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Past Initiatives

Supporting Farmer-centered Policy and Improved Environmental Outcomes for Over a Decade

Since AGree began in 2012, we have  forged a collective vision for the future of food and agriculture by fostering rich conversations with an unusually diverse group of leaders. It is rare that farmers, environmental and conservation NGOs, former government officials, and agricultural researchers have the opportunity to sit down and share ideas, face-to-face.

However, once these people sat at the same table, their discussions pinpointed specific areas of opportunity—shared interests that became Agree’s consensus policy recommendations. Agree co-chairs, advisors, and staff consulted over 2,300 people to identify key opportunities for reform. 

The consensus recommendations serve as roadmaps for action, including policy advocacy, private sector partnerships, and demonstration projects. To learn more, we invite you to explore the initiative-specific information below.

Past Policy Recommendations

USDA Climate Ag Policy Research

AGree’s USDA Ag-Climate Policy Research encouraged USDA and Congress to broaden the scope of federal and private investment in agricultural and climate mitigation research, including monitoring, reporting, and verification methodologies.

Agricultural Finance

AGree’s Agricultural Finance Initiative compensated farmers for practicing conservation agriculture through farm credit and lending systems.

USDA Conservation Programs

AGree’s USDA Conservation Programs Initiative promoted improvements to the USDA’s Climate-Smart Commodities Program.

Our History

AGree: Transforming Food & Ag Policy began as a strategic bipartisan response to the challenge of feeding a growing global population healthy and nutritious food while conserving natural resources and sustaining farmers’ livelihoods. We bridged a number of divides — rural and urban, conventional and organic, hunger and nutrition — to develop consensus recommendations that elevate food and agriculture as a national priority.

Building off this innovative collaboration, AGree continues to bring together people from opposite ends of the spectrum to find ways to improve agronomic and environmental outcomes for producers based on data and farmer experiences.

AGree's Original Policy Recommendations

Food and Nutrition

AGree’s Food & Nutrition Initiative brought together retailers, health professionals, anti-hunger advocates, farmers, ranchers, nutritionists, and policy markers to reduce diet-related disease and hunger.

Immigration Reform

AGree’s Immigration Reform Initiative recognized that bipartisan immigration policy is crucial for the U.S. agricultural system, which relies on a stable, legal workforce.

International Development

AGree's International Development Initiative recognized that we need a safer, more diverse, sustainable global food system.

Local Food

AGree’s Local Food Initiative recognized that national food systems could learn from smaller economies to build a revitalized food system.

Research and Innovation

AGree’s Research and Innovation Initiative championed more robust research-based mechanisms in the U.S., supporting its vision of an increasingly productive food system in the 21st century.

Working Landscapes

AGree’s Working Landscapes Initiative helped foster a food and agricultural system in which environmental stewardship and farmer profitability are complementary goals, not competing priorities.

Next Generation

AGree’s Next Generation Initiative addressed the succession challenge through supporting organizations that train and prepare new farmers and ranchers.