Brands Creating Value with Regenefied Farming

Image: Makers Mark

​Corporate Challenge: Analyzing verticals to source better raw materials.

Ironbound Strategy: Sourcing raw materials from patriotic farms is a new way to create value for customers, employees, and society.

Ironbound Action:  Kentucky based Makers Mark has pledged to source 100% of their grains from regenefied farms by 2025. Makers Mark is also calling on companies to source raw ingredients from farms that are regenefying – to protect American farmland – and America itself.  The bourbon maker certified their Star Hill Farm as part of an effort to regenefy 100 million acres of farmland across the US.  When consumers realize they can choose products that protect their country, early adopters of these value creating processes will experience exponential gains.

* In the last 40 years, approximately 1/3 of global farmland is no longer arable.  Each year, a typical U.S. farm can lose 4 tons of topsoil per acre.
 
** Desertification of overused farmland will become a problem across America in the next decade.  The tipping point to avoid a multi-generation catastrophe is if 10% of the United States’ 900 million acres of farmland regenefies.
 
*** Regenefying farmland involves improving soil health and ecosystem resilience after harvests, so that farm land is not completely stripped of its nutrients over time.  It can be as easy as planting a diversity of trees around the edges of farms.  Regenefied farms reduce machine wear and tear, labor costs, and the amount of fertilizers needed for high yields.