Regenerative farming gets big boost
A new investment service aims to help conventional farmers to convert to regenerative agriculture and increase their production.
Calm the Farm, launched by environmental funding market Tohu Foundry, provides farmers with access to investors, is connecting farmers to advisers and impact investors to accelerate the country’s shift to regenerative agriculture.
A number of farmers and investors had expressed interest in signing up, including a partnership with the Federation of Maori Authorities, which has 165 primary industry members, a data analytics expert and physicist Shaun Hendy.
The project had taken two years to come to fruition.
Regenerative farming had increasingly been shown to be better for the environment and the climate, Taitakoto said.
It improved the ability of soil to store carbon, reduced erosion, restored biodiversity, replenished nutrients, increased water retention, and minimised nutrient leaching, he said.
Farmers wanted their social licence back, he said.
There was an increasing sense of urgency to act on climate and freshwater issues and it was attracting investors’ interest, he said.
Calm the Farm would provide verification and track results for improvements in soil health and productivity to show the longterm impacts on climate and waterways, Taitoko said.
Investors would be able to monitor the environmental impact of their investments and farmers could apply for investment to help fund capital infrastructure needed to transition to regenerative farming.
The service platform would also help incentivise collective action to clean up river catchments.
Calm the Farm will also offer farmers access to regenerative farming advisers.
Taitoko said a number of farmers and investors had expressed interest in signing up, including a partnership with the Federation of Maori Authorities, which has 165 primary industry members.
The authority was looking at co-funding the shift for members that wanted to transition.
Investors of all types would be sought, including family investors, equity investors and banks.
Last year Calm the Farm raised $1.3 million to build up its infrastructure and start writing pledges.
The drive to help fund regenerative farming practices is also happening overseas.
A similar venture, rePlant Capital launched in the United States last year to bring together farmers with food companies and provide technical help to increase the use of ‘‘resilient agricultural practices’’.
A number of farmers and investors had expressed interest in signing up, including a partnership with the Federation of Maori Authorities, which has 165 primary industry members.