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Programmes have already been rolled out in the US and China

A new regenerative agriculture programme has been announced by Tate & Lyle to support corn suppliers in France to farm more sustainably.

It has developed the programme in collaboration with farm co-operatives and agriculture resilience platform Regrow Ag to help farmers understand the impact of adopting regenerative agronomic practices. 

This will, in turn, allow Tate & Lyle to monitor the environmental improvements in the corn used to make its speciality ingredients.

”Regenerative agriculture is at the heart of our approach to sustainability, because helping farmers to become more resilient to the impacts of increasing climate change-related events also enables our customers to feed a growing population – a win-win,” said Nick Hampton, CEO of Tate & Lyle. 

The programme builds on the business’ existing regenerative agriculture programmes which support corn growers in the US and stevia growers in China. Tate & Lyle maintains acres equivalent to the volume of corn it buys annually in its regenerative agriculture programmes.  

“For businesses in the food chain, flooding, droughts, and severe temperatures that affect harvests and the use of natural resources are a shared challenge,” said Hampton. “Through our more mature, science and tech-driven regenerative agriculture programmes in the US and China, we’ve demonstrated that these programmes can materially improve yield and crop quality for farmers and the businesses they supply.

“This new programme in France is about supporting farmers, and it also makes perfect business sense as it helps to make our supply chain more resilient.”

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It has partnered with three of its largest farming partners in the country: Armbruster Grandes Cultures, Euralis Groupe Coopératif and Groupe Coopératif Maïsadour. They represent growers in northeast and southwest France.

Practices to support soil health prioritised in the programme include low and no till which minimises soil disturbance, cover crops which support soil health, and nitrogen management to reduce the use of synthetic fertilisers.

The businesses will use Regrow’s AI-driven software platform to quantify environmental impacts and monitor trends in participating farms.

“This initiative allows us to accelerate the adoption of soil conservation practices among our waxy corn producers,” said Franck Camet-Lassalle, market development manager at Euralis. “It is a concrete step that not only protects our natural resources but also strengthens the performance and sustainability of our farms in the face of climate challenges.

“This partnership is further proof of our collective ambition for a more responsible and future-orientated food value chain.”

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