PepsiCo and Walmart to Support Regenerative Agriculture Transformation through Soil and Water Outcomes Fund®

Ankeny, Iowa—Walmart and PepsiCo recently announced a collaboration to support U.S. and Canadian farmers in their pursuit to improve soil health and water quality; and will do so with expertise and resources from the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund, a leading agricultural ecosystem services program.  This approach will offer a voluntary, flexible approach to regenerative agriculture that gives farmers a seat at the table, recognizes the diversity of agriculture and that one size does not fit all.

Together, alongside other implementing partners, the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund will help establish and scale financial, agronomic and social programs to aid in farmers’ transition to regenerative agriculture practices.  This effort led by Walmart and PepsiCo aims to enable and accelerate the adoption of regenerative agriculture practices on more than 2 million acres of farmland and deliver approximately 4 million metric tons of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reductions and removals by 2030.

Adam Kiel, executive vice president of the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund, shared enthusiasm for this latest announcement by sharing, “PepsiCo’s and Walmart’s businesses are dependent on farmers to grow ingredients that are used to make the products consumers enjoy every day. The two have a shared focus on improving soil and water health, as well as lowering carbon emissions, and the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund is excited to play an active role in this journey. Strategic collaborations like this, spanning support from varying sectors, are critical to increasing awareness around on-farm conservation efforts and providing the tools and resources needed to protect farmers’ livelihoods as impacts from climate change continue to evolve.”

Soil and Water Outcomes Fund has a proven track record of supporting farming communities as they embrace regenerative agriculture practices. For example, in 2022, the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund enrolled over 125,000 acres of cropland and provided an average of $34 per acre to farmers who transitioned to on-farm conservation practices that yield outcomes like carbon sequestration and water quality improvements. New conservation practices that qualified included tillage reductions, implementing cover crops, and extending crop rotations. The resulting verified environmental outcomes were utilized by a diverse group of public and private beneficiaries, as well as municipalities, state departments of agriculture, and the federal government.

To help drive adoption of regenerative agriculture practices across more farmland, farmer enrollment is currently open for the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund and a map of eligible cropland areas for 2023 is available by visiting www.theoutcomesfund.com. Their goal for 2023 is to enroll over 360,000 acres of cropland.

Farmers or landowners interested in embracing regenerative agriculture via the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund can learn more by contacting a member of their team at contactus@theoutcomesfund.com.

About the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund: The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund provides financial incentives to farmers for implementing on-farm conservation practices that yield positive environmental outcomes like carbon sequestration and water quality improvement. They provide new market opportunities and revenue streams for farmers by selling these environmental outcomes to the public and private beneficiaries. The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund is managed by AgOutcomes, a subsidiary of the Iowa Soybean Association.

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