Recorded Webinar: Addressing Risk in Regenerative Agriculture

Risk management is one of the most persistent barriers to regenerative agriculture and today’s insurance and lending models aren’t built for it. That was the message from CIBO’s recent webinar featuring Rabobank’s Eric Gibson, Fractal Ag’s Ben Gordon, and Lauren Manning of Food System 6. 

Farmers still carry nearly all the upfront risk. Transitioning to regenerative systems often requires new equipment, operational changes, and a willingness to endure short-term yield uncertainty for long-term resilience. Yet the safety nets designed to protect farmers like crop insurance, base-acre programs, and traditional lending were built around a narrow band of commodity production. As Eric explained, “If a farmer wants to diversify, they often lose access to the support programs they rely on. That’s a tough choice in a tight-margin environment.”

Lauren underscored the mismatch with real-world examples. Whether raising grass-fed livestock or trying to finance small-scale processing, she repeatedly hit structural barriers: lenders defaulting to commodity pricing benchmarks, underwriting policies not built for diversified systems, and producers forced to take on unreasonable collateral risk. These gaps, she argued, are why regenerative farmers are often seen as “riskier” on paper—even when the market opportunity is strong.

Ben added the investor’s perspective. The problem is not farmer capability but misaligned models. “Traditional lenders underwrite the market, not the operator,” he noted. That means they rarely factor in long-term agronomic performance, diversified rotations, or soil improvements, leaving tremendous upside on the table. New financing approaches, including equity partnerships, are emerging to better align incentives and reward strong operators.

That's where data and modeling can help. Farmers need better baseline measurements and forward-looking models to understand cash flow impacts during transition. Lenders and investors need transparency into real performance, not commodity averages. And companies—including CPGs, processors, and biofuel producers—need reliable, field-level data to build credible regenerative sourcing and Scope 3 programs. Without these critical insights, no part of the system can properly price risk or reward resilience.

So what needs to change? Updated insurance mechanisms, more flexible loan products, layered incentives across the value chain, and expanded technical assistance. Programs like EQIP help, but as Lauren explained, many farmers still lack the liquidity to front costs and wait for reimbursement, creating a critical gap that bridge financing and private innovation can fill.

Despite the challenges, the group remained pragmatic. Market signals are shifting, from emerging premiums to looming supply-chain risks for major buyers. And as climate volatility increases, the value of resilient systems becomes harder to ignore. As Ben put it, “Eventually the math will speak for itself.”

Watch the Webinar

Meet the Panelists

Eric Gibson, Rabobank. Eric Gibson is an analyst for RaboResearch Food & Agribusiness in the U.S., with a focus on sustainability in farm inputs and crop production. His recent research has focused on the need for a stronger, fairer risk management system. Prior to Rabobank, he worked with Aimpoint Research, Farmers Business Network, and the US Soybean Export Council.

Ben Gordon, CEO, Fractal Ag. Ben founded Fractal, a passive farmland investment partner that invests alongside farmers rather than competing against them for land. After serving as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Army, Ben worked in ag tech, management consulting, and private equity due diligence before his last role running Corteva Agriscience’s carbon program.

Lauren Manning, Executive Director, Food System 6 (FS6). Lauren leads FS6 and its work to build the critical financial infrastructure regenerative farmers, ranchers and food producers need to pursue regeneration at scale. She is a former trial attorney, venture capital investor with AgFunder, and regenerative beef producer, and in 2023, was named by the Regenerative Food Systems Investment (RFSI) Forum as one of 15 Women Leading Investment in Regenerative Food Systems.

Nitzan Haklai, VP, Business Development and Marketing, CIBO Technologies. Passionate about driving tech commercialization in agriculture, Nitzan leads CIBO’s commercial teams, including sales, marketing and account management. Before CIBO, she worked in business strategy at Gro Intelligence and Bayer AG. She also led the Global Open Innovation Initiative at Adama (Syngenta), a leading global agrochemical company. Nitzan holds an MBA from MIT, and a law degree (LLB) from Hebrew University of Jerusalem.