Dive Brief:
- McDonald’s USA has pledged to support a $200 million, seven-year regenerative agriculture project, called the Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative, in partnership with the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, according to a Monday press release.
- Suppliers including Cargill, Golden State Foods, Lopez Foods, OSI and The Coca-Cola Company will join the Golden Arches in backing the fund.
- Other restaurant brands, like Chipotle, have invested in efforts to reduce the climate impact of beef production this year. While Chipotle’s efforts targeted methane emissions from cattle themselves, McDonald’s new partnership targets changes in land use.
Dive Insight:
The McDonald’s-backed initiative ensures “participating ranchers will have the opportunity to leverage tools and resources to help them improve wildlife habitats, conserve water, and enhance soil health,” according to the press release.
The brand has a responsibility to invest in the long-term sustainability of American agriculture, Cesar Piña, McDonald’s senior vice president and chief supply chain officer, North America, said in the release.
According to the website for the initiative, the funds will be used to support grazing management plans that balance stocking rates and livestock movements with plant growth, wildlife habitats and soil function. The conservation project also will back efforts to reseed grasslands, control invasive woody species, modify fencing patterns to aid in wildlife migration and improve water conservation.
McDonald’s sees the project as a way to strengthen its U.S. supply chain and ensure economic returns for ranchers. This investment comes as the United States imposes broad tariffs on a wide range of trading partners, including major beef producers like Brazil, which faces a 40% tariff on most exports, Australia and the European Union.
While $200 million is large in absolute terms, McDonald’s earned $25.9 billion in revenue in 2024, according to its 10-Q, meaning the total investment pledged towards regenerative grazing is less than 1% of the chain’s yearly revenue — assuming that McDonald’s will contribute the lion’s share of the $200 million. Further, that investment is spread across seven years and 4 million acres of grazing land, for a total of about $7.14 per year per acre.
