USA – Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM) and Farmers Business Network (FBN) have announced the formation of a joint venture to expand the Gradable platform to advance sustainable farming practices.
This initiative aims to enhance digital technology in sustainable farming and commodities processing, making it easier for farmers and buyers to engage in eco-friendly practices.
ADM, a global food processing and commodities trading corporation, and FBN, a leading B2B marketplace in agriculture, have come together to leverage Gradable’s capabilities.
Originally launched in 2020, Gradable is a technology platform designed to track sustainable and regenerative agricultural practices, providing farmers with financial rewards for their eco-friendly efforts.
Gradable offers grain buyers reliable farm-level data, enabling them to meet the growing demand for sustainably produced products.
The joint venture marks a significant milestone as Gradable will now operate across ADM’s extensive network of facilities in the U.S. and Canada, expanding its reach to more commercial partners and countries.
According to Greg Morris, President of ADM’s Ag Services and Oilseeds business, “ADM’s regenerative agriculture efforts enrolled more than 2.8 million acres last year, and we know that’s just the beginning. The continued expansion of this work requires a strong technology platform that enables farmers to participate easily and provides farm-level data for grain buyers and end customers.”
Gradable has already made a substantial impact, with over 20,000 farm users across more than 12 million acres in North America.
The platform has facilitated the scoring of more than 200 million bushels of corn and soybeans and analysed 48 million acre-years of agronomic events. Moreover, it generates over US$30 million in financial incentives for sustainable practices each year.
With the formation of this joint venture, FBN and ADM aim to enhance the platform’s capabilities, making it easier for grain buyers to validate farmers’ sustainability claims by accessing critical farm-level data.
This data is becoming increasingly essential as consumer demand for clean, sustainably produced food rises and new regulations require transparency in environmental practices.
Steele Lorenz, CEO of Gradable, emphasised the platform’s role in the evolving agrifood industry, particularly in light of new regulations like the EU Deforestation Regulation, which mandates that products exported to the European Union be deforestation-free.
“These policies are large enough and have enough teeth to change grain markets, change the flow of where goods come from and where they go to,” Lorenz noted.
As the venture progresses, the platform is expected to expand beyond North America, with ambitions to become a global leader in sustainable farming e-procurement.
“It’s not enough to be the North American platform. Our ambitions are to be the global leader, and we have to be there pretty quickly,” Lorenz added.
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