Smart & Sustainable Farming
Advancing Regenerative Agriculture
Since the 1950s, potato agriculture has been at the heart of our business and today, we are proud to work closely with around 3,500 farmers across the world. McCain recognises that farmers are on the frontline and see the impacts of climate change every day, including extreme weather events such as drought and flooding. As such, our focus has been on advancing regenerative agriculture across all of our farms to rehabilitate and enhance our farm ecosystems through soil health enhancement, effective water management and biodiversity preservation.
What is regenerative agriculture?
McCain defines regenerative agriculture as an ecosystem-based approach to farming that aims to improve farmer resilience, yield and quality by improving soil health, enhancing biodiversity, and reducing the impact of synthetic inputs.
McCain, in partnership with sector stakeholders, has developed six key principles that can be applied to potato farming
McCain’s Regenerative Agriculture Framework
The McCain Regenerative Agriculture Framework is a pathway to progress and guide for our farmers to support their journey towards a more regenerative model. The Framework provides the measurement criteria for the achievement of our goals across different levels: Onboarding, Beginner, Master and Expert. As farmers expand the regenerative practices they put into action on their farm, or adopt new ones, they move up the continuum.
The Framework measures progress based on seven indicators: armoured soils, preferably with living plants; enhanced crop diversity; minimised soil disturbance; reduced toxicity of pesticides; enhanced farm and ecosystem diversity; reduced agro-chemical impact; optimised water use and increased soil organic matter. While it is a global framework, we are working closely with our farmers to discover what works best on their farms in a way that makes economic and agronomic sense for each country and region.
The result is a farm with better climate resilience, lower input costs, reduced greenhouse gas emissions, improved biodiversity and soil health and increased water holding capacity.
Our global commitments
- Onboarding level of regenerative agricultural practices reached across 100% of McCain’s potato acreage by 2030
- Reaching beginner level for regenerative agricultural practices across 50% of McCain’s potato acreage by 2030
- Operating three Farms of the Future by 2025, dedicated to developing regenerative agriculture practices and transferring this knowledge to growers
- Developing strategic research partnerships and leveraging collective action to advance regenerative agriculture.
Find out more about our progress locally.
Our 6 pillars of regenerative agriculture
RESILIENCE
Improve farmer livelihoods through long-term farm competitiveness and climate change adaptation
Increase different types of crops grown on the farm and encourage biodiversity
Precisely manage protection products, fertiliser & water elements
Reduce tillage to maintain structure and keep carbon in the soil
Ensure soils are covered by residues or living plants year-round
Incorporate green manure, compost or livestock elements to increase organic matter and soil fertility
Farms of the Future
Farming is at the heart of McCain’s business, however, against a backdrop of an ever-growing population, climate change, soil degradation, biodiversity loss and food waste, the future of the global food system is at risk. Reimagining a more sustainable way to grow produce is a key element on our journey to producing more planet-friendly food.
As such, we have launched our Farms of the Future (FoTF) project, investing in these commercial scale farms to increase the agronomic and economic resilience of our yields. The aim is to make the global food system more robust and sustainable by bringing together the technology of the 21st century and going back to concrete, local and nature-based solutions. Not only is this environmentally sound but it is also economically sustainable – ensuring security of supply and sustained food certainty.
By 2025, McCain will have three Farms of the Future operating in different growing regions around the world. The first is located just outside McCain’s hometown of Florenceville, New Brunswick, in Canada, and the second, ner Lichtenburg South Africa.
South Africa’s Farm of the Future
We have invested R100 million into the SA Farm of the Future project with a view to eventually hand over the farm to community partners, a key part of our empowerment ambitions.
The farm totals 465 ha irrigation and 90 ha dryland on which McCain will grow 125 ha potatoes, per year. Through partnerships with various sector experts, it will focus on enhancing productivity, while prioritising soil health, water efficiency, the reduction of agro-chemical impacts and the introduction and preservation of biodiversity. Resulting crops from the farm will be used to create some of South Africa’s favourite McCain products.
SA’s Farm of the Future at a glance
465 ha
irrigation
90 ha
dryland
Expected to grow
125 ha
of potatoes annually
R100 million
invested
We are proud to be the centre of mealtimes for South African families, helping our customers celebrate real connections through delicious planet friendly food. We are confident that smart and sustainable farming will help growers future-proof their operations ensuring that both McCain and our farmers have a business for generations to come.