Danone signs deal with Replant Capital for regenerative farming

Danone North America aims to help its farmer partners transition to regenerative agriculture through a deal with a new financial services firm.

Over the next few years, Replant Capital will invest up to $20 million to support Danone North America’s farmer partners with expenses related to converting to regenerative or organic farming practices.

According to Danone, these practices increase biodiversity, enhance ecosystems and enrich soil.

Based in Boulder, Colorado, and Oakland, California, Replant Capital is focused on addressing the climate crisis with innovative financial products and services.

Mariano Lozano, CEO of Danone North America, said: “As a company that is passionate about climate activism, we are pleased to be partnering with Replant to support our farmers and bring new, innovative financial solutions to address climate change.

“Providing these loans mitigates the financial stress that transitioning to regenerative and organic farming practices places on our farmers and allows them to focus their energy on driving sustainable agriculture on their farms.” 

The first of these loans has been provided to Kansas-based McCarty Family Farms, a partner of Danone North America for almost ten years and co-owner of MVP dairy.

The McCarty family will use the loan to install moisture probes on cropland surrounding their dairy, where water access issues are of concern, to reduce the amount of water used on crops that provide forage for the dairy cows.

Robyn O’Brien, co-founder, director of partnerships at Replant Capital, said: “At Replant, we are dedicated to investing integrated capital into food companies operating from soil to shelf in order to reverse the effects of climate change. When we look at the work Danone North America and its network of farmers are already doing in the area of regenerative agriculture, it is clear they share our commitment to improving soil health.

“We are very excited to work together to make conversions to regenerative and organic farming practices more accessible for Danone North America’s farmer partners and drive sustainability across American farms.”