Cargill says its RegenConnect program passed 1 million enrolled acres for 2025, with nearly 1,500 farmers on one-year contracts that pay for carbon sequestered

November 2024 — Cargill said its RegenConnect program passed 1 million enrolled acres for the 2025 U.S. planting season. Nearly 1,500 farmers are on one-year contracts that pay for carbon sequestered. Here's what happened, what it cost, and what went wrong.

Cost and outcome (as of Nov. 12, 2024)

Outcome (Cargill claim): more than 1 million enrolled acres for 2025; more than 40% of returning growers added acres. (Cargill, Nov. 12, 2024)
Cost: Cargill doesn't disclose payment rates or total payouts.
Model: one-year contracts, payments for carbon sequestered, agronomist support and a choice of practices. (Cargill, Nov. 12, 2024)

What Cargill announced

Cargill said on Nov. 12, 2024 that RegenConnect had passed 1 million enrolled acres for the 2025 U.S. planting season. (Cargill, Nov. 12, 2024)

The program launched in 2021. It supports practices like low till, no-till and cover cropping, which Cargill says can help improve soil health, increase water retention, sequester carbon and enhance biodiversity. (Cargill, Nov. 12, 2024)

Cargill said the nearly 1,500 farmers in the U.S. program get dedicated agronomist support, one-year contracts, payments for carbon sequestered and a choice of practices to adopt. (Cargill, Nov. 12, 2024)

"Most farmers that enroll in Cargill RegenConnect return year after year, and more than 40 percent of those returning growers added new acres for 2025," said Brooke Hokana Hansen, sustainability director for Cargill's North American Agriculture & Trading business. (Cargill, Nov. 12, 2024)

"This milestone is not just a number; it reflects the growing movement of farmers who are integrating regenerative practices to help improve their soil health and resiliency," Hansen said. Cargill said its vision is to make regenerative agriculture "commonplace" across its global supply chains. (Cargill, Nov. 12, 2024)

Where it runs

Cargill said RegenConnect is available in 24 U.S. states. The company runs regenerative programs in Canada, Australia, Brazil and Europe, and has initiatives in more than 15 countries, including agroforestry, cattle grazing management, farmer training and research. It said these region-specific programs and partnerships help farmers get solutions and technical support suited to local growing conditions. (Cargill, Nov. 12, 2024)

"Every farm faces its own set of unique operating conditions, and successful adoption requires localized solutions," Hansen said. "Farmers, policymakers and food companies must work together to scale these practices." (Cargill, Nov. 12, 2024)

Cargill said programs like RegenConnect can also help its downstream customers shrink their supply-chain footprints. It said the expansion builds on its 2024 Impact Report. (Cargill, Nov. 12, 2024)

Industry context

Other food and agriculture companies are running their own programs. Nestlé says it has launched two cocoa projects with Cargill and ETG | Beyond Beans to cut emissions in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, aiming to distribute more than 2 million shade trees. (Nestlé, read Oct. 29, 2026)

Rival ADM reported about 4.6 million acres in its programs in 2025. (ADM, Sept. 15, 2026) PepsiCo reported 4.7 million acres across regenerative, restorative and protective practices. (PepsiCo, Sept. 11, 2026) Each company uses its own definitions, so the totals aren't directly comparable.

What went wrong

Enrolled isn't verified. The release counts enrolled acres. It doesn't report verified practice adoption or tonnes sequestered.
Short contracts. One-year contracts give farmers flexibility (Cargill, Nov. 12, 2024), but soil carbon stored one year can be lost later, and the release doesn't say how Cargill handles that.
No prices. Payment rates aren't disclosed, so the farmer economics can't be checked.
What we don't know yet: total tonnes paid for, who verifies them, and what churn there is among farmers who don't return.

Our follow-up question for Cargill

How many tonnes has RegenConnect paid for, at what price, and who verifies them?

Sources

Cargill, “Cargill Surpasses 1 Million Enrolled Acres in Cargill RegenConnect®, Advancing Farmer Adoption of Regenerative Agriculture,” Nov. 12, 2024. cargill.com
Nestlé, “Regenerative agriculture” (web page, read Oct. 29, 2026). nestle.com
ADM, “ADM's Fourth Annual Regenerative Agriculture Report Highlights Growing Resilience Across the Food System,” Sept. 15, 2026. investors.adm.com
PepsiCo, “What PepsiCo's PAO Accelerator reveals about the company's 2025 ESG progress,” Sept. 11, 2026. pepsico.com

Disclosure: [not in copy] Editor placeholder