Projects will support adoption of regenerative
agriculture practices by U.S. farmers on more than 150,000
acres
HSBC Bank USA, N.A., (HSBC) and the Midwest Row Crop
Collaborative (MRCC) announced that HSBC has made a $1.6
million grant to MRCC to accelerate conservation and the adoption
of regenerative practices such as cover crops, nutrient management,
reduced tillage, and prairie strips on large-scale farms in MRCC’s
collaborative projects.
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Nature-based Solutions for Catalyzing a More Resilient U.S.
Food System is the only U.S.-based project included as part of
the Climate Solutions
Partnership, which HSBC announced today. The
Partnership aims to address barriers to scaling sustainable
projects and to bring climate solutions to commercial viability,
while also delivering for people and nature. Together with partners
World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the
global initiative is backed by $100 million of philanthropic
funding from HSBC over five years.
The U.S.-based work, driven by MRCC members Kellogg
Company, PepsiCo, and The Nature Conservancy
partnering with members Unilever and Cargill, is made
possible through direct relationships with row crop farmers, in a
region where row crops account for 75 percent of agricultural land.
As farmers depend on healthy soil and water resources, which are
being depleted rapidly, the benefits of regenerative practice
adoption can offer a lifeline for individual farms over the long
term. These practices protect against the flooding and erosion
impacts of increasingly extreme weather, improve crop yields, and
reduce production costs. "We had gullies and water collecting
across parts of our land for some time, which prevented crops from
being able to grow," said Carter Morgan, a farmer participating in
the Saving Tomorrow’s Agriculture Resources (STAR) initiative of
Georgetown, Illinois. "Once we eliminated tillage and implemented
cover crops, we got erosion under control, soil health improved,
and our herbicide use went way down."
The Climate Solutions Partnership is part of HSBC’s ambitious
climate strategy. HSBC aims to align its provision of financing to
net zero by 2050 or sooner, in line with the Paris Agreement goals,
and to work across the financial sector and beyond to accelerate
solutions that increase the pace of change.
The Partnership seeks to remove barriers and create incentives
in three areas: energy transition, business innovation, and
nature-based solutions. MRCC is part of the focus on nature-based
solutions and will be one of 20 projects globally to protect and
revitalize wetlands, mangroves and forests, and to promote
sustainable agriculture. Working with a network of local partners,
these projects will contribute to net-zero goals by capturing CO2
while increasing social and environmental resilience.
“HSBC’s new global Climate Solutions Partnership is about
investing in tangible, high-potential methods to attack climate
change, and there were no other efforts in the US that impressed us
as much as the work being done by MRCC,” said Kelly Fisher, Head of
Corporate Sustainability, HSBC USA. “These regenerative agriculture
practices will help farmers to keep producing food in a meaningful
and sustainable way long into the future.”
“Soil health is vital for both a healthy natural ecosystem and a
healthy agricultural system that supports farm families and
production of the food we eat. We are honored that our unique
collaborative has been selected to advance the important work of
restoring and maintaining soil health by building on our portfolio
of projects across the Midwest.” said Margaret Henry, PepsiCo’s
Director, Sustainable Agriculture.
Focused on Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Nebraska, the
projects will expand practices that are transferrable to other
growing regions in the Midwest, the U.S., and around the globe.
Benefits of the work will be measured in multiple ways: reduced
carbon emissions, improved water quality and biodiversity, enhanced
food security by reducing soil loss, and improved farm
profitability.
- In Iowa and Nebraska, this grant will build on existing
projects being implemented by Practical Farmers of Iowa to support
expanding cover crops and introducing small grains to provide
continuous living cover that protects and enhances soil
health.
- In Illinois, the Precision Conservation Management
program implemented by the Illinois Corn Growers Association will
be replicated in an entirely new region, expanding its impact to
100 additional farms over four years. A pay-for-performance model
to provide growers conservation practice adoption incentives by
utilizing the STAR initiative will also be implemented in
Illinois.
- In Michigan, MRCC will develop a sustainably grown grain
pilot program that can be incorporated into supply partners’ buying
frameworks, with the potential to link conservation incentives to
the point of sale. Carrie Vollmer-Sanders, farmer, Agriculture
Engagement Strategy Director at The Nature Conservancy, and MRCC
co-chair offers that “on-farm practices benefitting the environment
and society without a visible financial payoff for 3-5 years are
difficult practices to embrace. This grant will allow us to prove
out the financial benefit and break down some of the barriers to
adopting regenerative practices.”
A unique aspect of the Climate Solutions Partnership will be the
creation of a Nature-based Solutions Accelerator, facilitated by
global partners WRI and WWF, which will highlight meaningful
innovations, including MRCC’s work in Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and
Nebraska.
Another unique aspect is that, during the four-year grant term,
participating projects may draw upon additional expertise from
other MRCC members, including Bayer, Environmental Defense Fund,
Walmart, and WWF. MRCC members represent distinct roles in the
food and agriculture value chain, which creates an opportunity to
drive collective action and remove barriers for systemic change to
improve food system health, environmental outcomes, and the
well-being of farmers.
“We firmly believe that partnering with farmers – with support
from trusted networks, technical assistance, and funding
partnerships to weather their first few years of transition to
regenerative practices – is an investment in healthy soils that are
the foundation for a resilient future for Midwest agriculture,”
said Kate Schaffner, Global Sustainability Manager, Kellogg
Company. “We‘re proud to continue our long-standing partnership
with MRCC and this important work as it supports Kellogg’s Better
Days commitment to support one million farmers by the end of
2030.”
Fourth generation wheat farmer Mike Milligan, a participant in
Kellogg’s and The Nature Conservancy’s project in the Saginaw Bay
region of Michigan, echoes the same sentiment, saying “we are here
to build something longer term than one lifespan.”
Note to editors:
Midwest Row Crop Collaborative
Administered by Environmental Initiative, the Midwest Row Crop
Collaborative explores new approaches to agricultural challenges to
find solutions that increase productivity while ensuring soil
health, protecting water, addressing the factors contributing to
climate change, and supporting farm families. Members include
Bayer, Cargill, Environmental Defense Fund, Kellogg Company,
PepsiCo, The Nature Conservancy, Unilever, Walmart, and World
Wildlife Fund.
HSBC
HSBC Bank USA, National Association (HSBC Bank USA, N.A.) serves
customers through retail banking and wealth management, commercial
banking, private banking, and global banking and markets segments.
It operates bank branches in: California; Washington, D.C.;
Florida; Maryland; New Jersey; New York; Pennsylvania; Virginia;
and Washington. HSBC Bank USA, N.A. is the principal subsidiary of
HSBC USA Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC North America
Holdings Inc. In the United States, deposit products are offered by
HSBC Bank USA, N.A., Member FDIC, investment and brokerage services
are provided through HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., (Member
NYSE/FINRA/SIPC) and insurance products are provided through HSBC
Insurance Agency (USA) Inc.
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is
headquartered in London. HSBC serves customers worldwide from
offices in 64 countries and territories in its geographical
regions: Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America, and Middle
East and North Africa. With assets of $2,959bn at 31 March 2021,
HSBC is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services
organizations.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210520005653/en/
MRCC media contact: Deborah Carter McCoy, 651-707-6254,
dcartermccoy@ei-in.org HSBC media contact: Rob Sherman,
646-939-6998, robert.a.sherman@us.hsbc.com
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