Page 1: Financing Regenerative Farms and Food Systems

Government and food industry programs were never designed or funded to deal with uncertain food supplies along with depleted soil, water, and wildlife resources on millions of acres. Further, conventional commodity-based food systems have reduced real farm profits to the point where most working and retired producers cannot afford to help finance children and grandchildren who want to keep farming.

As shown by USDA ERS research, more debt, off-farm jobs, and small grants for low and medium-income farmers will never be enough rebuild our soils and support modern urban and rural farm and food communities. We need new ways to finance owner-operated commercial-scale regenerative farms and food processing facilities.

Given the above, our company’s goal is to offer professional services that enable landowners, working farmers, and local investors to cooperate on increasing rural wealth to levels that allow farms and food processing facilities to pass from generation to generation. In our view, the only feasible way to finance these essential businesses is to enlist the support of urban consumers in large numbers over long time spans.

Farmer-Owned Retail Food Brands

Farmer-owned retail food brands for nearby cities have the potential to earn extensive consumer and investor support for regenerative food systems. Although government and food industry support are essential, producer control of brand development is also essential for the reasons cited above, and because retired landowners and owner-operators still own and control most of the farmland in this country.

Brand Development

To earn consumer support, farmers and landowners need a systematic way to attract risk capital to startup regenerative farm projects.

Our brand development team has the experience and skills needed to help landowners, farmers and direct sellers work together to build lasting relationships with consumers and local investors. Our team includes professional with legal, regenerative farm management, banking, and marketing experience.

Our approach to attracting consumer and investor support emphasizes:

• Scalable production units located near big cities
• Lease/purchase agreements between retired landowners and experienced producers
• Legally binding succession agreements
• An initial emphasis on grass-raised and grass-finished beef
• Written contracts with locally owned feedlots, processors, and marketers
• Extensive public and investor education programs

Qualified Investors

At this point in time, passive investors, non-local investors, and professionally managed funds should be avoided because they are not directly connected to local markets and communities. We need active and visible local investors who, 1) Want to beat long-term stock and bonds returns, 2) Are willing to learn the regenerative farming business from experienced producers and processors, 3) Have the money and patience to play a long game, and 4) Understand the profit potential of producer-owned regenerative retail brands. 

Funding

Planning local regenerative farm and brand development projects requires funding from local governments, including planning agencies. Our brand development team will use our two Omaha area farms to demonstrate how farmers can organize land, processing, and marketing services to attract investors to regenerative commodity markets and producer-owned retail organic food brands.

More Information

Page 2 on this website is on organizing landowners, markets, processing, and financing.

Market issues are explained on page 3.

Page 4 summarizes our qualifications.

Please contact me to arrange an on-line discussion.

Thank you.

Jim Steffen
js@raisedfree.org
402-317-2639

Posted 03-19-2024