Regenerative Agriculture Dairy: What Danone Reports in North America and Brazil

Regenerative agriculture dairy is a growing focus for large food companies, and Danone has published results from two regions. The numbers are company reported, and the story has a few details worth reading closely.

Danone North America

In 2022 Danone North America said its regenerative agriculture program, launched in 2017, reached 144,771 acres, above a 2022 goal of 100,000 acres. It said 2.4 billion pounds of dairy milk came from program acreage, about 75 percent of its dairy milk volume, and that cover crops were planted on 69 percent of program acres compared with a national average of 5 percent, citing USDA. The program supplies brands including Oikos, Horizon Organic and Silk.

Results in Brazil

In October 2025 Danone Brasil reported that the on-farm CO2 emission factor per litre of milk fell 47 percent and the methane factor fell 42 percent from 2020 to 2024. It says 20 percent of fresh milk it uses is low carbon, under 1 kilogram of CO2 equivalent per litre, and that 175 million reais in subsidized rural credit reached more than 158 suppliers. Farms in its Jornada Flora program reported net margins up 59 percent versus 2020.

A plastics settlement

A fair story includes the other side. Danone was sued by ClientEarth, Surfrider Europe and Zero Waste France over plastic risks under France’s duty of vigilance law. The case settled in February 2025. Danone agreed to update its vigilance plan, strengthen its reuse policy, publish its plastic footprint and meet the groups yearly from 2025 to 2027. The settlement was not an admission, and the groups said there was a long way to go.

Why it matters

Dairy is a major source of methane. Better soil practices and feed, and a farmer’s income rising alongside lower emissions, make the programs more likely to last. The North American data is from 2022, and we found no current global total.

Sources: Danone North America, November 1, 2022; Danone Brasil, October 3, 2025; Sustainability Magazine, February 2025. Figures marked as company reported come from the company itself.