Regenerative Agriculture Is Anything but “just Business”
Having attended the first Regenerative Food System Investment Forum in 2019, one thing was clear during this year’s event – capital holders are spending less time asking why they should deploy capital in the space and focusing more on how and where they should deploy capital.
Although this momentum is powerful and inspiring to witness, the road to financing more regenerative agriculture is not without its potholes.
During this year’s conference, I had the honor and privilege to participate in a panel exploring farmers’ perspectives on financing. After the panel, a capital provider approached me regarding the frustrations I expressed about financing a small processing plant to service local pasture-based meat producers in my region. The capital provider didn’t flinch when I named $10 million as our price tag.
“What happens when we encounter a two-year drought that cuts our production numbers in half?” I asked.
“Well,” the capital provider replied, “I guess that’s just business.”