 acres, including 26,000 acres of irrigated cotton, 25,000 acres dryland farming, and 10,000 acres of cattle pastures in New South Wales, about 600 km north of Sydney. Our major product is cotton, and we also grow wheat, chickpeas, faba beans, and canola in rotation. The cattle graze on oats and Lab Lab. The cattle operation is a background operation. We don’t own the cattle. Instead, we’re paid by how much weight they gain while they’re in our pastures.

Our family has been at it ever since my father started buying farmland in the early 1980s, when I was just becoming an adult. I’ve devoted my working life to this project. Today, we’re well established and thriving. We are constantly adapting to circumstances, taking up new technologies, and seizing opportunities.

That’s why we founded Good Earth Cotton.

It started out of sheer economic necessity. We live in a dry area and must conserve water, which is our scarcest resource. Our constant goal is to grow more crop per drop.

This led us to regenerative practices that keep moisture locked in the soil, where crops can use it. Over the last two decades, we’ve moved from tilling our fields to a minimal and zero-till approach. This also happens to be good for biodiversity, keeping our soil healthy and nutritious for crops as well as birds, insects, worms, and other wildlife.

Along the way, we’ve kept careful records on everything from inputs to yield. This allows us to take a long view as we analyze our performance and improve our methods. We took a big step forward about six years ago, when we began to use Downforce technology, allowing us to measure carbon content by satellite, gaining information about every ten square meters of our farm every ten days while giving you records looking 7 years back.

The Downforce technology clearly shows that our change of practices has increased soil carbon over the whole property and can measure the year-on-year change, reflecting this information in our annual reports to our customers.

When I started farming, this would have felt like science fiction. Now it’s science in action.

One of the lessons we’ve learned lately is that if we farm the right way, we can sequester more carbon in the soil than we emit in greenhouse gases.

Farmers are often blamed for exacerbating climate change through carbon emissions. Our farm is proof that farmers are part of the solution—and that we can develop methods that make economic sense for our operation as well as environmental sense for everybody.

Consumers increasingly want to know that what they buy comes from sustainable sources. This means that brands want to work with farms like ours. We have the traceability of the product, using Fibretrace, to validate to them that net-zero production begins right here. Then we can become a part of their marketing strategy. A positive story about sustainability starts on our farm.

My wife Danielle deserves much of the credit. I know a lot about farming, but she’s the one with the fashion sense. Under her influence, Good Earth Cotton and the Fibertrace business lets consumers trace their clothes back to us, learning about how we work in harmony with nature.

I’m pleased to say that demand for our cotton now outstrips the supply.

And we’re still striving to do better. By this time next year, we expect to be fully self-sufficient in fuel and fertilizer. We’re working with a New Zealand-based company to transition to hydrogen fuel and producing our own anhydrous ammonia. This green-energy initiative is good for the climate. It will also make us more resilient at a time of tumultuous energy and nitrogen prices.

As we do good, Good Earth Cotton keeps doing better.

David and Danielle Statham are creating the world’s first carbon positive farm, in northern North South Wales, Australia.As co-founders of Sundowner Pastoral, Good Earth Cotton, and FiberTrace Technologies, they are at the forefront of technology, innovation and the application of regenerative farming as they produce cotton, cattle, wheat, canola, and pulse crops. David is a member of the Global Farmer Network. www.globalfarmernetwork.org

Farmers Emphasize Demand, Not Payments, Is The ‘Bridge To Better Times' For Agriculture

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 22:25:36 GMT

Two Midwest farmers are pinning their hopes for the future on stronger demand for corn and soybeans — especially the latter — as they navigate tight margins, high input costs, and an uncertain price outlook.

Northern Illinois farmer Steve Pitstick and south-central Iowa farmer Dennis Bogaards say they have exhausted most cost-cutting options for this season. They believe future profitability now rests on whether demand for both crops — particularly from domestic soybean crush and fuel markets — expands enough to support higher prices.

One silver lining currently, Pitstick says, is his relatively strong position on fertilizer heading into the 2026 planting season.

“We will do pretty much the dry spread program we always do,” he says. “We cut the rates a little bit on the phosphates just because of price. We booked our 32% in September, something we traditionally do. We have all the nitrogen bought, so I feel good about 2026 from that aspect.”

While he believes additional fertilizer is available, he notes it will likely be priced at a premium.

“I believe I can get more if I need it. I may not like the price, but I can get more,” he told AgriTalk Host Chip Flory during the weekly Farmer Forum segment.

Little To No Expansion On The Horizon

As the season begins, both farmers emphasize that the coming years will have farmers focusing on survival and strategic adjustments rather than acreage expansion.

One adjustment Bogaards is making is front-loading some of his nitrogen needs this season while leaving a portion open in case prices break.

“We booked anhydrous early on for this year, back in early fall, and got an OK price,” Bogaards says. “I have a little bit of sidedress that we do. We book about half of that, and I sit open on the rest of it. I’ll wait and see where it goes.”

Bogaards remains committed to sidedressing as long as product is available and prices do not continue ratcheting up. “If I can get it, I’ll put it on, unless it is a crazy, crazy price,” he says.

Like many U.S. growers, both Bogaards and Pitstick say there is virtually no room left to cut fertilizer use without risking yields.

“There is no place to cut back. We are being as efficient as we can be,” Pitstick says.

Bogaards agrees, noting that nitrogen is not the place to skimp. “Maybe a year or so, you can cut back on the P and K a little bit, but you do not want to get caught in three or four years of that.”

He also remains reluctant to drop fungicides. “Fungicides really pay off,” he says. “In the past, we did not use them, but the last few years they really paid, and I would hate to not spray them.”

Uncertainty About The 2027 Crop Mix

While the 2026 crop is largely “business as usual,” both farmers told Flory that 2027 brings real uncertainty—especially regarding nitrogen supplies. Pitstick is concerned about how global demand could impact costs for U.S. producers.

“I am worried about the price of the nitrogen,” he says. “It may not be an issue in the United States from a supply standpoint, but the rest of the world… could export our product because of opportunity cost, and that drives the price up. It is a total wait and see.”

Flory underscored how global trade flows directly shape what American farmers pay, noting that some fertilizer shipments originally destined for the U.S. were recently rerouted.

“Some boats are diverted from the U.S. to other countries,” Flory says. “If you want your share, you have to beat the next guy in line with the price.”

If nitrogen prices soar while corn prices stagnate, Pitstick says his rotation could shift. “That might change how we do things in 2027. We may have to go to more soybeans,” he says.

Bogaards also expects to alter his corn–soybean mix, given the potential demand from domestic crush and renewable fuels.

“In the past, we were probably 60% to 65% corn,” he says. “We have been backing off of that. I still do a little bit of corn-on-corn, but I might try to go to a 50–50 rotation.”

Flory believes this shift could help rebalance supplies and improve price prospects. “If we can pull some acres away from corn and get this thing rebalanced, maybe that is our bridge to a better time,” Flory says. “Our bridge to a better time is more demand across the board and crops competing for acres — not another payment.”

Bogaards says the shifting economics are already evident. “A couple of years ago, people said soybeans are a drag on our financial statements. It looks like almost the opposite right now.”

Even so, Bogaards is cautious about making long-term decisions based on short-term signals. “I can change acres right now, but by next fall, it might be the worst decision. I think you have to go with your rotation and stick with it.”

Pitstick links his long-term outlook to fuel sector growth, noting that both corn and soybeans increasingly function as energy crops.

“Some of the most profitable years of my career were when we had high fuel prices because we were also a fuel crop,” he says. “I have some optimism that these high fuel prices will cause some demand and increase our crop prices.”

For now, both farmers say their immediate job is to manage through 2026 while keeping their options open. With high costs for fertilizer, fuel, and machinery, they see expanded demand as the only realistic path forward.

“It is just survival at this point,” Bogaards says. “We just have to make sure we can survive and keep plugging through it.”

You can listen to the complete discussion between Bogaards, Pitstick and Flory on AgriTalk at the link below:

Bayer And Iowa State Partner On Seed Innovation Center

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 15:06:30 GMT

In the world of row-crop farming, a great-yielding seed product is the result of dozens of efforts in engineering and data. To ensure those victories keep coming, Bayer’s Crop Science division and Iowa State University (ISU) announce they have opened the doors to their new Seed Production Innovation (SPI) Innovation Center.

Located in heart of Ames at the ISU Research Park campus, the tactical hub is designed to help Bayer make seed production more efficient, more precise and more reliable for U.S. farmers, the partners say.

By placing Bayer’s innovation teams side-by-side with ISU faculty and students, the company anticipates shortening the distance between a “good idea” and a field-ready solution.

“Its location allows us to work side-by-side with Iowa State’s Digital Ag Innovation Lab,” says Amanuel Ghebretinsae, Bayer’s head of global innovations for seed production, in a press release. “We are accelerating the development of practical solutions that strengthen our seed production operations and support our farmer partners.”

What This Means For Your Farm

While the research and development will happen in Ames, the impact is designed to be felt at the farm gate. The partnership will focus on three key pillars, according to Bayer:

1. Maximizing Seed Quality: Using the latest in precision agriculture and automation to ensure the Bayer-branded seed in your shed meets the highest possible standards.

2. Digital Ag Advancements: By collaborating with ISU’s Digital Ag Innovation Lab, the center will push the envelope on data analytics and automation, aiming to take the guesswork out of seed production.

3. A Workforce Pipeline: The center serves as a training ground for students. For farmers, this means the next generation of agronomists and tech reps will hit the field with hands-on experience in some of the ag industry’s most advanced technology.

A Hub For Farmer Education

The facility is also set to become a destination for corn and soybean growers. Plans for the space include innovation workshops and producer education sessions, focusing on scientific and engineering solutions that provide “value-add” to the farm.

“Bayer’s investment underscores the Research Park’s mission to connect leading companies with Iowa State’s research strengths and talent pipeline,” says Rick Sanders, president of the ISU Research Park, in a press release. “Bayer’s presence enhances our innovation ecosystem and creates meaningful opportunities for collaboration with faculty, startups and students, particularly in digital and data enabled agriculture.”

Blake Vince Shares 1.7 Million Reasons To Stop Tilling Your Soil

Thu, 02 Apr 2026 21:05:44 GMT

Blake Vince says some of the most highly-valued help on his 1,200-acre Ontario, Canada, farm never show up on a payroll sheet.

They live under his boots.

“One day I went out with a shovel, flipped over a slice of soil about 12 inches by 12 inches, and I started counting earthworms,” Vince recalls. “I counted 40 in that one square.”

He quickly estimated how many earthworms likely live in one acre of his cropland: “Multiply that 40 by 43,560 [the square feet in one acre] and you get 1,742,400. That’s a hell of a lot of earthworms out there in my soil doing the work.”

For Vince, earthworms are more than a sign of good soil — they’re central characters in how he farms, evaluates risk and stays profitable. In a production system shaped by no-till, planting green and cover crops, he sees earthworms as the quiet workforce that’s helping hold the whole thing together, he recently told farmers attending the 2026 Soil Health Conference in Aberdeen, S.D.

(Blake Vince)

From Traditional Tillage To Tiny Tillers

Vince grew up believing that aggressive tillage comes at a cost. The renowned fifth-generation farmer from Merlin — a 750-person farming community in southwest Ontario — is considered a conservation farming pioneer in the region, having used no-till for over 40 years to protect soil structure.

“(I learned early) that tillage was eroding our largest capital investment, our soil. Soil is not an infinite resource. I can’t stress that enough,” he says.

Blake’s father and his brothers started to no-till in 1983 when he was just 11 years old.

“Our motive for what we do on our farm first and foremost is to remain financially viable,” he says. “And then what’s important is the fact that we’re protecting the environment.”

Those two goals continue today on the farm, which he operates with his father, Elwin. Together, they grow commercial corn, soybeans and winter wheat, and cover crop for seed on approximately 1,200 acres.

The father-son team seeds cash crops directly into living covers such as cereal rye to suppress weeds, protect soil and extend the period of living roots. Vince says they use planting green to cut passes, reduce herbicide pressure and boost resilience in dry spells, evaluating the benefits by agronomics and economics, not appearances.

Even with its proximity to the Great Lakes (see image below), the farm’s heavy Brookston clay operates within a moisture-strapped, 16-inch rainfall zone. In such an environment, soil disturbance is critical.

Blake Vince’s farm is based just north of Lake Erie and south of Lake Huron. But despite its proximity to the Great Lakes, the farm only sees about 16 inches of rain annually.

(Blake Vince)

Vince categorizes soils as either “defensive” or “offensive.” On offensive soils, he believes aggressive tillage can continue for years with little visible impact.

“You can till it with the most aggressive tillage passes, and you can still grow a crop… So the decline is gradual,” he contends, noting he believes much of the upper Midwest has offensive soils.

His own ground is the opposite, and he refers to his soils as being defensive. As a result, the wrong tillage pass at the wrong moisture level could smear the soil profile, seal off pores and restrict roots just when crops need water the most.

“We can’t go down into the depth of the soil to bring up the much-needed moisture during that critical period of year when it’s 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside and the corn is trying to pollinate,” Vince says.

Betting On Biology Instead Of Iron

When Vince talks about earthworms, he sounds like a businessman who’s discovered an overlooked, underpaid labor force.

“When an earthworm poops, it’s pH neutral,” he says. “So it’s bringing all of those nutrients from depth, turning organic material — last year’s crop residue — into plant-available nutrients for subsequent crops that we grow.”

In other words: free nutrient cycling, free aggregation, free tillage.

A moment that cemented Vince’s faith in earthworms started with a disagreement. His independent agronomist, looking at soil test results, told him he needed to apply lime. Vince didn’t dispute that. The sticking point was how to use it.

“She suggested to me, ‘Blake, you need to add lime, which I agreed, but in order to use that lime and make it most effective, you need to till it in,’” he recalls. “And I said, ‘No. That’s where the buck stops. I am not interested in doing tillage. It costs time, it costs energy, it costs money — diesel fuel, depreciation, as we all know.’”

Vince’s answer sounded simple, almost unbelievable, even naive.

“I’ve got so many earthworms, they’ll do the work for me,” he told her.

Later, while installing tile drainage, he found the proof he’d been looking for. At the top of an earthworm midden — a vertical burrow —he saw a dusting of white on the soil surface.

“So folks, this is an earthworm midden,” he told the audience as he showed the image (see below). “You can see at the top of the picture, that’s lime that’s been broadcast on the surface. That earthworm has crawled to the surface. It’s got its body coated in lime that we’ve spread just on the surface, and now it’s bringing it down in its middens, down in its vertical burrows.”

Earthworms help move lime below the soil’s surface.

(Blake Vince)

For most farmers, incorporating lime means fuel, wear on steel and the risk of compaction or smearing. For Vince, it meant waiting on the night shift.

“If we think back to that picture where I was standing there with those earthworm casts, how much horsepower would be required to do tillage at that depth?” he asked the audience. “More than I have.”

In his view, every pass he doesn’t make is one more way he can reduce costs and protect his bottom line.

The contributions of earthworms to global food development have been assessed by the National Institutes of Health . The agency reports earthworms contribute to roughly 6.5% of global grain (maize, rice, wheat, barley) production and 2.3% of legume production, equivalent to over 140 million metric tons annually.

The Unseen Economics Underfoot

Behind Vince’s enthusiasm for earthworms and farming green lies a hard-edged focus on economics. From a brief stint in financial services, he brought one non-negotiable rule home to the farm: pay yourself first.

“The number one rule of financial planning is what? Pay yourself first,” he says. “With that mentality, I started thinking: how do I do that here? I don’t control the price of seed, chemicals, fertilizer, diesel, or machinery. But I can control how I manage my soil.”

One of his major “pay yourself first” decisions a decade ago was switching to 100% non-GMO soybeans. Growing them allows him to brown bag his own seed without worrying about patent infringement, all while securing a market premium.

“I’ve been doing this for over 10 years now,” he says. “Mathematically, I figure I’m well over a million dollars ahead in net profit, simply because of my willingness to think differently.”

That thinking applies to earthworms, too. To Vince, every earthworm burrow is a tiny cost-saving device. Every casting is a granule of fertilizer he doesn’t have to buy or risk losing to runoff. Every year he skips deep tillage is a year he avoids burning diesel and breaking shear bolts.

“Doing nothing, in all actuality, is doing something,” he told the audience. By “nothing,” he doesn’t mean neglect; he means resisting the urge to disturb the natural infrastructure the worms are building for him.

More Than A Soil Test Number

Vince doesn’t romanticize his soils. He’s pragmatic, often blunt, about what’s at stake when farmers ignore the biology just beneath the surface.

“We abuse our land because we regard it as a commodity,” he says, quoting conservationist Aldo Leopold. Then he adds his own twist. “‘Dirt’ is a four-letter word I wish everybody in agriculture would remove from their vocabulary… It’s soil. It’s a collection of living, breathing organisms, and we need to treat it with respect.”

On his farm, that respect looks like cover crops to keep the soil armored, no-till to protect structure and planting green to keep living roots feeding the underground food web as long as possible. Earthworms are both beneficiaries and drivers of that system.

“My main focus is preparing our transfer of our farm to the next generation, regardless if they’re our kids, or they’re somebody else’s kids,” Vince says. “I want [the farm] to be as productive as possible, so they can be a success.”

As long as he keeps the soils covered and the roots living, he knows his million-man workforce underground will be clocking in for their shift every single day, helping the farm thrive.

Listen to Vince’s keynote presentation during the 2026 Soil Health Conference here .

Betting on Biomass: How Two Farmers Turn Cover Crops Into Weed Control

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 20:37:16 GMT

When herbicide-resistant waterhemp began rewriting the rules of weed control for farmers in Illinois, Frank Rademacher didn’t respond by using more products. Instead, he doubled down on no-till and cover crops, betting that a living carpet of rye and roots could do what herbicides alone no longer could.

Rademacher, who farms with his father in Champaign County, recalls the initial transition was a steep learning curve, complicated by making too many changes at one time.

“When we got into cover crops heavy, that was also basically the same year we switched everything over to no-till, and the same year we switched all of our crops to non-GMO,” he says. “Boy, that was a mistake on a lot of fronts, because your weed populations really shift in the process of switching to no-till, at least initially.”

Despite the early hurdles, cereal rye became the foundation of Rademacher’s weed-control program. On his east-central Illinois fields, drilled cereal rye—planted early at roughly 50 pounds per acre—has provided enough biomass to simplify herbicide programs in his non-GMO soybeans.

“There [have been] a lot of times where we have just done like a one-pass herbicide program, so no post spray, and that was in non-GMO beans, and they were really clean,” Rademacher says.

Match Cover Crop Species to Farm Goals

Hundreds of miles away in Virginia, Paul Davis follows a similar philosophy. No-tilling since 1999 and using covers since 2005, Davis views weed control as inseparable from soil health.

“They do so many things,” says Davis, who farms in New Kent County. “Providing erosion control, providing something growing all winter to scavenge any nutrients... making nitrogen, especially this year for my corn crop.”

While Rademacher leans on cereal rye for soybeans, Davis centers his program on a cereal rye-vetch system ahead of corn. Both farmers aim for enough biomass to smother weeds while keeping the cash crop competitive and thriving.

Managing the Fine Line Between Weed and Crop Control

The balance is delicate, particularly with corn. Rademacher warns: “As it relates to corn, the line between enough biomass to fight weeds all season long, and the line between that and having no crop at all can be a pretty fine line. It’s pretty easy to have really good weed control, but also really good crop control.”

To avoid tying up nitrogen, Rademacher opts to use wheat or barley ahead of corn rather than the more aggressive cereal rye.

Davis manages these tradeoffs by decoupling his grass and legumes in the spring. He kills the cereal rye early with a grass herbicide to prevent the Carbon-to-Nitrogen (C:N) ratio from becoming too high.

“I don’t want the cereal rye to go that long, because once it gets a hollow stem, it takes a lot of bacteria eating nitrogen to break that hollow stem down,” he explains.

By late March, Davis terminates the cereal rye but feeds the vetch, letting it grow until it blooms. By mid-May, the vetch forms a two-foot-tall mat that suppresses weeds and allows him to scale back on products.

“That’s really where I’ve cut my herbicide program back the most, in my corn rotation with the heavy vetch stand,” he says.

The Biomass Trap and Termination Timing

Both farmers emphasize that covers complement, rather than replace, good chemistry on their fields. Rademacher warns that a “middle ground” of biomass can actually be detrimental.

“There is kind of a point where you’ve got enough biomass that inhibits some of your herbicide from hitting the ground—too much residue, but not quite enough to get really good weed control to replace that impact,” he says.

He is also “hyper vigilant” about the weather during termination, noting that nighttime temperatures should be above 50°F to ensure the plants don’t shut down. He also cautions about the spray mix used. He sometimes sees termination failures when farmers add clay-based residuals like atrazine in poor temperature windows.

Davis scales his herbicide use based on biomass volume. “If you’re planting into [6,000 to 8,000 pounds], you definitely can reduce your herbicide program,” he says. However, “If you have a weak stand of rye... don’t plan on cutting your herbicide program back.”

On a related front, Davis and Rademacher have been able to reduce their insecticide use. After noticing spider webs in his fields 12 years ago, Davis stopped using them entirely. “I haven’t used an insecticide since—not on corn, beans, wheat, pumpkins, anything,” he says.

Rademacher reports that beneficial predators on his farm now control pests like slugs. “We’ve got such a huge beneficial population... because we haven’t used insecticides now on anything going on six or seven years,” he says.

Weed Control As Part Of A System

Both farmers say weed control is now the product of a broader system they’ve adopted: no-till, continuous roots, high-residue covers, and a more complex biological community above- and below-ground.

To get started with cover crops, Rademacher tells farmers to begin where he believes there’s room for error: with soybeans. “I would get cover crops to have soybeans figured out,” he says. “Just plant… whatever [your] local NRCS recommendations are for cereal rye rates.”

Davis would start out using covers ahead of corn, using a focused cereal rye–vetch program and learning to time termination for both weed control and nitrogen. He stresses growing enough biomass to matter, killing the cereal rye before it gets too lignified, and then letting vetch build the mat that suppresses weeds and feeds the crop.

His main advice to farmers is to think long-term. “It takes five or six years before you really start seeing the benefits,” he says. “God didn’t make Earth in one day, so don’t expect miracles in one day.”

Davis and Rademacher shared their experiences incorporating the use of cover crops on their farms during an online GROW farmer forum addressing the topic of using cover crop mixes for weed suppression. GROW stands for Getting Rid Of Weeds. The organization is a scientist-led network coordinating research to help farmers across the U.S. fight herbicide-resistance with a greater diversity of weed control strategies to complement chemical use.

Why Did McDonald’s USA Invest $200 Million in Regenerative Agriculture?

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 23:26:38 GMT

In September, McDonald’s USA unveiled its largest investment in regenerative agriculture to date with the launch of the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative . This public-private partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and key McDonald’s U.S. suppliers aims to scale regenerative grazing and conservation efforts across the U.S.

This initiative will invest more than $200 million over the next seven years to help promote and accelerate regenerative grazing practices, habitat restoration, water and wildlife conservation on cattle ranches spanning 4 million acres in up to 38 states.

“We know the natural resources that are required for the food system to thrive are under a lot of pressure, and so our desire to make our supply chain more resilient is really a business decision,” explains Audrey Leduc, McDonald’s U.S. sustainability director.

During the 2026 Top Producer Conference, Leduc shared McDonald’s has 13,000 U.S. restaurants that annually serve 90% of Americans. In 2024, McDonald’s bought 671 million pounds of beef in the U.S.

(McDonalds)

What Are the Core Objectives?

“There’s really two things that you need to think about when you’re thinking about a resilient supply chain,” Leduc says. “The first one is, you need to understand where are your vulnerabilities, and second, you need to understand where you’re having the most impact.”

The initiative is designed to bolster U.S. supply chain resilience while providing ranchers with the tools needed to:

Improve grazing management. Enhancing land productivity and soil health
Restore ecosystems. Protecting grasslands and wildlife habitats
Conserve water. Implementing practices that safeguard water resources
Upgrade infrastructure. Providing financial support for ranch improvements

Promoting and accelerating these practices benefits both the environment and ranchers and shows how large brands can help drive meaningful change in the food system.

“The benefits of grassland conservation are far-reaching,” says Jeff Trandahl, NFWF executive director and CEO. “When cattle are managed to optimize multiple ecological and economic values, the land holds more water, grows better grass and supports more wildlife. Conservation practices voluntarily adopted by ranchers can improve the productivity of grasslands, increase ranching profitability and strengthen the vitality of rural communities across the United States.”

What Are the Economic Incentives for Ranchers?

“We understand that the financial burden to move towards regenerative agriculture is often carried by the producer,” Leduc says. “And so how does big companies like McDonald’s get involved? Well, it’s with things like the grassland initiative.”

The initiative will help boost its U.S. supply chain resilience, including by providing participating ranchers economic returns such as incentive payments.

Participating ranchers will receive:

Incentive payments. Direct economic returns for adopting sustainable practices
Technical assistance. Access to resources for voluntary conservation efforts
Performance monitoring. Independent soil health quantification provided by Kateri and Carbon Yield

“We want to be good stewards of the land, and we’re putting money directly where our mouth is,” Leduc adds. “It’s a business decision to protect the beef supply chain, and we want to be accelerating and working alongside the producers.”

McDonald’s USA suppliers, including Cargill, Golden State Foods, Lopez Foods, OSI and The Coca-Cola Company, will provide funds to NFWF alongside McDonald’s USA.

Audrey Leduc, U.S. sustainability director for McDonald’s, shares the stage at the 2026 Top Producer Summit with Angie Denton, Drovers editorial leader, to talk about McDonald’s commitment to working with beef producers to source responsible beef and prioritize natural resource stewardship.

(Farm Journal)

What is the Timeline?

NFWF will manage and invest conservation funding to advance ranchers in their voluntary conservation efforts. NFWF is collaborating with its conservation partners across America’s grasslands to identify impactful landscape-scale projects that will generate the greatest possible benefits to both wildlife populations and the productivity of vital U.S. ranch lands.

NFWF will independently award competitive grants to organizations that will assist participating ranchers in adopting practices that advance wildlife conservation and regenerative agriculture. The first round of competitive grant-making will culminate in the announcement of awards, which is expected soon.

“As a brand that serves more than 90% of Americans every year, we recognize the responsibility we have to help safeguard our food systems for long-term vitality,” says Cesar Piña, McDonald’s senior vice president and chief supply chain officer, North America. “Through our support of this initiative, McDonald’s USA is demonstrating the power of partnership between the public and private sectors and that feeding the population and stewarding our natural resources can coexist.”

For additional information about the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative, visit the NFWF website .

How Do Alternative Proteins Fit Into McDonald’s Plans?

“At McDonald’s, we are not pursuing alternative protein,” Leduc says. “That’s not our sustainability strategy. Our sustainability strategy is a resilient beef supply chain in the U.S.”

USDA Launches New $700 Million Regenerative Ag Pilot Program

Wed, 10 Dec 2025 22:24:32 GMT

USDA wants farmers to focus on soil health and producing more nutritious food. To that end, Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins, along with Robert “F” Kennedy Jr., Health Secretary, and Doctor Mehmet Oz, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator, announced a $700 million pilot program aimed at supporting regenerative farming. USDA says the Regenerative Pilot Program’s goal is to help American farmers adopt practices focused on improving soil health, water quality and boost long-term productivity.

“We are committed to restoring America’s natural strength by empowering producers with simple outcome-based tools,” Rollins says. “Producers at every stage, from beginners just starting with cover crops to advanced operators with years of conservation experience, many of those are represented by our farmers today, will find a pathway through this pilot.”

Rollins says the program will be funded through existing programs at USDA and allow farmers to pursue “whole-farm planning” instead of a piecemeal approach. The pilot will be administered through the agency’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

“Each producer’s results will be measured and credited back to the farmer through an outcomes report, recognizing and rewarding improvements they achieve on their own land,” Rollins says. “This initiative puts American farmers first as part of the solution to make America healthy again.”

Building Off MAHA

The announcement follows the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy released in September.

Kennedy said the initiative promises farmers an “off-ramp” to transition away from chemical fertilizer inputs, “to a model that emphasizes soil health, and with soil health comes nutrient density through voluntary action.”

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is also investing in research on the connection between regenerative agriculture and public health, as well as developing public health messaging explaining this connection.

“We cannot truly be a wealthy nation if we are not also a healthy nation. Access to wholesome, nutritious and affordable foods is a key tenet of the Make America Healthy Again agenda, which President Trump has directed this administration to execute across all government agencies,” Oz says. “I commend Secretary Rollins and Secretary Kennedy for today’s efforts to strengthen our nation’s food supply.”

“This is another initiative driven by President Trump’s mission to Make America Healthy Again,” Rollins adds. “Alongside Secretary Kennedy, we have made great strides to ensure the safe, nutritious, and affordable food our great farmers produce make it to dinner tables across this great country.”

How Does it Work?

USDA released details about the program in a release. It says the program will be administered by NRCS, allowing producers to bundle multiple regenerative practices into a single application, saying it will both streamline the process and allow for operator flexibility.

In FY2026, USDA is dedicating $400 million through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and $300 million through the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) to fund the first year of regenerative agriculture projects.

USDA says farmers and ranchers interested in regenerative agriculture are encouraged to apply through their local NRCS Service Center by their state’s ranking dates for consideration in FY2026 funding. Applications for both EQIP and CSP can now be submitted under the new single regenerative application process.

Regenerative Reaction

Farm groups and outside influencers are weighing in on the new pilot program announcement. Farm Bureau and President Zippy Duvall welcomed the approach while pointing out its still light on details.

“We value USDA’s acknowledgement that farmers have long practiced regenerative agriculture on their farms, both through federal conservation programs and on their own,” Duvall says. “Building on these efforts by leveraging existing voluntary and incentive-based programs to advance additional regenerative goals sounds like smart government to me, especially when farmers remain in the driver’s seat.”

Machinery Pete: Why It's Time to Change Your Equipment Purchasing Strategy

Fri, 05 Dec 2025 13:48:03 GMT

I’ve been compiling auction price data since November 1989 and writing my Machinery Pete column since 1992. Yet in all that time, there’s a timely topic I have yet to cover: how the equipment decisions you make, or don’t make, will most definitely directly affect your farm’s chances at sustainability.

Your Old Equipment Mindset is Dangerous. The farm equipment market has changed substantially. I don’t think there’s any going back. The realities of past ag downturns your father and grandfather dealt with always saw farm equipment dealers hung up with huge excess of late-model, used units. This took years to deal with and afforded farmers multiple drift out years of good deals and bargaining power on used iron.

That’s not the case now. To increase your farm’s odds at ongoing sustainability, you simply must absorb this new reality. You don’t have to like it, most won’t, but your eyes need to open on this front.

Equipment manufacturers act differently now in downturns. They quit making it. Plants close, workers get laid off and new price point protection mode is activated.

There are substantially fewer farm equipment dealer owner groups now. These larger dealers act more in consort with each other and work more directly with the manufacturers. Manufacturers provided never-before-seen levels of help and incentives back to their dealers in 2024-2025 to help them pare down late-model, used inventory.

The result has been a condensed and shorter period of tumbling used equipment values. The largest downturn in used equipment values I’ve seen was from spring 2013 through the end of 2015. This time, used values tanked in 2024. One year. By February 2025, auction pricing was stabilizing.

For example, consider the three 2021 John Deere 9570RX tractors ranging from 778 to 1,016 hours that sold at a dealer inventory reduction auction in Paris, Mo., on Nov. 6. The sale prices were $363,000, $358,000 and $349,000. The average auction price on 9570RXs is actually up 11% this year. The main driving force here is the 54.5% drop in the number of 9570RXs sold at auction this year compared to last year. Or take John Deere S790 combines, where the average auction price this year is $323,937 – only down 2.4% from last year. That’s because there’s been a 54.8% drop in the number of them sold at auction in 2025.

Things Are Different Now
The farm equipment market is shifting toward a “you buy it, we’ll build it” model. Remember 2021? It’s like that.

Your farm’s odds at sustaining into future generations depends on knowing, absorbing and acting on the realities of this new/changed farm equipment market.

Here’s a Machinery Pete Official Suggestion: Be proactive versus reactive.

If you stand on the beach looking out, watching for the coming big wave (whenever corn/beans finally move/stay higher), your window of opportunity for better “deals” on the equipment front, new or used, will be closed by the time you see it.