Mars Partners to Support Regenerative Agriculture Transition Across its North American Pet Food Supply Chain

• Mars globally working to scale climate-smart agriculture in its value chain, which will help to deliver more than one million acres of regenerative agriculture practices by 2030 across the globe.
• New partnerships being announced in North America will help transition 150,000 acres to regenerative agriculture practices in 2024 – contributing to scope 3 carbon reductions as part of the Mars Net Zero Roadmap.
• Mars will work with agribusiness companies and solutions providers, including ADM, The Andersons, Inc., Riceland Foods, and Soil and Water Outcomes Fund, through its pet food brands like ROYAL CANIN^®, PEDIGREE^® and IAMS™ among others in the US and Canada.

FRANKLIN, Tenn., Oct. 15, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mars, Incorporated, a global leader in pet care products and services, confectionery, snacking and food and the maker of some of the world's most-loved brands, has announced collaborations to provide financial incentives to farmers as they implement regenerative agriculture practices in North America.

These partnerships aim to encourage wheat, corn, and rice farmers in select regions of North America to implement regenerative agriculture practices, contributing to scope 3 carbon reductions as part of the Mars Net Zero Roadmap. Multiyear partnerships have begun with partners and suppliers including ADM, The Andersons, Inc., Riceland Foods, and Soil and Water Outcomes Fund, led by Royal Canin USA and Mars Petcare US, Inc. Key agricultural regions covered are Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Michigan and Ontario, Canada.

"At Mars, we recognize that an important part of achieving our climate goals is addressing the environmental footprint of our ingredients. Our commitment to regenerative agriculture is a key component of our broader sustainability strategy. These partnerships reflect our dedication to reducing our environmental impact, supporting farmer livelihoods, and helping to ensure a resilient supply chain for the long term," said Jon Peattie, Senior Vice President, Commercial, Mars Petcare US, Inc.

Through these partnerships, farmers are supported in implementing regenerative agriculture practices including cover crops, reduced tillage, and extended crop rotations, with an aim to deliver benefits such as increased yields, lower greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through reduction and carbon sequestration, improved water quality, enhanced soil health, and greater biodiversity in the implementation regions. The results of the programs will be tracked using measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification systems.

"Royal Canin is committed to offering pet owners sustainable choices when feeding their pets, and that starts, in part, with how their food is grown," said Racquel White, Vice President Corporate Affairs, Royal Canin. "We are committed to working with suppliers and partners to help farmers implement agriculture practices to help reduce our carbon footprint and support the resilience of the people throughout our supply chains."

Our Partners

• ADM Partnership with Royal Canin USA and Mars Petcare US, Inc.: ADM has a broad and ambitious approach to regenerative agriculture, bringing together partners to support outcome-based farming that promotes better soil health as well as farming business development. The partnership will work towards identifying and accounting for environmental benefits, including improved water quality, soil health and biodiversity. The initiative aims to promote practices such as reduced tillage and cover crops on more than 100,000 acres in 2024, supporting outcomes like reduced fertilizer use and an improved carbon footprint. 
• The Andersons Partnership with Mars Petcare US, Inc.: The Andersons groundbreaking corn procurement program will support farmers across a large region including Nebraska, Ohio, Michigan and Ontario, Canada. Investments from Mars Petcare US, Inc. will assist in enrolling farmers in the program, providing technical support and reporting on key metrics. The estimated annual coverage starts with 30,000 acres across these regions in 2024.
• Riceland Foods Partnership with Royal Canin USA and Mars Petcare US, Inc.: The collaboration with Riceland Carbon Ready™ program launched in 2022. In partnership with Arva Intelligence, the program supports the cooperative's farmer-members as they implement and maintain sustainable on-farm practices and holistically care for the land. With the growing demand to achieve climate goals, this program helps position Riceland farmer-members as industry leaders and instills a sense of pride and accomplishment as they work towards climate-smart solutions throughout the agriculture supply chain. The estimated annual coverage is more than 10,000 acres across the regions in 2024.
• Soil and Water Outcomes Fund Partnership with Royal Canin USA: This partnership provides financial incentives directly to farmers who begin or expand on-farm conservation practices that yield positive environmental outcomes such as carbon sequestration, emission reductions and water quality improvement. These voluntary, climate-smart practices include reduced tillage, cover crop implementation, extended crop rotations, and fertilization management. The growing partnership has a strong start with a 10,000-acre pilot in 2024.

Recently, Mars, Incorporated released the 2023 Mars Sustainable in a Generation Report, announcing record 8% GHG emissions reduction, doubling its total GHG reduction to 16% reduction across its full value chain and delivering its largest single year reduction in GHG emissions against its 2015 baseline. With almost 60% of the company's value chain GHG footprint coming from agricultural ingredients, Mars is scaling up new climate-smart agriculture initiatives to drive continued decarbonization.

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About Mars, Incorporated
Mars, Incorporated is driven by the belief that the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today. As a $50bn+ family-owned business, our diverse and expanding portfolio of leading pet care products and veterinary services support pets all around the world and our quality snacking and food products delight millions of people every day. We produce some of the world's best-loved brands including ROYAL CANIN^®, PEDIGREE^®, WHISKAS^®, CESAR^®, DOVE^®, EXTRA^®, M&M's^®, SNICKERS^® and BEN'S ORIGINAL™. Our international networks of pet hospitals, including BANFIELD™, BLUEPEARL™, VCA™ and ANICURA™ span preventive, general, specialty, and emergency veterinary care, and our global veterinary diagnostics business ANTECH® offers breakthrough capabilities in pet diagnostics. The Mars Five Principles — Quality, Responsibility, Mutuality, Efficiency and Freedom — inspire our 150,000 Associates to act every day to help create a better world for people, pets and the planet. 

For more information about Mars, please visit www.mars.com. Join us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube. 

About Royal Canin USA
Royal Canin USA, a subsidiary of Mars, Incorporated is a leader in science-based cat and dog health nutrition. Founded by a veterinarian in 1968, Royal Canin has more than 50 years of experience in delivering individualized nutritional solutions. In collaboration with an expert team of nutritionists, breeders, and veterinarians from around the world, Royal Canin places cats and dogs at the central point of the innovation process. The ROYAL CANIN^® product line offers a range of diets based on size, age, breed, lifestyle, and therapeutic requirements. ROYAL CANIN^® diets are available at veterinary hospitals and pet specialty stores nationwide. To learn more about Royal Canin, visit www.royalcanin.com and follow us on Instagram at @royalcaninus.

About ADM
ADM unlocks the power of nature to enrich the quality of life. We're an essential global agricultural supply chain manager and processor, providing food security by connecting local needs with global capabilities. We're a premier human and animal nutrition provider, offering one of the industry's broadest portfolios of ingredients and solutions from nature. We're a trailblazer in health and well-being, with an industry-leading range of products for consumers looking for new ways to live healthier lives. We're a cutting-edge innovator, guiding the way to a future of new consumer and industrial solutions. And we're a leader in sustainability, scaling across entire value chains to help decarbonize the multiple industries we serve. Around the globe, our innovation and expertise are meeting critical needs while nourishing quality of life and supporting a healthier planet. Learn more at www.adm.com. 

About The Andersons, Inc.
The Andersons, Inc., named in 2024 to Forbes list of America's Most Successful Small Companies, Newsweek's list of America's Most Responsible Companies, and one of The Americas' Fastest Growing Companies by the Financial Times, is a diversified company rooted in agriculture that conducts business in the commodity merchandising, renewables, and nutrient & industrial sectors. Guided by its Statement of Principles, The Andersons is committed to providing extraordinary service to its customers, helping its employees improve, supporting its communities, and increasing the value of the company. For more information, please visit www.andersonsinc.com.

About Riceland Foods, Inc.

Riceland Foods is the world's largest miller and marketer of rice serving 5,500 farmer members in Arkansas and Missouri. As a farmer-owned cooperative, Riceland stores, transports, processes and markets more than 2.5 million metric tons of grain each year, and its products are sold across the United States and around 25 countries. It's also one of the Mid-South's major soybean processors. Riceland products include white, brown and parboiled rice, rice bran oil, soybean meal and oil and feed ingredients. Learn more at Riceland.com.

About 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 transacting 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.

Media contact: Georgia Prints, [email protected]

SOURCE Mars, Inc.