Regenerative agriculture KPIs by sector (with ranges)

The 5–8 KPIs that matter, benchmark ranges, and what the data suggests next. Focus on implementation trade-offs, stakeholder incentives, and the hidden bottlenecks.

In 2024, the global regenerative agriculture market reached $12.66 billion, with projections indicating growth to $57.16 billion by 2033—an 18.7% compound annual growth rate that signals a fundamental shift in how food systems measure success (Grand View Research, 2024). Perhaps more telling than market size, however, is the operational data emerging from the field: ADM expanded its regenerative acres from 2.8 million in 2023 to 3.5 million in 2024, targeting 5 million by 2025, while Syngenta's seed production operations achieved 89% cover crop adoption and 52% minimum/no-till implementation across 250,000 hectares (ADM Regenerative Agriculture Report, 2024; Syngenta ESG Report, 2024). These figures represent the emergence of sector-specific key performance indicators that enable meaningful comparison, benchmarking, and—critically—accountability across agricultural value chains. For procurement professionals navigating Scope 3 emissions targets and EU deforestation regulations, understanding these KPIs is no longer optional; it is the foundation of credible sustainability claims.

Why It Matters

The agricultural sector accounts for approximately 10-12% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with food systems broadly contributing up to 34% when land use change, processing, and distribution are included (IPCC, 2023). Regenerative agriculture practices offer a pathway to reduce these emissions while simultaneously addressing soil degradation—a crisis affecting 25% of U.S. agricultural acres through water erosion concerns alone (USDA, 2024). Yet the promise of regenerative agriculture has often outpaced the evidence, creating a measurement crisis that threatens both credibility and scale.

The World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) convened 38 leading agri-food companies through the One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B) coalition to address this challenge, resulting in 11 shared outcome metrics for regenerative agriculture measurement (WBCSD, 2025). This convergence represents a pivotal moment: the transition from aspirational commitments to verifiable, sector-specific performance indicators that can withstand regulatory scrutiny and investor due diligence.

For EU-focused procurement teams, the stakes are particularly high. The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), and upcoming Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) all require granular traceability and impact measurement across agricultural supply chains. KPIs that were once "nice to have" are now compliance requirements, with penalties for non-conformance reaching 5% of annual turnover under CSDDD provisions.

Key Concepts

The Five-Impact Framework

Climate Farmers' measurement approach, widely adopted across European regenerative networks, organizes KPIs into five interconnected domains: soil health, biodiversity, water cycle, farmer livelihood, and community benefits. This holistic framework prevents the optimization of single metrics at the expense of others—a common failure mode when carbon sequestration is pursued without regard for biodiversity or farmer economics.

Sector-Specific KPI Ranges

The following table presents benchmark ranges across major agricultural sectors, synthesized from ADM, Syngenta, WBCSD, and peer-reviewed literature. These ranges reflect current best practice rather than aspirational targets, enabling procurement teams to assess supplier performance against demonstrated achievability.

Sector	KPI Category	Metric	Baseline Range	Target Range	Measurement Method
Row Crops (Corn, Soy, Wheat)	Soil Health	Soil Organic Matter Change	0-0.5% annual increase	0.5-1.5% annual increase	Lab analysis, 0-30cm depth
Row Crops	Carbon	Soil Carbon Sequestration	0.2-0.5 tCO2e/ha/yr	0.5-1.2 tCO2e/ha/yr	Soil sampling + modeling
Row Crops	Practice Adoption	Cover Crop Implementation	15-30% of acres	>60% of acres	Field verification
Row Crops	Practice Adoption	Reduced/No-Till	20-40% of acres	>50% of acres	Satellite + field verification
Livestock/Grazing	Biodiversity	Species Richness Index	5-10 species/m²	15-25 species/m²	Botanical surveys
Livestock/Grazing	Water	Water Infiltration Rate	5-15 mm/hr	25-50 mm/hr	Ring infiltrometer testing
Livestock/Grazing	Carbon	Grassland Carbon Stock	40-60 tC/ha	60-100 tC/ha	Soil coring + lab analysis
Perennial/Agroforestry	Carbon	Above-Ground Biomass Carbon	10-30 tC/ha	50-150 tC/ha	Remote sensing + allometry
Perennial/Agroforestry	Biodiversity	Pollinator Abundance	Variable baseline	>30% increase from baseline	Transect counts
All Sectors	Nitrogen	Nitrogen Use Efficiency	30-50%	60-80%	Input-output balance
All Sectors	Economic	Net Farm Income Change	-10% to +5% (transition)	+15% to +120% (established)	Farm financial records

MRV (Monitoring, Reporting, Verification) Architecture

Credible KPI measurement requires a layered approach combining on-site evaluation (visual assessments, soil sampling), laboratory analysis (soil organic carbon, nutrient profiles, biological activity), remote sensing (Sentinel-2, Landsat time-series, drone imagery), and IoT devices (real-time soil moisture sensors, weather stations). The cost-accuracy tradeoff is significant: direct soil carbon measurement costs $15-50 per sample, while satellite-based estimation costs less than $1 per hectare but carries uncertainty ranges of ±30-40% (Climate Farmers, 2024).

What's Working and What Isn't

What's Working

Outcome-based metrics standardization is finally gaining traction. The WBCSD OP2B framework's 11 shared outcomes—covering soil health, carbon, biodiversity, water, and livelihoods—provide a common language that enables cross-company comparison and aggregated reporting. Companies like Nestlé (CHF 1.2 billion committed through 2025 for regenerative sourcing) can now benchmark their portfolio performance against industry peers (Nestlé, 2024).

Technology-enabled verification has dramatically reduced farmer burden. Indigo Agriculture's June 2024 program updates reduced data submission time by 80% (to approximately 30 minutes) while increasing credit generation by 40-60% for qualifying fields. Carbon credit prices rose to $80 per credit, with 75% of value flowing to farmers—a critical improvement for adoption economics (Indigo Ag, 2024).

Integrated supply chain programs demonstrate scalability. ADM's partnership with J.M. Smucker Company covers 20,000 peanut acres annually through 2026, including 5,000 acres specifically engaged through the National Black Growers Council. Mars, Inc.'s December 2024 multi-year partnerships with ADM and Cargill for European pet nutrition sourcing shows major brands committing capital to supplier transitions.

Small-scale farm engagement is accelerating faster than expected. Small-scale operations now represent 52.5% of the regenerative agriculture market with a 16.5% CAGR—the fastest-growing segment—challenging assumptions that regenerative practices require economies of scale (Mordor Intelligence, 2024).

What Isn't Working

Soil carbon sequestration claims face scientific pushback. Recent eddy covariance flux data from 2025 indicates that no-till systems are approximately carbon neutral rather than active CO2 sinks—a significant downgrade from earlier projections. Research published in Earth's Future found that only 32% of U.S. cropland (44 million hectares) is suitable for cover cropping that achieves meaningful carbon sequestration, far lower than optimistic estimates (Uludere Aragon et al., 2024).

Measurement complexity creates barriers. While standardized metrics exist, their implementation requires expertise and resources that many suppliers—particularly smallholders—lack. The lack of interoperable data systems means farmers often must report the same information multiple times to different buyers, creating friction that inhibits adoption.

Carbon saturation limits are often ignored. Soils have finite capacity for carbon stabilization, and recent research from China's national soil organic carbon dataset (23,103 samples from 7,852 profiles) shows that while upper cropland soils are gaining carbon, deeper soil layers are losing it—a pattern that complicates net sequestration accounting (Nature Scientific Data, 2024).

Greenwashing risk remains acute. Low consensus on verification protocols creates vulnerability to inflated claims. The voluntary carbon market's credibility challenges have spilled over into regenerative agriculture, with buyers increasingly skeptical of outcomes that cannot be independently verified.

Key Players

Established Leaders

General Mills has committed to advancing regenerative agriculture on 1 million acres by 2030, with particular focus on its oat and wheat supply chains. The company's Annie's brand sources from verified regenerative farms, providing a consumer-facing proof point for B2B sustainability claims.

Danone operates the largest regenerative agriculture program in the dairy sector through its Danone Ecosystem Fund, supporting over 58,000 farmers across its global supply chain. The company's soil carbon measurement protocols are among the most rigorous in the food industry.

Cargill has committed to advancing regenerative agriculture practices across 10 million acres of North American farmland by 2030. Through its RegenConnect™ program, Cargill pays farmers directly for verified outcomes including soil carbon increases and reduced nitrogen losses.

PepsiCo has pledged to spread regenerative practices across 7 million acres—its entire agricultural footprint—by 2030. The company's Positive Agriculture strategy integrates regenerative KPIs into supplier scorecards across its Frito-Lay and Quaker divisions.

Emerging Startups

Indigo Agriculture (Boston, MA) remains the sector's most-funded startup with over $250 million raised in 2023 alone. Its 2024 restructuring into Sustainability Solutions and Biological Products divisions positions it to address both carbon markets and crop protection—critical for farmer profitability.

Regrow Ag (Waterloo, Canada) provides MRV technology using satellite and remote sensing for soil carbon and regenerative practice verification. Its platform enables scaled verification without prohibitive per-acre costs.

Agreena (Copenhagen, Denmark) operates verified carbon programs for European farmers, translating regenerative outcomes into CO2 certificates. The company's focus on regulatory alignment positions it well for EU market requirements.

Pivot Bio (Berkeley, CA) raised $430 million in Series D funding for its nitrogen-fixing microbes, which reduce synthetic fertilizer requirements—addressing the 40-60% nitrogen use efficiency gap that characterizes conventional agriculture.

Loam Bio (Australia) develops microbial solutions that enable crops to sequester carbon in stable soil pools, with peer-reviewed science backing its claims—a critical differentiator in a market plagued by unsubstantiated assertions.

Key Investors & Funders

USDA launched a $700 million Regenerative Pilot Program in December 2025, allocating $400 million through EQIP and $300 million through CSP, signaling federal prioritization of regenerative outcomes.

Mad Capital's Perennial Fund II targets $50 million for farmer transition loans, backed by the Rockefeller Foundation, Builders Vision, and Schmidt Family Foundation.

The Rockefeller Foundation has emerged as a cornerstone funder of regenerative agriculture infrastructure, supporting both research and farmer financing mechanisms.

Breakthrough Energy Ventures (Bill Gates' climate fund) has invested in multiple regenerative agriculture startups, including Pivot Bio and other soil health innovators.

Examples

Land O'Lakes / Truterra: Land O'Lakes' sustainability business unit, Truterra, manages one of the largest farmer sustainability networks in North America. In November 2024, Truterra announced a strategic collaboration with Indigo Ag to standardize agricultural sustainability programs, enabling interoperability between their respective farmer networks. This partnership addresses the fragmentation problem by creating shared data standards and reducing farmer reporting burden. Truterra's program has enrolled over 2 million acres and provides direct payments to farmers for verified soil health improvements.
Nestlé's Regenerative Agriculture Sourcing: Nestlé committed CHF 1.2 billion ($1.49 billion) through 2025 for regenerative agriculture, targeting 50% of key raw materials from regenerative sources by 2030. In April 2024, the company partnered with Cargill to transition 200,000+ acres to regenerative practices across its U.S. supply chain. The program measures soil organic matter, biodiversity indicators, and water retention—with third-party verification through the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative (SAI) Platform's Farm Sustainability Assessment.
Google + Indigo Ag Water Replenishment: In March 2025, Google partnered with Indigo Ag on a $1.5 million initiative to replenish 1.5 billion gallons of water over seven years in Oklahoma through regenerative practices. This represents a novel KPI framework focused on water cycle restoration rather than carbon—recognizing that water outcomes may be more immediately measurable and valuable in water-stressed regions than long-term carbon sequestration claims.

Action Checklist

Conduct baseline KPI assessment across Tier 1 agricultural suppliers using the five-impact framework (soil health, biodiversity, water cycle, farmer livelihood, community benefits)
Evaluate MRV technology providers for cost-accuracy tradeoffs appropriate to your supply chain scale; consider Regrow Ag, Indigo Ag, or Agreena for scaled verification
Align supplier performance expectations with WBCSD OP2B outcome metrics to ensure regulatory compatibility with CSRD and EUDR requirements
Establish differentiated purchasing terms (price premiums, contract length, volume commitments) for suppliers demonstrating verified regenerative outcomes
Build internal capacity for interpreting regenerative agriculture data, including hiring or training staff on soil science fundamentals and MRV methodologies
Integrate regenerative KPIs into existing supplier scorecards and ERP systems to enable portfolio-level tracking and reporting
Develop farmer transition support mechanisms, including access to capital and technical assistance, recognizing the 3-5 year transition period before full economic benefits materialize

FAQ

Q: What is a realistic soil carbon sequestration rate for regenerative agriculture? A: Peer-reviewed research indicates 0.2-1.2 tonnes CO2-equivalent per hectare per year, with significant variation based on climate, soil type, and practice intensity. Recent eddy covariance data suggests no-till alone may be carbon neutral rather than a net sink; meaningful sequestration typically requires integrated practices including cover crops, diverse rotations, and organic matter additions. Buyers should approach claims exceeding 1.5 tCO2e/ha/yr with skepticism unless supported by direct measurement.

Q: How do regenerative agriculture KPIs differ across agricultural sectors? A: Row crops (corn, soy, wheat) emphasize practice adoption rates (cover cropping, reduced tillage), nitrogen use efficiency, and soil organic matter changes. Livestock and grazing operations focus on biodiversity indices, water infiltration rates, and grassland carbon stocks. Perennial and agroforestry systems prioritize above-ground biomass carbon and pollinator abundance. Economic KPIs (net farm income change, input cost reduction) apply across all sectors but show the widest ranges, from -10% during transition to +120% in established regenerative systems.

Q: What verification standards should procurement teams require from suppliers? A: At minimum, require third-party verification aligned with SAI Platform Farm Sustainability Assessment or equivalent. For carbon claims, demand soil sampling at 0-30cm depth with baseline and annual measurements, verified by accredited laboratories. For EU markets, ensure compatibility with CSRD double materiality requirements and EUDR traceability standards. Consider programs with Verra or Gold Standard carbon credit certification for highest credibility, though these add cost and complexity.

Q: How long does it take for regenerative practices to show measurable KPI improvements? A: Practice adoption metrics (cover crop percentage, tillage reduction) can show year-one progress. Soil health indicators (organic matter, infiltration, biological activity) typically require 3-5 years to demonstrate statistically significant improvement. Soil carbon changes at depth may take 5-10 years to stabilize. Economic returns often follow a J-curve: modest losses or flat performance in years 1-3 as input costs adjust, followed by accelerating returns as soil health improves and input requirements decline.

Q: How do we balance multiple KPIs that may conflict? A: The five-impact framework exists precisely to prevent single-metric optimization. For example, maximizing soil carbon might conflict with biodiversity if monoculture cover crops are used. Establish minimum thresholds across all five domains rather than maximizing any single KPI. Weight metrics based on your organization's materiality assessment and stakeholder priorities. Recognize that trade-offs are inherent; the goal is informed decision-making rather than perfection across all dimensions.

Sources

ADM. (2024). 2024 Regenerative Agriculture Report. Archer Daniels Midland Company. Available at: adm.com
Grand View Research. (2024). Regenerative Agriculture Market Size Report, 2024-2033. Available at: grandviewresearch.com
Mordor Intelligence. (2024). Regenerative Agriculture Market Size & 2030 Forecasts. Available at: mordorintelligence.com
Syngenta Group. (2024). ESG Report 2024. Available at: syngentagroup.com
Uludere Aragon, N., et al. (2024). The Realistic Potential of Soil Carbon Sequestration in U.S. Croplands for Climate Mitigation. Earth's Future, 12, e2023EF003866. doi:10.1029/2023EF003866
USDA. (2024). Documentation of Literature, Data, and Modeling: Soil Carbon Durability White Paper. United States Department of Agriculture.
WBCSD. (2025). Implementing Outcome-Based Metrics to Scale Regenerative Agriculture. World Business Council for Sustainable Development. Available at: wbcsd.org
Climate Farmers. (2024). Regenerative Agriculture Outcome Measurement (MRV). Available at: climatefarmers.org
Indigo Agriculture. (2024). Carbon Program Updates: More Money Per Acre for Less Work. Available at: indigoag.com