Back to all
Manomet commends Hancock Natural Resource Group (HNRG) on the completion of an initial sustainability examination for select managed agricultural operations in the United States. The examination found the operations fully conformed to a new sustainable agricultural standard (Standard) for farmland management which will launch more broadly in 2020.
The Standard was developed by the Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, a coalition of two environmental nonprofit organizations—Manomet, Inc. and The Conservation Fund—and eight companies that professionally own and manage over three million farmland acres globally. The Standard is designed to address the economic, environmental, social, and governance concerns of investors and the supply chain. Individual company conformance to the standard will be verified through independent third-party auditing. Members of the SAWG include Cottonwood Ag Management, Hancock Natural Resources Group, Lamb Weston, Nuveen/Westchester, Peoples Company, PGIM Agricultural Investments, The Rohatyn Group TRG, and UBS Farmland Investors.
“Manomet is proud of our work with Hancock Natural Resource Group to integrate triple-bottom-line sustainability into their agricultural operations. Over the past 4 years, I have visited 10 Hancock farms across the U.S. and met many of their farm managers and farmer tenants who operate at different scales, with different crop types, production systems, and geographies,” said Andy Whitman, Director of Manomet’s Sustainable Economies program.
Whitman added “By following the Standard, HNRG will be able to better manage risk, make improvements, and increase the long-term sustainability and value of U.S. farmland that is so necessary to make our food system sustainable. How we produce food is one of today’s most important global issues, so I congratulate HNRG and the other members of the SAWG for helping create a needed program for helping tackle this challenge.”
HNRG’s conformance to the Standard was audited by K. Coe Isom, a leading consultant and CPA in the food and agriculture industry. K. Coe Isom’s examination concluded that HNRG’s audited agricultural operations in the United States fully conform to the Standard. The results are available here.
About Manomet
Manomet is a science-driven sustainability nonprofit that believes people can live and work today in ways that will enable our world to thrive and prosper tomorrow. Manomet’s mission is to apply science and engage people to sustain our world. Visit www.manomet.org for more information.