THE SUSTAINABILITY INTERVIEW
Tailoring regenerative agriculture projects Tate & Lyle’ s regenerative agriculture strategy is anchored in practical partnerships tailored to local farming systems.
In the United States, the company helped to launch a major programme in 2019 with Truterra, part of farmerowned cooperative Land O’ Lakes, covering about 1.5 million acres of maize across the Corn Belt. The initiative promotes practices such as reduced tillage, cover cropping and optimised fertiliser use to improve soil health, cut emissions and build resilience.
In China, by contrast, Tate & Lyle supports smallholder stevia farmers, often family-run and sometimes women-led, managing only a few hectares each. Here, the emphasis is less on digital tools and more on face-to-face agronomy support.
Rowan notes that farmers in the programme have cut greenhouse gas emissions by more than 50 % while increasing yields by about 6 %, largely through improved fertiliser management. “ By moving to more precise fertiliser application, we’ ve reduced environmental impact and improved economics,” Rowan says.
26 February 2026