Strengthening resilience in potato farming
Potato farming in Northwest Europe is under increasing pressure from changing weather conditions. Drought, extreme heat and extreme rainfall affect yields, soil quality and the future of farms. This makes potato farming riskier for growers. For companies that process potatoes (such as French fry factories) and buyers (such as supermarkets), it becomes more difficult to ensure the reliability and quality of potato production.
To address these challenges, growers need to change the way they work. This requires additional investment in new practices and long-term agreements between farmers, processors and buyers.
A program for the future
Future Farming is a program initiated by Farm Frites. The program supports potato growers in the transition towards farming practices that improve soil health and strengthen farm resilience. Together with growers, Farm Frites focuses on regenerative agriculture: a way of farming that doesn’t deplete natural resources, but actually improves soil quality and strengthens biodiversity. This makes the agricultural system more resilient. The program has clear targets to track progress over time and focuses on practical measures at farm level, such as:
Future Farming started in the Netherlands and is currently being expanded to other European markets. Farm Frites works closely with participating growers and provides expertise on potato cultivation, guidance and program coordination.
Since 2024, McDonald’s Netherlands has been investing in this program as a longterm partner. Concretely, McDonald’s structurally allocates a portion of the purchase price of its fries to enable the transition to regenerative agriculture. This ensures that McDonald’s can continue to serve high-quality fries at a fair price, now and in the future.
Our role
Rabobank is a financing partner within the Future Farming program. We help growers with tailored financing solutions, including transition loans and lower interest rates. This way, Rabobank supports investments that align with the program’s objectives.
Our role is connecting financial conditions to long-term farm resilience. We work alongside growers, Farm Frites and McDonald’s while ensuring the business remains viable for the growers.
A stronger food system
Today, the Future Farming program includes dozens of potato growers in the Netherlands. Expansion in other European countries is underway. By applying regenerative agriculture, participating farms work to restore, improve and strengthen soil health, biodiversity, and water quality. In doing so, they contribute to a stronger agricultural system. Participating farms can better cope with weather extremes, while yields and reliability of potato production remain strong.
By aligning expertise in cultivation, sourcing and financing, the program demonstrates how collaboration within potato farming can support more resilient agricultural production without all risks falling on the grower. This way, more and more parties are building a more sustainable, fairer food system.