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What if one of the biggest barriers to scaling regenerative agriculture isn't farming practices, but the financial systems that determine how farmers manage risk? In this episode of Next Economy Now, Kevin Bayuk speaks with Tina Owens, a systems strategist who leads the Resilience in Agriculture Lending and Insurance Coalition (RALIC) for Transformational Investing in Food Systems (TIFS). Drawing on two decades of experience in food industry sustainability, Tina shares why rethinking crop insurance and lending could help more farmers embrace regenerative practices.

Traditional crop insurance can penalize farmers transitioning to regenerative practices, even when healthier soils reduce risk. Tina explains how new risk modeling reveals the financial benefits of three key soil health practices: cover crops, crop rotation, and reduced tillage. She also introduces Michigan's Next Gen Crop Insurance Pilot, which aims to reward farmers who reduce risk through healthier soil practices by offering them lower premiums and better coverage.

The conversation also explores how financial innovations, from shared insurance risk pools and potential farmer dividends to new approaches to agricultural lending, could make regenerative farming more financially viable. As Tina works to expand the new crop insurance model beyond Michigan, she reflects on the partnerships and collective effort needed to bring these changes to more farmers.

Tune in to explore how rethinking agricultural finance could open up new possibilities for farmers and help regenerative agriculture grow.

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What You’ll Learn:

Discover how Tina’s experience in agricultural sustainability led her to focus on financial barriers to regenerative farming. [0:02:02]
Understand why traditional crop insurance can discourage farmers from adopting regenerative practices. [0:05:31]
Learn how new risk modeling reveals the insurance benefits of healthier soils. [0:10:42]
Explore how Michigan’s Next Gen Crop Insurance Pilot rewards farmers for improving soil health and reducing risk. [0:13:25]
Learn how financial innovations could help expand Next Gen Crop Insurance and make regenerative farming more financially viable. [0:20:43]
See how changes to agricultural lending could improve farmer profitability and support wider adoption. [0:32:14]

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Memorable Quotations:

“At the end of the day, we need to focus on the farmer because if the farmer can't convert using the existing funding and insurance model, then philanthropy is kind of continuing to push money into a void.” — Tina Owens [0:07:41]

“We've reached the end of farmers who've been able to [adopt regenerative practices], and now we're expecting mainstream farmers to convert, but their systems of finance and insurance have not converted.” — Tina Owens [0:10:19]

“We're going through a foundational repricing of risk and resilience.” — Tina Owens [0:32:49]

“You can solve much bigger problems when you're willing to lift other leaders up into a space you yourself cannot go, and just give them the information they need to do things you could never do on your own.” — Tina Owens [0:41:38]

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Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Tina Owens – LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tina-owens/

Transformational Investing In Food Systems (TIFS) – Website: https://www.tifsinitiative.org/

Pricing In Resilience: The Future of Financial Services for Soil Health – TIFS Initiative: https://www.tifsinitiative.org/reports-publications/pricing-in-resilience-the-future-of-financial-services-for-soil-health/

NextGen Crop Insurance Pilot – Michigan: https://www.michigan.gov/mdard/business-development/grantfund/nextgen-crop-insurance-pilot

Resilience in Agriculture Lending and Insurance Coalition (RALIC) – TIFS Initiative: https://www.tifsinitiative.org/ralic/

Kevin Bayuk on LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinbayuk/

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