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The regenerative wine revolution, Acre Venture closes $140M, Pakistan invests in ethical cotton, and what will a database of 6k+ environmental policies tell us about the future of climate legislation?
This Week in Regenerative Agriculture
Wednesday, March 27
For the last five months, we’ve been working with Why Regenerative to organize RegenerativeNYC, a conference on April 22, 2024, in New York City for industry professionals, startups, academics, and farmers to engage with the latest developments in the space. Get tickets here.
1. The Vineyard Regenerative Revolution
A study published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems earlier this year, found that a slew of soil-building practices, especially in combination, added more carbon to soils when used in vineyards compared to being used on annual cropland. More than a third of California’s Regenerative Organic Certified farms are vineyards. They found grazing sheep between vines, cover crops, and non-chemical pest management — resulted in much more carbon sequestration.
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2. Does Policy Impact Soil Erosion? Data From 6,000 Environmental Policies Offers Answers
Researchers from the University of Bonn and the Swiss Federal Institution of Technology Zurich launched a database of 6,124 agri-environmental policies from 200-plus countries, aims to compare the impact of various agricultural practices worldwide, correlating a country's economic status and adoption of eco-friendly measures. The initial findings indicate that national soil management policies account for at least 43 percent of a country's impact on soil erosion.
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3. Acre Venture Partners Closes $140 Million for Agrifood Tech Startups
California's Acre Venture Partners has closed on $140 million for agrifood tech startups. Fund III has invested in the companies Bonsai Robotics, farm-ng, Highlight, People Science, Arado, and Switch Bioworks. They predict “large data systems, and the capabilities of both machine learning and artificial intelligence on those data systems to inform incumbent companies.” According to AgFunderNews, investment in agrifood tech has continued decline, down 49.2 percent in 2023 vs 2022.
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4. Pakistan Invests in Ethically Sourced Cotton – Including Regenerative Practices
The Regenagri Initiative in Pakistan, launched by Soorty Enterprises and Rural Education and Economic Development Society, aims to engage 1,000-plus farmers on 5,000 acres and produce 1,225 metric tons of ethically sourced cotton in its inaugural year, ensuring transparency and traceability throughout the cotton supply chain.
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5. ADM’s Re:generation Program Will Support and Expand Regenerative Agriculture Practices
ADM's Re:generation program aims to assist farmers in the transition to regenerative agriculture by offering financial incentives. It will compensate farmers on a per-acre basis for sustainable practices without requiring the enrolled crops to be delivered to ADM -- showing they are willing to work with farmers beyond their own supply chain.
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Venture of the Week
Groundbreaking Organizations.
Holo Ag: AI Crop Planning
This Swedish technology team, formerly working on Klarna, redirected their efforts to focus on a better farm management system for farmers growing thousands of varieties of crops per year. The company leverages its AI to generate crop plans that predict the optimal time to harvest and streamline rotation and organic certifications.
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…Or regenerative?
This Week In Regenerative Agriculture is published by Why Regenerative. It is compiled by Jackson Baris with ChatGPT and edited by Jeff Stark. Sign up for our newsletter here.