Aus to lead the world in regen farming

As food production across the world swells into 2030 and beyond, Australian farmers are in the box seat to take the lead in regenerative farming.

Impact Ag Partners chief executive Hugh Killen. Picture: Supplied

Australian farmers have the ability to lead the world in regenerative agriculture, as investment appetite for the industry grows over the next decade.

Hugh Killen, chief executive of sustainable agriculture investment firm Impact Ag Partners, said that compared to North America and Europe, Australia’s tough landscape and a necessity to adapt to new ideas has put Australia ahead of its counterparts.

“By nature of us having to operate in a tough farming environment, we’ve always been quite entrepreneurial and adapted to technology quite quickly,” he told the Australian Ag Podcast.

“Things like zero-till farming have been around in Australia for a long time, but in the US it’s kind of new.

“I think in many ways agritech and adoption of technology in Australia is pretty strong, so we have the ability to lead in regenerative farming.”

With a growing focus from large corporations and offshore investors into regenerative agriculture, Mr Killen expects investment into the space to grow, but that there is work to do.

“I think it has a huge focus globally from the largest CPGs and banks in the world, in that they want to transition their supply chains into (regen ag). Over time, with the right investment criteria and regulatory environments we can see it happen, but it will require a lot.

“You need not only whole farms but whole regions, and you need the whole value chain to be pulling as well towards products that are produced regeneratively.”

Looking forward to the next decade, Mr Killen expects the regenerative market to grow, as food production and the world’s population increases.

“I think if you go back to soil health and soil carbon, if you can build soil health on your farm you’re going to have a much healthier and much more profitable production base,” he said.

“The burning platform for me is when you look at a macro view of soil health globally, 98 per cent of the world’s terrestrial food production is soil based. Food production is going to grow 55 per cent by 2030, but half the world’s soils are heavily degraded and have been lost faster than they can replenish itself.

“So building really viable soil carbon projects and thinking about that transition to farming in a different way that’s less extractive, it’s a necessity.”

With about $900 million in assets under management already, Impact Ag is looking to continue to boost its portfolio in coming years.

“We’d love to just continue to grow in the way that we are. We want to get to a couple of billion dollars in assets under management,” Mr Killen said.

You can listen to the full interview with Hugh Killen on the Australian Ag Podcast on Spotify or here.