Sustainable agriculture and cross-sector partnerships are critical to address the intertwined climate and biodiversity crises.
The Earth is losing biodiversity at a rate unprecedented in human history and staggering in scope. A quarter of all known species — roughly a million varieties of plants and animals — are in danger. Their loss would threaten the ecosystems that sustain the air, water and climate required for human life.
Climate change is both contributing to the loss of biodiversity and being exacerbated by it. Habitats are changing rapidly, threatening the species that inhabit them. As ecosystems degrade, they lose resilience and their ability to capture carbon. The combined impact creates intense disruption in the natural balance of plants, animals and microorganisms that is fundamental to sustaining life on earth.
As leaders across the globe convene in New York City for Climate Week and World Biodiversity Summit, it’s important to highlight the need for collective action: Governments, businesses and nonprofit organizations partnering on impactful solutions to these crises. For instance, agriculture and the businesses engaged in helping feed people must be part of the solution. That’s why ADM engages in a wide range of initiatives to preserve and restore the natural world, combat deforestation and protect habitats.
Regenerative agricultural methods help feed the world while protecting it
Regenerative agriculture practices, such as planting cover crops, minimizing tilling, and responsibly managing inputs help to preserve water, reduce carbon emissions and minimize the need for added nitrogen, making them crucially important to ecological preservation and restoration. These methods also preserve and rebuild biodiversity above ground and within the soil itself, improving soil quality and increasing farmland productivity.
Consider Schemmer Farms in central Illinois. Doug Schemmer began introducing more sustainable practices after taking over his family’s farm in 2011, planting cereal rye on steep ground susceptible to soil erosion and nutrient runoff. The rye prevented weeds that previously required expensive treatments, and its roots forged tiny channels in the soil that help retain water and nutrients.
Over time, Schemmer expanded the approach to other fields, using cover crops on corn and soybean fields that would otherwise go fallow in winter to reduce erosion, improve soil health and control weeds so that he has to spend less time and money preparing fields for his primary crops.
“I’m to the point where all of my fields are run with these regenerative practices. It’s exciting that agriculture can be part of the solution to many of the world’s environmental challenges.”
– Doug Schemmer, Schemmer Farms
In 2022, Schemmer partnered with ADM to further expand his sustainable agricultural activities through a program that provides farmers with financial rewards for regenerative practices and for outcomes such as improved soil quality. “I knew there had to be a way we could grow a great crop and help feed, clothe and fuel the world while also being gentler on the environment,” Schemmer says.
ADM’s regenerative agriculture program helped farmers implement regenerative practices on more than 2.8 million acres of farmland in 2023, and is on pace to meet its goal of 5 million acres by 2025. The program was expanded beyond North America in 2023 to include Brazil, the U.K. and Poland.
Regenerative agriculture helps fight climate change in multiple ways. For example, cover crops sequester carbon and potentially reduce inputs. In addition to helping farmers minimize their carbon footprint, these practices help ADM customers meet commitments they’ve made to reduce the climate impact of their supply chains. Last year, farmers working with ADM helped reduce GHG emissions by 310,000 metric tons and sequestered more than 263,000 modeled metric tons of CO2.
“Maintaining the long-term viability of the soil [farmers are] investing in is crucial for the future of their farms and the future of the planet.”
– Paul Scheetz, ADM
Regenerative agriculture also contributes to the health of the soil ecosystem, making farms more productive and improving their long-term viability. Boosting farm productivity over time helps meet the global demand for food using existing farmland, reducing deforestation pressure.
“When farmers make an investment on a piece of land, it’s for their kids’ kids’ generation,” says Paul Scheetz, ADM’s director of Climate Smart Ag Origination. “Maintaining the long-term viability of the soil they’re investing in is crucial for the future of their farms and the future of the planet.”
Gradable, a digital platform now owned by a new joint venture between ADM and Farmers Business Network®, helps farmers maximize the impact of regenerative practices. The platform provides reliable farm-level data so that farmers can monitor and measure the outcomes of regenerative agriculture efforts, and it helps food producers identify and purchase grain that has been grown through these practices. The Gradable platform exemplifies the way collaboration between participants throughout global agriculture supply chains – including farmers, manufacturers, food processors and more – can maximize regenerative agriculture’s promise.
“Many farmers are open to these ideas, but they want to know what they’re doing will benefit their businesses and their legacies in addition to the long-term viability of their land,” says Scheetz. “We partner with local technical assistance partners that offer educational resources on best practices for successful implementation and work with our downstream customers to provide financial incentives to offset initial productivity or increased cost concerns.”
At grower meetings hosted by ADM, farmers discuss adoption of regenerative agriculture, educating one another and sharing best practices. “It takes some boldness to try a different practice when your livelihood is tied to what you do,” Schemmer says. “But when you’re not totally alone, it makes you more willing to take a chance. Now I’m to the point where all of my fields are run with these regenerative practices. It’s exciting that agriculture can be part of the solution to many of the world’s environmental challenges.”
Fighting deforestation and protecting habitats
Deforestation is severely detrimental to biodiversity and global climate goals. The causes of deforestation are complex, and protecting and restoring land requires a multi-pronged approach. Increasing traceability, monitoring and engagement with suppliers are critical. For example, ADM uses satellite mapping in South America to monitor its soybean supply chain, so it can identify areas of deforestation risk and immediately address them with suppliers.
ADM last year announced a new goal for its direct supply chains to be free from all conversion of primary native vegetation in high-risk areas in South America by the end of 2025, with the same goal for indirect supply chains by the end of 2027. The company works with suppliers to ensure they understand its expectations related to deforestation.
Reducing deforestation won’t be sufficient to address the biodiversity crisis, however. Restoring biodiversity where it has been damaged must be a priority. This work is local by nature, because restoring genetic diversity in one area typically does not affect the biodiversity of other regions or agricultural systems. That said, locations around the world can learn from each other, replicating initiatives that have successfully protected natural habitats and improved biodiversity.
In Brazil, ADM is partnering with Parque Vida e Cerrado, a local non-governmental organization, to monitor nearby wild animals, a foundational aspect of preserving biodiversity. It also supports Restor, a nonprofit that operates a platform for nature preservation globally. By supporting these organizations and more than 1,000 others in 140 countries, ADM promotes the sharing of data and the development of effective technologies, innovative practices and fact-based protocols that can be employed and disseminated worldwide.
Supporting collaboration
As environmental advocates from all sectors come together for Climate Week and the World Biodiversity Summit, it’s essential to reinforce the synergy between efforts to fight climate change and restore biodiversity. These events are annual opportunities for politicians, scientists, decision makers and executives to participate in discussions about creating sustainable and scalable solutions.
Collaboration in support of biodiversity and climate goals must be ongoing and multi-faceted. For example, ADM supports the work of the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation in its research and educational initiatives, which nurture nature’s future stewards.
It also maintains partnerships and discussions within the food and agricultural industry about feeding the world sustainably and supporting nature-based solutions, including leveraging food systems in support of climate and biodiversity goals. In 2022, ADM announced a 7.5-year partnership with PepsiCo to support regenerative agriculture across shared North American supply chains. In 2023, it partnered with Nestlé to support regenerative practices for wheat farmers in Kansas, North Dakota, Indiana and Missouri. And in June of this year, it partnered with The J.M. Smucker Co. to empower peanut farmers to enhance soil health and reduce carbon emissions.
“You have to have the whole value chain coming together,” explains Alison Taylor, Chief Sustainability Officer at ADM. “Everybody has to be willing to talk.”
About ADM
ADM unlocks the power of nature to enrich the quality of life. We’re an essential global agricultural supply chain manager and processor, providing food security by connecting local needs with global capabilities. We’re a premier human and animal nutrition provider, offering one of the industry’s broadest portfolios of ingredients and solutions from nature. We’re a trailblazer in health and well-being, with an industry-leading range of products for consumers looking for new ways to live healthier lives. We’re a cutting-edge innovator, guiding the way to a future of new consumer and industrial solutions. And we're a leader in sustainability, scaling across entire value chains to help decarbonize the multiple industries we serve. Around the globe, our innovation and expertise are meeting critical needs while nourishing quality of life and supporting a healthier planet.
Learn more at www.adm.com