Takeaways: From Data to Decarbonization

We recently hosted a conversation with HowGood to discuss common pitfalls and proven practices for driving sustainability ROI in ag supply chains. Below are four key takeaways from the conversation. Want to hear the full conversation? Stream the replay here.

1. Ensure your program investments align with your sourcing region

Without a clear view into the areas where you source, you can’t ensure that regenerative agriculture programs are impacting the actual ingredients in your products. While it may sound obvious, we’ve seen well intentioned programs invest in the wrong areas because there wasn’t a clear map of where to focus at the outset. Misplaced investments like these can lead to stranded assets that can’t be claimed as reductions in a corporate GHG inventory.

That’s why before launching regen ag programs, it’s good to ground your plan in the facilities and counties from which you actually source. Start with purchase orders and first points of aggregation. You can then determine your sourcing regions using heuristics such as the typical distance a commodity travels from farm to processing facility. That way, you can validate that the growers and fields you intend to enroll in regenerative incentive programs really flow into your purchased goods. When action is tied to the same crops and geographies that feed your Scope 3 inventory and product carbon footprint, reductions move cleanly into inventory and claims.

“In food and ag, the hard part is aligning climate action to the ingredients we actually buy. Without that precision you can miss target commodities and jeopardize downstream claims in your product carbon footprints, LCAs, and Scope 3 inventory.” — Jacob Talbot, Regrow

2. Prioritize emissions hotspots using primary practice and emissions data

Once you’ve defined your supply shed, use this insight to upgrade your emissions baselines and reporting using supply-specific data. For example, remote sensing enables you to monitor actual field practices (e.g. tillage, cover crops, rotations) and use those data as inputs for emissions modeling (such as a biogeochemical model like DNDC) to quantify cradle-to-farm-gate emissions, including on-field emissions and upstream inputs and transport. 

Supply-specific emissions data will allow you to identify emissions hotspots, set realistic targets, and design regenerative ag programs that will target the highest impact areas with the strongest ROI for each dollar invested.

“In the U.S., for a single commodity you can see multiple-fold differences in emissions factors across regions, driven by soils, weather, fertilizer rates, and tillage. And that’s really material.” — Jacob Talbot, Regrow

3. Use a shared data foundation

Data silos can arise from an array of issues, including functional goals, industry jargon, and a lack of interoperability in software systems. Our language and points of reference can vary considerably: R&D might focus on recipes; procurement on POs; sustainability talks GHGp.

One approach we’ve seen help to break down these divides is stronger data grounding: centering on consistent procurement and supply data. This is the same data that informs your sourcing region and emissions data we spoke about previously.

Using consistent data, R&D can model formulation changes, procurement can compare suppliers or regions apples-to-apples, sustainability can track progress toward emissions targets, and reporting can claim impact compliantly. Progress accelerates because the numbers don’t need to be reconciled every time.

“Once you’ve got a unified data set, everyone starts speaking the same language. R&D sees the impact of recipe changes in real time, procurement can compare sourcing options, and sustainability knows which suppliers to focus on.” — Crystal Grainger, HowGood

4. Treat ROI as a loop, not a line

Every company needs to ensure that sustainability investments deliver a strong return, based on solid data. Yet your GHG reduction strategy isn’t a point in time analysis, but a portfolio of action you build and iterate on over time.

Consistently delivering high impact will result from evaluating three levers side-by-side using your consistent data foundation: reformulation, sourcing decisions, and regenerative agriculture investments. On a regular reporting cadence, model your abatement potential and program costs to recalibrate progress and opportunities ahead. Then rebalance future investments where the impact potential is greatest for your products and  sourcing regions.

This plan → prove → scale loop turns sustainability into a compounding capability, with improvements flowing from field to product to claimable impact.

“Shift your mind from ROI as a linear path to a cycle… build your ROI plan, prove it, and then perpetuate and build upon it.” — Crystal Grainger, HowGood

Why this matters today

Guidance is moving toward traceability and supplier alignment. Weather volatility is already reshaping yields and risks. Finance teams expect a provable ROI. The common thread across all five themes is supply specificity based on place, practice, and product, and the ability to retain that specificity from procurement to reporting. That’s how you ensure your impact is claimable, your investments build supply resilience on the farm, and programs deliver on their potential.

How can I get started?

Regrow and HowGood are teaming up to offer a custom Product Carbon Footprint leveraging data sets from both solutions. If you'd like to see the type of impact these insights can make on your sustainability programs, simply reach out to us here.