Press Releases

Field to Market Convenes New Workgroup to Identify and Scale Innovative Finance Mechanisms to Tackle Barriers to Sustainable Agriculture

January 13, 2021

Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture announced today the formation of a new workgroup tasked with exploring innovative finance mechanisms and value-added incentive strategies to support U.S. farmers in scaling conservation practices and delivering sustainable outcomes. By launching the Innovative Finance Workgroup, the Alliance seeks to bring greater focus to how the value chain can support growers in managing the agronomic and financial risk inherent in transitioning to new practices that are necessary to build a more resilient food and agriculture system.

“Conservation can generate real value for farmers, lenders, insurers, and investors, but the current farm finance and insurance systems do not recognize this value or reward farmers for it,” Maggie Monast, workgroup co-chair and director of Working Lands, Environmental Defense Fund. “By harnessing expertise and collaboration across the value chain, Field to Market can accelerate uptake of innovative finance and incentive mechanisms to improve environmental outcomes and enhance farmer livelihoods.”

This workgroup will conduct a landscape assessment of creative finance and value-added incentive mechanisms currently being utilized or considered by the supply chain to accelerate sustainability at the farm level. Upon completion of this charter, the workgroup will publish a report by year’s end outlining key findings and recommendations for piloting and scaling finance and value-added incentive mechanisms within supply chain sustainability initiatives.

“With a renewed interest in increasing the investment in and adoption of climate-smart practices, economic sustainability and financial incentives need to be considered across the value chain,” said Shelby Swain Myers, workgroup co-chair and economist, American Farm Bureau Federation. “This workgroup will be vital in helping those value chain partners support farmers by making the upfront investment in financial and technical support programs needed to collectively and voluntarily achieve our climate and sustainability goals.”

Appointed by the Board of Directors, the workgroup convenes 20 members with equal representation from Field to Market’s Grower, Agribusiness, Brands & Retail, Civil Society and Affiliate membership sectors who will serve for a 12-month term.

“While sustainability measurement is necessary to credibly demonstrate impact, we also know it is not sufficient to advance the sustainability outcomes our industry hopes to achieve,” said Rod Snyder, president, Field to Market. “By convening diverse perspectives and expertise across Field to Market’s membership, we aim to identify and promote the most promising financial mechanisms that will enable our members to achieve their ambitious  climate and sustainability goals.”

Innovation Projects enrolled in Field to Market’s Continuous Improvement Accelerator are each required to provide value-added incentives to support participating growers in improving sustainability outcomes. The findings and recommendations of this workgroup will provide a roadmap of solutions for the broader Alliance to implement and advance.

Bringing together a diverse community of conservation experts, economists, farmers, sustainability practitioners and academia, workgroup members include:

  • Maggie Monast, Environmental Defense Fund, Co-Chair
  • Shelby Swain Myers, American Farm Bureau Federation, Co-Chair
  • Jenette Ashtekar, CIBO Technologies
  • Horacio Caperan, MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change
  • Randy Dell, The Nature Conservancy
  • Julie DiNatale, Corteva
  • Paul Duncan, Anuvia
  • Kira Everhart-Valentine, United Sorghum Checkoff Program
  • Laura Gentry, Illinois Corn Growers Association
  • Stefani Millie Grant, Unilever
  • Diane Herndon, Nestle Purina
  • Ashley Kuhn, Procter & Gamble
  • Alan Martinez, Cornell University
  • Kevin McAleese, Sand County Foundation
  • Jeff O’Connor, OC Farms
  • Jeff Peters, Nutrien
  • Elizabeth Reaves, Sustainable Food Lab
  • Meghan Ryan, PepsiCo
  • Christy Slay, The Sustainability Consortium
  • Ryan Whisnant, Environmental Initiative

For more information, please contact the Innovative Finance Workgroup’s facilitator, Betsy Hickman, Field to Market’s Vice President of Stakeholder Engagement and Implementation, at bhickman@fieldtomarket.org or (202) 802-6477.

ABOUT FIELD TO MARKET

Field to Market: The Alliance for Sustainable Agriculture® brings together a diverse group of grower organizations; agribusinesses; food, feed, beverage, restaurant, and retail companies; conservation groups; universities and public sector partners to focus on defining, measuring, and advancing the sustainability of food, feed, fiber, and fuel production. Field to Market comprises around 200 members representing all facets of the U.S. agricultural supply chain, with members employing more than 5 million people and representing combined revenues totaling over $1.5 trillion. 

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“While sustainability measurement is necessary to credibly demonstrate impact, we also know it is not sufficient to advance the sustainability outcomes our industry hopes to achieve. By convening diverse perspectives and expertise across Field to Market’s membership, we aim to identify and promote the most promising financial mechanisms that will enable our members to achieve their ambitious climate and sustainability goals.”

Rod Snyder, president, Field to Market

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