CHICAGO — Wheat and rapeseed production utilizing regenerative agriculture practices in Poland will get a boost from a partnership among ADM, Mars, Inc. and PepsiCo, Inc. that will support 24 farmers on 5,454 hectares in adopting sustainable applications across their crop rotations.
Mars will support regenerative wheat across 3,359 hectares for pet care brands such as Whiskas and Pedigree, and PepsiCo will advance sustainable rapeseed cultivation across 2,160 hectares for some of its brands such as Lay’s and Doritos chips, the companies said in their Sept. 10 announcement.
Instead of single-crop sustainability efforts, the initiative in Western Poland will focus on a holistic, farm-wide approach that strengthens soil health, improves water management and enhances long-term agricultural resilience, the companies said.
In a pre-competitive collaboration to help address the environmental impact of the agricultural supply chain, PepsiCo and Mars said they will work with some of the same farmers to integrate regenerative practices into rotational agriculture. This approach will systematically alternate different crops, such as cereals, legumes and cover crop blends, on the same land each season to help naturally replenish nutrients, break pest and disease cycles and improve soil structure, they noted.
ADM, as an implementation partner, will play a key role by contributing both financial and technical resources to support the farmers transitioning to regenerative agriculture practices. ADM recently issued its third annual report detailing its global work to support food security and strengthen the food system by advancing regenerative agriculture practices.
“We are proud to support farmers through this partnership and enhance the resilience of the supply chain, which is crucial to the future of agriculture,” said Katherine Pickus, chief sustainability officer of ADM. “This partnership with ADM, Mars and PepsiCo aims to harness insights and data from the project to drive the widespread adoption of regenerative agriculture practices across the wider Polish agricultural system.”
Paul Gardner, lead global commercial vice president of Mars and vice president of Global Pet Nutrition Commercial, added, “Through this pre-competitive collaboration, Mars, PepsiCo and ADM are working together to help tackle the climate impacts of the agricultural supply chain. Working across shared crop rotations in this way, we can empower farmers to adopt more climate-smart practices over the long term and across multiple crop types and harvests that can help enhance soil health, reduce emissions and build farm resilience. This partnership model marks an important step toward a more sustainable food industry.”
Farmers will be equipped with the latest agricultural expertise and receive hands-on training and guidance from technical specialists such as Biospheres. These practices not only improve soil structure and water retention but also reduce reliance on synthetic inputs, helping farms adapt to climate-related stresses. To accelerate this program and support carbon sequestration efforts, farmers will receive financial incentives based on the dedicated practices they implement — such as adopting conservation tillage and cover cropping.
Poland is considered an important local benchmark for regenerative agriculture, an in-depth initiative in a region where sustainable practices are at different stages of maturity, the partner companies said. By leveraging detailed data collection and rigorous impact measurement through the Cool Farm Tool (CFT), a sustainability calculator that helps farmers assess and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, this effort is expected to generate valuable insights that can inform future expansion in other markets.
“This initiative represents an exciting opportunity to help standardize and accelerate the implementation of regenerative farming methods, paving the way for a more resilient agricultural system,” Pickus said.
Read more about sustainability efforts across the pet food and treat industry.
