Riceland Foods has announced a new partnership with Arva Intelligence as the cooperative shifts its sustainability focus towards capturing the agronomic and economic data associated with its farmer members crop production. Through the Ingrain Good Sustainability Initiative, Riceland is dedicated to creating value through sustainability for its farmer members.
“The goal of this partnership is to position Riceland farmers for maximum benefit in the markets that are developing around climate smart agriculture,” said Ben Noble, Riceland’s executive vice president and chief operating officer. “Our farmers are already implementing a number of sustainable efforts, and this partnership allows Riceland farmers to quantify and potentially monetize their agronomic practices.”
This partnership will create a pilot program, the Riceland Carbon Ready program, for the 2022 growing season. The Riceland Carbon Ready program is geared towards capturing the data necessary for farmers to sell carbon offsets and other environmental assets in the future. The program will also help the cooperative collect and aggregate farm level data throughout the membership to further Riceland’s Ingrain Good Sustainability Initiative with its customers and consumers.
Riceland Member and Arva CEO Jay McEntire said Arva’s partnership with Riceland is key to meeting consumer demand in the future. "Documenting sustainable practices for CPG and ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) goals and monetizing environmental offsets for Riceland Members is at the core of Arva's business,” said McEntire. "We are thrilled to work with Riceland and their CPG partners to meet ever growing customer demands."
Arva’s Director of Sales Matt Rohlik shares a similar passion for the partnership. "The value of this partnership not only puts data to work enriching the rice, but also provides key agronomic insights for the members to leverage for potentially improving yield and milling quality,” Rohlik said.
“We’re incredibly excited to begin our partnership with Arva and finally close the gap between farm level data and food production,” said Adam Shea, Riceland’s director of sustainability. “We believe this program will position Riceland and its members to take advantage of developing environmental asset markets in the future.”
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