agribusinessreview.comJUNE 20259While the sustainability conversation has heavily focused on carbon emissions, wemust remember why companies implement climate-related sustainability strategies in the first place: to reduce risk to the organizationmanagement highly nuanced and complex. This complexity can make it difficult to create a cohesive company strategy.In the agriculture space, carbon works well as a central metric because practices that reduce carbon emissions often have positive ripple effects on other environmental factors. This makes carbon a useful primary decision-making metric--but it shouldn't be the only one. On the ground, carbon isn't a metric that resonates with farmers. They don't see the direct impact of carbon emissions when measuring their farm's profitability or yield. However, if you ask a farmer in California about drought or a farmer in Iowa or Nebraska about water quality, they can immediately share how these issues affect their daily operations.For every carbon-driven regenerative agriculture project, a mini-materiality assessment should be conducted to identify other relevant environmental metrics based on the region and the farmers involved. These material issues can be quantified, and progress can be measured to better assess the investment's success.While the sustainability conversation has heavily focused on carbon emissions, we must remember why companies implement climate-related sustainability strategies in the first place: to reduce risk to the organization. Tracking progress against all relevant environmental metrics can help quantify the decrease in supply chain risk. Environmental costs are often externalized, but by identifying key local metrics in need of improvement, we can demonstrate how sustainability initiatives tangibly mitigate risks that typically threaten agribusiness supply chains.For example, planting cover crops--a widely recognized practice for reducing carbon emissions--also has other field-level benefits. It improves water infiltration, reduces runoff, enhances soil health, boosts crop yields, and promotes biodiversity. These benefits can decrease the need for on-farm irrigation and reduce the strain on municipal groundwater treatment.With a shift from petroleum-based products, demand for innovative plant-based solutions is rising. To meet this demand, companies must continue investing in their agricultural supply chains to build climate resilience. Implementing regenerative practices reduces carbon emissions and other environmental risks and minimizes the need for farm inputs, improves farmer profitability, and increases crop yields over time. These improvements benefit the entire agricultural value chain, driving long-term growth and sustainability.At Primient, we have partnered with Truterra to ensure our regenerative agriculture programs measure more than just carbon. Our program helps us and our customers assess both economic and environmental insights, including average yield, water and wind erosion risk, nitrogen use efficiency, soil health, and pest management practices. In 2024, we participated in a pilot study to examine the impact of regenerative practices--such as cover crops and reduced tillage--on water quantity and quality in the U.S. Midwest. Primient remains committed to building programs around the most relevant risks for farmers in our supply shed, with the ultimate goal of reducing risk and enhancing resilience across our shared value chain.
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