November 15, 2025
Spotlight Stories
Spotlight 1 – The Guardian asks if urban farming could feed the world. Ready the story, here.
Spotlight 2 – Fast Company hosts a missive from the CEO of the Rodale Institute on how it’s time to reimagine farming as an innovative career path. Check it out, here.
Spotlight 3 – Howden and BCG lead a report on the role of insurance in scaling regenerative agriculture and re/afforestation. Take a read, here.
Industry Updates
Acres U.S.A. will host its 50th annual Eco-Ag Conference & Trade Show on Dec. 1–4, 2025, in Madison, Wisconsin. As the premier gathering for soil health champions, ecological innovators and profitable farmers, Eco-Ag 2025 marks five decades of driving agricultural change from the ground up. With more than 30 speakers, 100+ exhibitors and 30 breakout sessions, Eco-Ag 2025 will serve as a trusted platform for farmers, ranchers, consultants and food system professionals seeking practical, proven tools for building resilient operations. Keynote and featured speakers include Gabe Brown, Joel Salatin, Dr. Don Huber, Neal Kinsey, Rick Clark, Dr. Nasha Winters, Dr. Erin Silva, and John Kempf. [link]
The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture is helping producers to minimize impacts on natural resources and the overall environment through its Arkansas Discovery Farms Program. The Discovery Farms team documents water quality, soil health, climate effects and resource use in research at 18 private farms across the state’s diverse agricultural sectors. The team also provides demonstrations and educational outreach to promote sustainable farming. [link]
The Gates Foundation has announced a four-year, $1.4 billion investment to support smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia adapt to extreme weather. The announcement, at COP30 in Belém, will help farmers ‘build resilience to a warming world and protect hard-won gains against poverty’, the Foundation said in a statement. Farmers in low-income countries produce around one third of the world’s food but face mounting climate threats – as recent World Bank research found, targeted adaptation investments in these regions could boost GDP by up to 15 percentage points by 2050. [link]
Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock has initiated a climate mitigation project combining cocoa farming with forest restoration across the Amazon and Atlantic Forest biomes, targeting emissions reductions of 5.18 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent through sustainable agroforestry systems. The project, approved by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) in late October 2025, will mobilize $30.9 million in total investment over four years, with $23.1 million from GCF and $7.8 million co-financed by Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock through the Executive Commission of the Cocoa Farming Plan (CEPLAC) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA). The initiative will directly benefit more than 69,000 family farmers and indirectly impact nearly 400,000 people across 26 municipalities in the states of Bahia and Pará. [link]
After weeks of uncertainty, Congress has unveiled a one-year extension of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 as well as the fiscal year (FY) 2026 agriculture appropriations bill. In lieu of a much-needed five-year farm bill, this one-year extension would continue most farm bill programs unimpeded through at least September 30, 2026. It also suspends permanent price support authority for the 2026 crop and calendar year, ensuring that commodity programs do not revert to outdated 20th century law in the new year. [link]
The One Acre Fund is working to support and empower four million smallholder farmers in Nigeria by 2030 through integrated credit and agroforestry initiatives. Most recently, the organization has distributed 250,000 tree seedlings to farmers in Kwara State, contributing to the 13 million free tree seedlings distributed nationwide in 2025 under its tree planting and agroforestry initiative. The One Acre Fund currently operates in Niger, Kwara, and Nasarawa States, with plans underway to expand into Plateau and Bauchi States in 2026 as part of its long-term growth strategy. [link]
EU member states and the European Parliament have reached a provisional agreement on an overhaul of the EU’s huge farming subsidies, weakening environmental standards as part of plans to cut back regulations and paperwork for farmers. The plans exempt smaller farmers from baseline requirements tying their subsidies to efforts to protect the environment, while the EU would increase the payments they can receive. The EU Commission launched proposals for the overhaul in May, following months of protests by farmers over issues including strict EU regulations and cheap imports. The new plans are part of a series of EU “simplification omnibus” proposals, designed to slim down policies and paperwork for businesses struggling to compete with China and the U.S. [link]
Nestlé Brazil has signed a general cooperation agreement with the Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa) to accelerate research aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the supply chains of key ingredients used by the company. The first two projects under the partnership will focus on the milk and cocoa chains, which, along with coffee, are Nestlé’s most important raw materials. The first initiative will measure emissions from dairy cows fed with different diets, while the second will focus on developing more efficient agroforestry systems for cocoa production. The partnership with Embrapa includes investments in genetic research, agroforestry systems, and other regenerative practices. [link]
A new survey from Environmental Defense Fund gathered insights from 156 agricultural finance institutions across 17 countries and found that the majority are stepping up to manage climate risks. The survey found that 94% of respondents see climate risk as a critical risk that they need to manage, and the vast majority currently offer sustainability-related products and services to farmers. While the survey results point to strong global momentum, they also reveal regional variations in how institutions are managing climate risks and opportunities, including that every institution based outside of the U.S. offers sustainability-related financial products and services, versus 48% in the U.S. [link]
Mirova, the French climate-focused investment firm backed by Kering and other corporate heavyweights, has invested $30.5 million (€26.4 million) in Indian climate tech startup Varaha. This investment will help to expand the startup’s regenerative farming program, supporting hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers in northern India. The deal marks Mirova’s first carbon investment in India, but its structure is unusual. Rather than taking equity, the Paris-based firm is investing cash and will get a share of the carbon credits generated in return over time. [link]
The U.S. plans to eliminate tariffs on bananas, coffee, beef and certain apparel and textile products under framework agreements with four Latin American nations. The expected move—which would apply to some goods from Ecuador, Argentina, El Salvador and Guatemala—is part of a shift from the Trump administration to water down some of its so-called reciprocal tariffs in the midst of rising prices for consumers, as well as legal uncertainty after a Supreme Court hearing this month. The administration in September foreshadowed the move by issuing an executive order saying it would consider a reduction in tariffs on some items not produced in the U.S. when foreign nations agree to trade deals with Washington. [link]
Sustainea Bioglycols has announced the launch of a new regenerative agriculture project in collaboration with Primient, a U.S. producer of plant-based ingredients. The project will support around 1,000 acres of farmland near Lafayette, Indiana, with a focus is on implementing regenerative agricultural techniques that aim to improve soil health, increase carbon sequestration, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and lessen environmental impact. This initiative builds on Sustainea’s ongoing partnership with Primient, which includes collaboration on the development of the first U.S. Bio-MEG facility. The project aims to promote large-scale adoption of regenerative practices in the Lafayette area and ensure responsible sourcing of corn—the raw material used in Sustainea’s Bio-MEG production. [link]
PepsiCo expects to expand its regenerative agriculture program in Canada by 240,000 acres. According to a company statement, “Cool temperatures, an abundance of rich, fertile soil and long summer days that provide extended stretches of sunlight make Canada’s farms ideal for growing high-quality oats and potatoes that are used to make PepsiCo products like Quaker Oats and Lay’s potato chips.” Now, PepsiCo is working with farmers in Saskatchewan and Manitoba to nearly double its regenerative agriculture footprint to more than 500,000 acres of farmland by year end. It partners with farmers, nonprofits, retailers, and policymakers in its efforts to spread regenerative agriculture. [link]
The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) will award more than $3.1 million in grants to 34 state organizations as part of the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Program. The RFSI program builds on MDARD’s success at the state level by making further targeted investments in local food processing, aggregation and distribution, meaning more avenues for farmers to sell in their communities and more opportunities for Michigan families to purchase nutritious, locally grown foods. MDARD says that these grants further investments into the state’s food hubs, farm stops, fruit and vegetable farmers, regenerative agriculture practitioners, fish hatcheries, and food processors. [link]
More than 100,000 smallholder farmers in Tanzania are set to benefit from a pioneering agroforestry program aimed at improving agricultural practices and boosting household, community, and national incomes. The initiative, scheduled to run from 2026 to 2028, will be implemented by the non-governmental organization Vi Agroforestry in collaboration with multiple development partners. Part of the overarching goal of the program is to shift farmers away from routine subsistence cultivation towards treating agriculture as an economic opportunity. [link]
In Case You Missed It…
Earlier this month, Israel’s Believer Meats has received official clearance from the USDA to produce and sell its cultivated chicken in the United States, becoming the first non-U.S. startup to reach the milestone. See more, here.