- Regenerative agriculture requires different models for different farm structures.
- Farmer feedback key to shaping programme design.
- Regen ag future lies collaboration across the chain.
While ADM applies the same regenerative agriculture definition and principles globally, programmes need to be locally relevant. This is most evident in Australia and India.
In Australia, ADM’s regenerative cotton programme operates under the ADM Regenagri Farm Group Licence, while it has achieved five consecutive years of ProTerra certification in India’s soybean sector.
Both programmes operate at opposite ends of the agricultural spectrum, with Australia’s programme focused on a relatively small number of growers and India’s covering thousands of smallholders.
Drawing on experiences in Australia and India, Timothy Henry, managing director of ADM Trading Australia, and Amrendra Mishra, managing director of ag services and oilseeds and country manager for India at ADM, said the company’s certification systems were adapted to local farming realities to be effective.
This means farmers were given the flexibility and support to adopt practices that make sense for their own land and operations.
Reaching smallholders at scale
ADM’s ability to work with large numbers of Indian smallholders has been built on long-term relationships and strong local networks, said the execs.
For nearly two decades, the company has collaborated with local and government partners to support soybean growers through improved access to agricultural inputs, resource conservation initiatives, extension services and market linkages.
Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) have played a central role in this strategy.
Over the last five years, ADM India has invested in strengthening the FPO ecosystem and now works with more than 350 FPOs representing around 50,000 farmers across key sourcing regions.
Using these established networks allows ADM to distribute knowledge, resources and technical support efficiently to groups of farmers rather than working with individual growers one by one.
The model also promotes peer-to-peer learning, enabling more experienced FPOs to share lessons and practical insights with newer organisations.
Scaling beyond pilots
Although broadacre farmers and smallholders operate under vastly different conditions, ADM said the barriers to adoption are often similar.
Beneath all the differences, farmers need access to practical knowledge, technical support and resources. Importantly, they need the confidence to try new practices without risking their yields and income.
If the industry were to change one aspect of its approach to regenerative agriculture, ADM would place greater emphasis on listening to farmers before designing solutions.
Its partnership with TechnoServe in India has demonstrated how direct engagement with smallholders can reveal practical considerations.
The findings shaped initiatives such as Farmer Field Schools, demonstration plots and phased adoption approaches.
These methods allow farmers to trial new practices, assess the results under local conditions and then decide whether to expand implementation.
According to ADM, participating farmers are increasingly moving from awareness and training to practical field-level adoption.
Seeing is believing
It is also important that farmers can see the tangible benefits of participation.
In Australia, Regenagri-certified cotton was sold by ADM from 19,964 acres of cotton grown on certified properties in the 2024/25 season.
The programme has sustained grower commitment in its second year, with 21,976 acres planted on Regenagri-certified farms for the 2025/26 season.
Market opportunities are seen as a critical factor in ensuring certification remains worthwhile for participating farmers.
ADM is observing growing customer interest in traceability, sustainability verification and greater visibility into production practices.
Collaboration key to expansion
The ADM execs believe that collaboration across the value chain is the most important requirement for scaling regenerative agriculture.
Its lessons from Australia and India demonstrate that farmers require practical and technical support, while long-term customer demand and market opportunities are necessary to sustain behavioural change.
They highlighted that there was no single blueprint for regenerative agriculture, making collaborative approaches necessary to create locally appropriate solutions that deliver value both to farmers and to the wider agricultural supply chain.
Moving forward, ADM envisions regenerative agriculture becoming an integrated component of mainstream agricultural supply chains rather than being treated as a standalone sustainability initiative.
