CHICAGO — ADM has joined General Mills and Walmart in a strategic collaboration to accelerate regenerative agriculture across 40,000 Midwest wheat acres, specifically key growing regions where General Mills sources wheat from ADM for products sold through Walmart and Sam’s Club.

The companies said initial projects will deliver “demonstrable improvements in soil health, water quality and carbon sequestration, offering a model for cross-sector collaboration.” The companies said they will receive technical assistance from American Farmland Trust and Duck Unlimited.

“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,” said Jay Watson, senior director of sustainability at Minneapolis-based 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.”

General Mills and Walmart previously committed to advance regenerative agriculture across 600,000 shared acres by 2030. That pact, initiated in 2023, has led to programs underway across more than 560,000 wheat acres in the United States, the companies said.

The addition of ADM to the collaboration adds a wheat supplier managing nearly 5 million regenerative acres globally. ADM will accelerate progress in Illinois, Indiana and Missouri, the companies said.

“The success of regenerative agriculture depends on the entire value chain,” said Katherine Pickus, chief sustainability officer at Chicago-based 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.”

The companies said the collaboration puts General Mills on pace to achieve its goal of advancing regenerative agriculture on 1 million acres by 2030 and contributes to Walmart’s goal to protect, more sustainably manage or restore at least 50 million acres by 2030.

“What makes this relationship and this project so unique is that we have taken a true shared value approach to it,” said Mikel Hancock, senior director, strategic initiatives, sustainability at Bentonville, Ark.-based Walmart Inc. “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.” 

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