Fostering Climate Positive Agriculture

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Farmers are leading the way in sustainable agriculture

Farmers around the globe are leading the way in scaling sustainable practices that can help to improve the land and environment. We’re here to highlight early adopters, and to help share those practices with others around the globe. Together, we can make climate positive agriculture productive, profitable, environmentally beneficial, and equitable.

Finding the Leaders in Climate Positive Agriculture

Corteva’s 2022 Climate Positive Leaders Program is a nomination-based recognition program designed to showcase early adopter producers who are successfully implementing, scaling and sharing climate positive practices. The program gives global and regional recipients opportunities to broadly share their experiences and accelerate the adoption of climate positive practices.

Meet the 2022 Global Leaders

Tom Cannon

Tom Cannon

Tom Cannon is a farmer in northern Oklahoma raising cattle and implementing a no-till, rotational cover crop approach for his wheat, soybeans, corn, milo, cotton, sesame, and canola acres. He actively educates thousands of growers, agronomists, and Future Farmers of America members throughout the Midwest on the benefits of climate positive agriculture.

Mitchell Hora

Mitchell Hora

Mitchell Hora is a 7th generation farmer in southeast Iowa producing corn, soybeans, and sweet corn, as well as experimenting with more than 25 species of cover crops. In addition, he has built a soil health data intelligence company, building upon his farm’s data and engaging with other growers in 42 states and 20 countries to improve soil health. 

Kasey Bamberger

Kasey Bamberger

Kasey Bamberger is a member of a multi-generational farm in Southwest Ohio raising corn, soybeans and soft red winter wheat using reduced tillage, cover crops and carbon sequestration programs to reduce the dependence on inputs while protecting natural resources.

Maria Pia Barrios Baron

Maria Pia Barrios Baron

Maria Pia Barrios Baron is a member of a century-old farming business in Rivadavia district, Argentina, managing a sustainable pasture-focused livestock operation along with maize, soybeans, wheat, barley, rye and oats for animal feed, grazing and commodity production.

David Statham

David Statham

David Statham produces cotton, along with cereal crops, pulse crops and livestock forage in Moree, New South Wales, Australia. Located next to the World Heritage site Gwydir Wetlands, he has developed the first climate positive traceable irrigated and dryland cotton, and expanded the practices to smallholder farmers in India, showcasing how sustainable agriculture and environmental conservation can co-exist.

Haroldo Cunha

Haroldo Cunha

Haroldo Cunha is a farmer in Turvelandia, Goiás State, Brazil who uses no-till and soil management practices to produce soybeans, cotton and maize as well as raising cattle. In addition, he has implemented a reforestation program and actively engages with local, regional and country-based agriculture organizations to advance sustainable practices.

Doug Fossen

Doug Fossen

Doug and Erika Fossen operate a cow/calf ranch in Rock Creek, British Columbia, Canada, and use no-till and pivot irrigation to raise corn and alfalfa for feed and silage. The Fossen’s actively protect at-risk wildlife populations through riparian management practices and protect limited water resources through targeted irrigation and fertilizer use.

Ravichandran Vanchinatha Iyer

Ravichandran Vanchinatha Iyer

Ravichandran Vanchinatha Iyer is a farmer in Tamil Nadu, India, producing rice, cotton, pulses and sugarcane, where he advances the adoption of intercropping, seed varietal optimization, and drip irrigation along with an on-farm zero-plastic/zero-pollution policy. In addition, he actively engages with university scientists, policymakers, and private sector leaders as well as using social media to educate local and regional farmers on his practices. 

Lucy Kaari

Lucy Kaari

Lucy Kaari is a smallholder farmer in Tagnia, Meru County in central Kenya, raising beans, sorghum and maize along with garden vegetables to support her family and the local community. She also provides regenerative agriculture advisory services to 176 other smallholder farmers, guiding them to achieve higher production per acre, resilience to moisture stress, reducing labor needs, and higher gross margins as compared to conventional agriculture.

Oliver Carrick

Oliver Carrick

Oliver Carrick produces wheat, barley, beans, oats as well as forage for livestock in Leicestershire, United Kingdom, implementing a variety of climate positive research methods to evaluate the impact on wildlife and the local environment. In addition, he has created agroforestry, buffer and woodland margins programs, monitoring the impacts to soil, water and wildlife.

2022 Climate Positive Regional Leaders

These Regional Leaders also work to advance the adoption of climate positive farming practices.

Regional Leaders

James Venning, Australia

Rogério Arioli Silva, Brazil

George Dick, Canada

Ann Waweru, Kenya

Richard Mbaria Njuguna, Kenya

Andrew Darling, New Zealand

Nick Down, United Kingdom

Brad Doyle, United States

Jeff O’Connor, United States

Here are the judges for the 2022 Climate Positive Leaders Program

The Judges

Christian Bredemeier, UFRGS (Brazilian Commission of Precision/Digital Ag)

Dr. Nick Goeser, Founder and Principal of Craigson Innovation Group

Julie Borlaug, President of the Borlaug Foundation; VP of External Relations at Inari; Council of Advisors for World Food Prize

Maria (Pilu) Giraudo, President of AAPRESID (Argentine Association of Producers in Direct Towing)

Cees Jan Hollander, Global Farming Expertise Manager at Danone

Dr. Brent Myers, Research Laureate at Corteva Agriscience

Dr. Mary Gumz, Agronomy Expert at Corteva Agriscience

Craige Mackenzie, Farmer and Global Farmer Network member

Susan Wood-Bohm, Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute

Global and Regional Leaders Advance Adoption of Climate Positive Practices

The ten 2022 Global Leaders will receive lifetime membership, training and other opportunities from Global Farmer Network®, enabling them to share their experiences with other farmers as well as engage broadly with the agriculture industry. Nine Regional Leaders will also work with the Global Farmer Network team to advance the adoption of climate positive farming practices.

Explore the Climate Positive Leaders Program FAQs, Terms and Conditions

Man by combine looking in the distance at sunrise

Official Rules

Updated rules and eligibility for the 2022 program.

Read more about the terms and conditions
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FAQs

Updated frequently asked questions for the 2022 program.

Read the frequently asked questions