b"(L-R) Jon and Kirk Davison on their farm Davison Farms in the Wellwood, Man. The potato farm grows spuds for McCain Foods, and Kirk is concerned by how the company has been handling its communications in regard to regenerative agriculture. PHOTO: DAVISON FARMSevery farm operation. But we're willing to work with every single grower on every single one of their fields to figure out what their best foot forward can continue to be.Both Adriaansen and Davison agree, while they have been doing what they can to preserve their soils andAs far as the plants, like other resources for decades, theres still more they can do. Since McCain made its regen ag announcement, theMcCain, Simplot, theyve been growers have been approached by the company to workvery supportive on research together on the goal and were asked what they have been doing previously. Some of the practices Adriaansen andprojects and stuff too, all the Davison have been using, which fall under the regen agway alongits always been a banner, include variable rate fertilizer application, covershared venture. cropping, dam and diking, variable rate irrigation, along with zero and minimum tillage. PAUL ADRIAANSEN(The processors have) definitely opened the window. They are drawing on a huge resource of people that are looking at this too now. It's not just one farmer trying to do a trial in his backyard, there's a lot of people working on this, Steve Saunderson explains in a Zoom interview. Saunderson runs a crop consulting business and works with both Adriaansen and Davison on their farms. He has spent years working with them on practices that would fall under the regen ag banner.Since making the announcement, McCain has launched various resources for growers to help them with the regen ag pledge. In June 2022 McCain released its regen ag framework, a document outlining the companys regen ag indicators for growers and how progress will be measured for each of the indicators. They also launched training partnerships in each growing region and several financial partnerships to cost share regen ag work or reduce the costs related to using regen ag practices, Karabelas-Pittman explains.Even though it may seem that McCain and other processors are just now putting money towards researching sustainable ag practices, Adriaansen and Davison say that isnt the case. Both are active members of the Keystone Potato Producers Association (KPPA) with Davison being a current board member. Through KPPA, growers fund and make decisions on what research researchers such as those at the Manitoba Crop Diversification Centre in Carberry, Man. will do. Growers arent the only ones who fund this research, with processing companies also providing funding and support.As far as the plants, like McCain, Simplot, they've been very supportive on research projects and stuff too, all the way alongit's always been a shared venture, Adriaansen explains. For McCain, the processing company started looking closer at sustainability about 10 years ago when the IPM Institute launched the Potato Sustainability Alliance. Karabelas-Pittman notes SPUDSMART.COMSummer 202319"