Enhancing soil health, improving yield and building farm resilience
How McCain works to implement Regenerative practices across the globe
(Sponsored) Continuing to enhance soil health, build farm resilience and improve yield, McCain provides technical and financial assistance to their farming partners to develop and implement Regenerative agricultural practices. Battling climate change and unprecedented events has caused a shift toward smart and sustainable farming practices as well as the use of renewable energy.
McCain’s Regenerative agriculture framework supports best practices based on six key principles:
- Ensuring farm resilience
- Armored soils, preferably with living plants
- Enhancing crop and ecosystem diversity
- Minimizing soil disturbance
- Reducing agro-chemical impact & optimize water use
- Integrating organic and livestock elements
McCain’s framework measures farmers’ progress and guides them down a more sustainable path and regenerative model. According to McCain: “The framework aims to set a minimum credible standard for the industry while allowing for regional flexibility through a menu approach on which indicators growers want to prioritize. Regenerative agriculture is not “one-size-fits-all”; it is critically important to allow tailoring for the significant differences across farms and potato growing regions around the world.”
Blake Matthews, farm manager and partner at Matthews Land and Cattle LLC in Oakley, Idaho, has used Regenerative agriculture practices for many years, working to improve plant and soil health.
“By implementing (Regenerative agriculture) we’ve been able to improve our soil health and plant health,” Matthews said. “We’ve become more efficient, reducing input costs while maintaining, or even increasing, our yields and quality.”
According to Matthews, through implementing Regenerative agriculture with the help of McCain, his farm has been able to cut down on the use of insecticides and fungicides because the plants are naturally healthier. Matthews believes that Regenerative agriculture techniques have the potential to impact generations of farmers. Since his farm started implementing these practices early on Matthews can leave his family with healthy, sustainable farmland.
“We’re grateful to have gone down the path of Regenerative agriculture because we now feel we are a little bit ahead of the game,” Matthews said.
McCain puts sustainability at the heart of their operations – helping strengthen food and agricultural systems to create a better and healthier future. With a food production network of 51 facilities globally, McCain takes the opportunity to tackle challenges, innovate agriculture and drive positivity for people, businesses and the planet.
To learn more about McCain, visit www.mccain.com/sustainability/smart-sustainable-farming.
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