Regenerative Agriculture at Scale with Tom Brennan at McKinsey - Part 1

Tom Brennan, a partner at McKinsey & Company, joins Climate Rising to unpack what regenerative agriculture means in practice and why it is increasingly central to conversations about climate resilience, farm economics, and food system risk. Drawing on McKinsey’s work with farmers, agribusinesses, and food companies, Tom explains how regenerative agriculture differs from more prescriptive models like organic farming, emphasizing outcomes such as soil health, reduced erosion, and long-term productivity. Across this two-part conversation, Tom explores both the foundations of regenerative agriculture and the challenges of scaling it. He discusses how farmers evaluate new practices through the lens of risk and profitability, why the benefits of regenerative practices often show up most clearly in extreme weather years, and what slows adoption despite growing interest. He also examines the role of food companies, insurers, data, and emerging technologies in lowering barriers to adoption and supporting system-level change. Part 1 focuses on defining regenerative agriculture and why it matters for farmers and climate resilience. Part 2 examines the economics, adoption barriers, and what it would take to scale regenerative agriculture across supply chains. This episode is the first in our series on Regenerative Agriculture. We also have guests such as A.J. Kumar from Indigo Ag. Visit climaterising.org to learn more.