ADM expands regenerative agriculture to Hungary

ADM is expanding its re:generations regenerative agriculture program to Hungary, one of Europe’s leading producers in high oleic sunflower seeds, providing financial and agronomic support to participating farmers in collaboration with Bayer.

ADM said bringing the program, which is designed to create economic value for farmers taking steps to implement regenerative agriculture practices, to Hungary reflects a strategic decision as it seeks to meet growing customer demand for sunflower seeds.

The program in Hungary aims to enroll 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) of mostly sunflower seeds but also soybeans for the 2025 harvest and to scale in subsequent years. Sunflower seed farmers will be provided with financial and technical support to implement qualifying regenerative agriculture practices, including minimum tillage, cover crops, companion crops, 4R nutrient management, organic matter/manure use, and crop rotation.

“ADM’s unique position in the supply chain enables us to effectively meet customer demand for our regenerative agriculture program,” said Candy Siekmann, director of climate smart agriculture origination at ADM. “Launching this program in Hungary is an exciting next step in our efforts to support farmers across Europe, and we’re looking forward to working with Bayer to promote an economically attractive model, where business and farmers can work together to build a more resilient, sustainable supply chain.”

ADM said it will compensate participating farmers for each qualifying hectare, measured and verified using Bayer’s digital capabilities in collaboration with Trinity Agtech’s Sandy platform, a recognized solution backed by science that complies with the highest standards available in the market.

In addition to financial support, participating farmers will receive agronomic guidance from specialized professionals, ADM said. That support starts with a deep agronomical understanding of issues specific to each region, followed by on-farm assessments, where agronomists visit fields and, together with farmers, design specific development plans for each farm.

Enrolled farmers will be able to share their experiences with one another and discuss different techniques during field visits and peer learning opportunities. By coordinating peer-to-peer networks, knowledge can be shared with a goal of revitalizing rural communities, ADM noted.

“For the past five years, Bayer has established a best-in-class regenerative agriculture service tailored for food chain companies, integrating digital innovation, operational efficiency, and agronomic expertise,” said Lionnel Alexandre, EMEA Head of Ecosystem Services at Bayer Crop Science. “We are proud to collaborate with ADM, whose program is instrumental in driving meaningful impact across the sector. We are thrilled to embark on this new phase of our strategic collaboration in Hungary and eagerly anticipate the positive impact we will create together.”

In parallel to the program expansion to Hungary, ADM said it is conducting a feasibility study to assess the effectiveness of various regenerative agriculture practices in reducing carbon emissions, increasing biodiversity and improving soil health in enrolled farms to build farm resiliency. The study will enable evaluation of the effectiveness of the practices and help shape the larger scale effort.

In the next two years, subject to customer demand, ADM said its re:generations program will expand into a broader range of crops such as corn and rapeseed, and geographies including Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine.

This expansion in Hungary marks the fifth country in Europe that ADM has rolled out its regenerative agriculture program to since 2023. In the Europe Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region, ADM has expanded the program to more than 80,000 acres, including wheat and canola in Poland, soy in Serbia, and various crops in Germany and the United Kingdom. By the end of 2025, ADM said it aims to enroll over 160,000 acres (65,000 hectares) across the region, more than doubling 2024.

In 2024, ADM said its global regenerative agriculture efforts focused on retaining participating farmers, expanding practice adoption and rolling out projects in additional geographies. For 2024, ADM also had a goal to engage 3.5 million acres but surged to 5 million acres, achieving its 2025 benchmark a year early.

A comprehensive view of the program is available in ADM’s third annual Regenerative Agriculture Report.

Tags: Ukraine, rapeseed, Bulgaria, Germany, corn, Hungary, Turkey, United Kingdom, Romania, sunflower seeds, canola, Bayer, ADM, demand, Poland, regenerative agriculture, soybeans, Serbia, wheat