Native producers use regenerative agriculture to build resilience. Access to capital will help them go further.

Regenerative agriculture is more than just a production strategy. It is a holistic approach to revitalizing land and ecological systems that focuses on improving soil health and strengthening the ability of the land to regenerate over time. Across Native ranches, practices such as rotational grazing, bale grazing, and grassland restoration reflect longstanding Indigenous traditions of stewardship and land preservation.  

Yet Native farmers and ranchers often lack access to the financing they need to invest in regenerative agriculture. Over the past three years, Environmental Defense Fund and Intertribal Agriculture Council (IAC) conducted a study to measure the financial impacts of regenerative agriculture on Native farms and ranches and explore the investment solutions needed to support its expansion on Native operations. Here’s what we found: 

Regenerative agriculture can strengthen the land and the bottom line, but access to capital remains a barrier to scaling.   

The benefits of regenerative practices are clear to the ranchers implementing them. Native producers in the project saw improved pasture conditions, greater plant diversity, and increased nutrient availability in forage, particularly during drought conditions.  

Native ranches using regenerative practices in the project also demonstrated strong financial outcomes. Producers reported higher farm income and lower production costs than regional benchmarks. This occurred despite these Native ranchers owning fewer assets and operating with limited access to capital. Ranchers in the project using regenerative agriculture approaches were more efficient than their peers. They spent an average of 52% of their farm income on operating expenses, compared to 80% spent by the regional benchmark group. 

While implementing regenerative practices shows strong financial outcomes, many Native producers face historic and ongoing barriers to invest in and scale these practices. This is due to limited credit access, land tenure complexities and financing systems that do not reflect the realities of Native agriculture. These challenges make it difficult to secure financing, even for financially sound operations. 

“There are so many barriers for Native American producers.,” said April Martin, a rancher and member of the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana who participated in the study. “We have so few programs that are willing to come onto a reservation and see what’s available.” 

Native-led institutions are stepping in to close the financing gap. 

Closing the Native agriculture credit gap requires financial institutions that understand the unique characteristics of Native agriculture and provide financing solutions that reflect those realities.  

Akiptan is one of the Native-led institutions leading this effort. As a Native Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI), Akiptan was created to serve Native farmers and ranchers by offering flexible financing solutions that work on Tribal lands and align with the capital needs of Native producers. Its strong lending portfolio demonstrates that Native producers are good borrowers when financing is designed to meet their needs. 

To support Native-led financing institutions like Akiptan, Native Agriculture Financial Services (NAFS) is working to increase access to capital through the Farm Credit System. NAFS also trains lenders through its Native Agriculture Underwriting School to better serve Native agriculture with financing approaches that work for those operations. 

IAC complements these efforts by providing Native producers with financial coaching, business planning and technical assistance to strengthen their operations and prepare them to work with lenders. 

Native-led institutions have built the system to finance regenerative agriculture. Now it’s time to fund it. 

Effective financing solutions for Native producers have been successfully tested and institutions have been created to deliver them. Funders and traditional lenders must now invest in them at scale to support the growth of Native agriculture and regenerative practices.  

Funders should invest in Native-led institutions that deliver financing tailored to the needs of Native farmers and ranchers, like IAC, Akiptan and NAFS. These organizations have proven their effectiveness in filling the Native agriculture credit gap, but they require funding to reach more producers and expand regenerative agriculture efforts.  

Traditional agricultural lenders also need to strengthen their ability to serve Native producers to address the credit gap at scale. An immediate action they can take is to send staff to the Native Agriculture Underwriting School to build expertise in Native agriculture and lending on Tribal lands.    

By growing the capital available for Native producers and training lenders to serve them effectively, Native producers will have the resources and support they need to expand investments in regenerative practices that steward the land.