Hi <<First Name>>,

Welcome to the June highlights!

So much has happened! We looked at Skin in the game in transition finance, profitability, large commodity buyers and crowd-investing in regen ag.

Upcoming QA webinar on agtech in regenerative agriculture with Abby Rose, regen wine farmer, coder and tech entrepreneur
July 2nd
17:00 CEST

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Thanks for listening, sharing and getting involved,
Koen

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Transition Finance for Farmers with Benedikt series
Interview with Brandon Welch and Phil Taylor, Mad Ag and the Perennial Fund

Topic: what does it mean to truly partner with a farmer to provide a fair and skin-in-the-game transition finance investment in her or his farm to help the farm speed up the regenerative journey? We go deep into these questions!

My thoughts:
Investing along side farmers is very difficult, but essential. Mad Ag seems to be on to something: I have heard farmers and investors who are both very interested in their transition finance vehicle (which must be a good sign!). It will be fascinating to watch this when they launch and let's hope many more Perennial funds around the world will follow.

Listen to the conversation with Phil and Brandon

Regenerative agriculture much more profitable than extractive ag?!
Interview with Dr. Jonathan Lundgren, Regenerative Agriculture Research Center, ECDYSIS Foundation and Blue Dasher farm

Topic: Is regen ag (more) profitable? I get this question constantly. An ex USDA scientist, turner farmer, proved the profitability of regenerative grain farms and he is now working on almonds and livestock.

My thoughts: The only paper I found looking at profitability and regeneration was written by Jonathan and his colleagues in 2018. They showed the huge differences in profitability between pioneering regenerative grain farmers and their neighbours. Profitability was connected to soil carbon content, not to yield. Much more research is needed, but the first signs are encouraging. We need more scientists to become farmers and study this field.

Listen to the interview with Jonathan

The key role of crowdfunding in regenerative agriculture
Interview with Dan Miller, Steward

Topic: Is investing in regenerative agriculture and food only for large investors? We unpack the role of the crowd in the financing, the growth of regenerative agriculture, and how the current crisis is speeding up everything. We discuss why Dan financed the first deals on the platform himself (#skininthegame!).

My thoughts: Democratisation of impact investing (and in regen ag more specifically) has come up many times on the podcast. Finally Steward is focussing on providing investment opportunities to the crowd and access to capital to regenerative farmers.

Listen to the conversation with Dan

What is the role of the world largest commodity buyers in regen?
Interview with Bastien Sachet, The Earthworm Foundation

Topic: how Nestlè and Ferrero are decommodifying their supply chains. At the Earthwork Foundation they tackle the tension between top down and bottom up approach, being very humble on how large brands need a holistic view of quality. We also discuss why you need to work on small and very deep regenerative projects that seem to be impossible to scale.

My thoughts:
Wow, decommodifying the giant commodity buyers of this world is no easy or fast task. They seem so far away from regeneration, but we need them to move and we need them to change fast. Bastien and his team are tackling this tension head on, with all the challenges and opportunities that brings!