An increasing number of large corporations, such as Nestlé and Guinness, are placing an emphasis on working with farmers who are using regenerative agriculture practices. Star of the West Milling Company, a more than 150-year-old flour mill in Frankenmuth, Mich., is helping to connect these farmers with food companies, 

“The company started as 1 small flour mill in Frankenmuth over 150 years ago, and then it expanded into 5 flour mills across 4 states,” says Lisa Woodke, sustainability director for Star of the West. “We also have food grade soybeans and dry beans that we process, and we have an agronomy division now as well.”

Woodke says that the concept of pairing farmers with food companies began about 15 years ago when Star of the West began tracking how growers managed their crops. She went further in depth at the 2023 Conservation Technology Information Center Conservation in Action Tour. 

“We supply soft white wheat to many cereal customers, several of whom are located in Michigan,” Woodke says. “There was this question around how the growers were treating their fields, specifically their wheat. We started tracking what growers were doing using online tools like Syngenta’s Cropwise to show a baseline of what practices these growers were using.”

According to Woodke, a lot of farmers were using regenerative agriculture practices such as no-tilling and planting cover crops, but failing to advertise it. They needed help telling that story to interested food companies. 

“On the flip side, consumers are always wondering what growers…