Mars partners with suppliers like ADM to bring regeneratively grown ingredients to pet food

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Mars (Franklin, TN) is collaborating with partners and suppliers like ADM, The Anderson, Inc., Riceland Foods, and Soil and Water Outcomes Fund through its Royal Canin USA and Petcare U.S. Inc. brands to provide financial incentives to farmers to implement regenerative agricultural practices. The partnerships are focused on encouraging regenerative practices among wheat, cord, and rice farmers in key agricultural regions that cover Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Michigan and Ontario, Canada.

“At Mars, we recognize that an important part of achieving our climate goals is addressing the environmental footprint of our ingredients. Our commitment to regenerative agriculture is a key component of our broader sustainability strategy. These partnerships reflect our dedication to reducing our environmental impact, supporting farmer livelihoods, and helping to ensure a resilient supply chain for the long term,” said Jon Peattie, senior vice president, commercial, Mars Petcare US, Inc., in a press release.

In its own press release, ADM explains that as parts of its agreement, the company will be providing support and incentives to corn farmers in Iowa, Minnesota, and Nebraska. ADM is partnered with Gradable to measure, monitor, report and verify regenerative practices, while outcomes will be measured using the COMET Planner Tool and Field-to-Market Fieldprint Platform metrics. This multiyear initiative covers over 100,000 acres in 2024.

"Transforming a value chain takes commitment from partners spanning that value chain," said John Grossmann, ADM’s president of North American Oilseeds Crush and Grain, in a press release. "It takes dedication from farmers to enroll in these programs and practice certain regenerative techniques. It takes participation by technical experts, from our Gradable joint venture to the agronomic experts that work with farmers to implement these practices. And it takes downstream partners that are committed to being leaders in sustainability. We're proud to have partners like that in Mars Petcare US, Inc. and Royal Canin, and we’re excited to work with them as ADM continues to expand our global regenerative agriculture work toward our goal of 5 million acres in 2025."

The Andersons partnership with Mars Petcare U.S. Inc. will support corn farmers in regions that include Nebraska, Ohio, Michigan and Ontario, Canada. The investment from Mars Petcase U.S. Inc. will assist in the enrollment of farmers to The Anderson’s corn procurement program, and provide technical support and reporting on key metric. This partnership covers 30,000 acres in 2024.

Riceland Foods will leverage its Riceland Carbon Ready program in partnership with Arva Intelligence to assist the cooperative’s farm-members in implementing and maintaining sustainable farming practices. The estimated annual coverage for this partnership is 10,000 acres in 2024. Finally, the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund partnership provides financial incentives directly to farmers who implement climate smart practices such as reduced tillage, cover crop implementation, extended crop rotation, and fertilization programs. The program is starting with 10,000 acres in 2024.

"Royal Canin is committed to offering pet owners sustainable choices when feeding their pets, and that starts, in part, with how their food is grown," said Racquel White, vice president corporate affairs, Royal Canin, in a press release. "We are committed to working with suppliers and partners to help farmers implement agriculture practices to help reduce our carbon footprint and support the resilience of the people throughout our supply chains."