General Mills, ADM and Walmart partner to scale US regenerative wheat production

General Mills, ADM, and Walmart are partnering to accelerate regenerative agriculture. The collaboration will focus on 40,000 acres of Midwest US wheat. ADM will be the on-the-ground facilitator, and the companies will focus on the country’s soft red winter wheat area, which produces the wheat class milled for crackers, cookies, and pastry flour.

In the partnership, General Mills will source the wheat from ADM for products sold at the US’ largest grocers, its warehouse club, Sam’s Club.

“This strategic collaboration with Walmart and ADM underscores the importance of collective action across the value chain, and we hope it inspires others to see what’s possible when companies invest together,” explains Jay Watson, senior director of sustainability at General Mills.

“By focusing on the wheat-growing regions that support our shared business, we aim to strengthen the resilience of ingredients for our beloved brands like Pillsbury, Betty Crocker, and Totino’s, while supporting farmer livelihoods and the health of our planet.”

Farm-level delivery

According to the agreement, ADM will run the program at the farm level. The company will provide growers with technical assistance and financial incentives to adopt no-till and cover cropping.

No-till cropping includes practices where planting is performed without plowing or disturbing the soil beforehand. Tilling can release stored carbon, dry out the topsoil, and increase erosion. No-till cropping has also been shown to improve water retention.

Cover cropping is where farmers plant crops between the main harvest seasons to keep the soil covered and biologically active. Together, these two practices make up the foundation of most regenerative wheat practices.

“The success of regenerative agriculture depends on the entire value chain,” says Katherine Pickus, chief sustainability officer at ADM. “Together with General Mills and Walmart, we’re bridging the gap for farmers to increasingly adopt and expand regenerative practices.”

“Partnerships are what power this work and help build farm resilience.”

From field to shelf

Walmart and its Sam’s Club division, at the retail end of the chain, describe the program as a “shared value approach.” It builds on a 2023 commitment by General Mills and Walmart to advance regenerative agriculture across 600,000 shared acres by 2030, with programs already underway on over 560,000 US wheat acres.

It also supports General Mills’ broader goal of advancing regenerative agriculture on one million acres by 2030, and Walmart and the Walmart Foundation’s aim to protect and more sustainably manage 50 million acres by 2030.

“The key component is to be able to continue to make improvements while meeting the needs of farmers and driving economic resiliency within those farms for long-term supply resilience to deliver on what works for our customers and members,” Mikel Hancock, the senior director of strategic initiatives and sustainability at Walmart, concludes.