Farmers Business Network and Environmental Defense Fund launch farmer line of credit to incentivize regenerative agriculture
Published: February 1, 2022
Category: Regenerative Agriculture
Farmers Business Network (FBN) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) have initiated the FBN Regenerative Agriculture Finance Fund (RAFF)—a unique U.S. financing program rewarding farmers who meet soil health and nitrogen efficiency standards through access to lower rates and fees. Participants gain agronomic insights to optimize on-farm benefits of regenerative practices.
RAFF credit lines will offer a one-year line of credit that includes a 0.5% discount from a farmer’s base rate.
“Regenerative practices can benefit farmers in many ways—through improved soil health, lower fertilizer costs and resilient crop yields,” said FBN’s Steele Lorenz. “This new operating line will help make practice adoption more economically feasible…making regenerative agriculture far more accessible to growers.”
Regenerative ag lessens climate change vulnerability—and can replace traditional row crop farming, contributor of 5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions.
“This fund is a giant leap forward in connecting the environmental and financial performance of farms and integrating the proven value of practices that reduce climate impacts and improve water quality into farm financing,” said EDF’s Maggie Monast.
Current enrollment for the $25 million pilot fund is 30-40 farmers who grow corn, soy, and wheat regionally and who use various regenerative practices. Farmers will input data into FBN’s Gradable platform for at least three years to optimize farm production choices.
FBN plans to scale the fund to $500 million over three years. The investment opportunity could potentially scale across millions of acres.
Source: Environmental Defense Fund
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Organic & Non-GMO Insights February 2022
