Sustainable Agriculture Companies: 9 With Climate Targets

Four large sustainable agriculture companies in this guide have climate targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi): Bayer, Deere & Company, FMC and Syngenta. Three more, AGCO, CNH and Corteva, publish their own targets without SBTi validation, and two AI-first firms, Carbon Robotics and Ecorobotix, show their sustainability case at product level. Seven of the nine sell or run a named AI or machine-vision tool; for AGCO and Corteva we could not confirm one.

We checked every claim against the SBTi company dataset updated on 15 October 2026, each company’s own reports and dated product releases. We do not give scores or a ranking, because no shared, audited measure covers all nine. Where a figure is missing, we say so. You can also test any supplier’s progress with the calculator further down.

Sustainable agriculture companies at a glance

The table lists each company’s SBTi status, its own operational-emissions goal and the AI tool we could confirm. Groups follow the type of evidence, not quality. Within each group, companies are in alphabetical order.

How we chose these companies

We started from a plain legal meaning of the term. US federal law defines sustainable agriculture in 7 U.S. Code 3103 as a farming system that, over the long term, meets food and fiber needs, improves environmental quality, uses resources well, stays profitable and improves life for farmers and society. A company that sells to farms can show it supports that aim in two ways: by cutting its own emissions and by selling tools that cut waste on the farm.

So each company had to pass three tests:

1. A public climate target with a base year and an end year. We looked up every company in the SBTi target dashboard and its downloadable company file (updated 15 October 2026). We then read the company’s own report or disclosure for its goal and, where we could open it, its progress.
2. An AI product, or we say we could not confirm one. We looked for a named AI or machine-vision tool in a dated company release or trade report.
3. Verifiable sources. If a company website blocked our checks or we could only find third-party summaries, we left that figure out and said so.

We did not use paid ESG ratings, because their methods differ and most are not public. We only report a CDP score if the company or CDP publishes it. The list covers firms that sell to farms in the US, Canada, Europe and Australia; it is a sample of well-documented companies, not every company in the sector.

SBTi status matters because a “Validated Targets” label means SBTi Services has reviewed the target. A company that commits but does not submit a target within 24 months is shown as “Commitment Removed”. In the SBTi file, 192 companies sit in the “Food Production – Agricultural Production” sector, and the chart below shows how they split.

Chart

SBTi status of agricultural production companies

Number of companies in SBTi’s ‘Food Production – Agricultural Production’ sector, by near-term status

Agriculture companies with validated science-based targets

These four companies have near-term targets that SBTi has validated. The size of the cut and the base year differ, so compare the full wording, not just the percentage.

Chart

Validated cuts in own-operations emissions

Near-term SBTi target, % absolute cut in Scope 1+2; base and end years differ (shown in labels)

1. Bayer (Crop Science)

Best for: buyers who want a seed and crop protection supplier with a validated value-chain target.

SBTi lists Bayer AG with a 1.5°C-aligned near-term target to cut absolute operational emissions (Scope 1 and 2) by 42% by 2029 from a 2019 base year, and Scope 3 emissions by 25% in the same period. Bayer also has a validated net-zero target for 2050 that requires a 90% cut across all scopes.

On the AI side, Bayer’s E.L.Y. tool uses a large language model with Bayer’s agronomic data, trial results and label guidance to answer farmers’ questions through US sales staff and agronomists. In August 2025 it won an industry award, and Bayer said E.L.Y. cut response times by 60% on internal benchmarks. Bayer also runs the FieldView farm data platform, which came with Monsanto’s 2013 purchase of The Climate Corporation. Limit: we could not open Bayer’s own progress report, so we do not state how far it has cut emissions since 2019.

2. Deere & Company

Best for: row-crop farms that want lower herbicide use from machine vision on the sprayer.

SBTi lists a 1.5°C-aligned target for Deere to cut absolute operational emissions 50% by fiscal 2030 from fiscal 2021, and to cut Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and from the use of sold products by 30% in the same period. That second part matters for a machinery maker, because fuel burned by its tractors and combines after sale is part of its footprint.

Deere’s See & Spray uses boom-mounted cameras and machine learning to spray weeds rather than whole fields. Deere reported that See & Spray covered about 5 million acres in 2025 and saved about 31 million gallons of herbicide mix. In a December 2025 interview, a Deere manager put the average saving of non-residual herbicide at nearly 50% across more than 1,000 machines. These are company-reported figures, not audited results.

3. FMC Corporation

Best for: growers and advisers who want pest forecasts before they spray.

FMC has validated near-term and net-zero targets: a 42% cut in absolute operational emissions by 2030 from 2021, a 25% cut in several Scope 3 categories, and net zero across the value chain by 2035. FMC is one of the few here that publishes progress in a dated release: its 2024 sustainability report, released in May 2025, says operational emissions were 27% below the 2021 base.

Its AI tool is Arc farm intelligence. FMC says the platform combines trap counts, weather data and crop health signals to forecast pest pressure with up to 90% accuracy. In FMC’s March 2025 update, Arc had grown from two countries at launch in 2020 to over 30, with nearly 65 pest models. The accuracy claim is FMC’s own and applies to selected crops and markets.

4. Syngenta Group

Best for: farms and developers that want a large digital agronomy platform with open access for other apps.

SBTi lists a well-below 2°C target for Syngenta to cut Scopes 1, 2 and 3 emissions 68% per unit of value added by 2030 from 2016. Two points to note: it is an intensity target, so absolute emissions can still rise if the business grows, and the SBTi record dates from 2019, before the stricter 1.5°C criteria.

Syngenta’s Cropwise platform uses AI and agronomic data for pest management, crop monitoring and product choice. In November 2025, Syngenta said Cropwise covers over 70 million hectares in more than 30 countries and opened the platform to outside developers. The hectare figure counts land the platform supports, not land where inputs were cut.

▶ How satellites, AI and drones help farms use fewer inputs, from our channel. · 13:27

Companies with their own targets but no SBTi validation

Without outside review, you need to read the base year, scope and progress yourself. These three publish goals; two had SBTi commitments that expired.

Chart

Progress against own-operations targets

% absolute cut in Scope 1+2 from each base year, two companies that publish dated progress

5. AGCO

Best for: buyers who want clear disclosure of where a machinery maker’s emissions really are.

AGCO, the maker of Fendt and Massey Ferguson, aims to cut absolute operational emissions 55% by 2033 and 90% by 2050, from a 2022 base, and to reach 60% renewable energy at its factories by 2026. Its November 2025 Resiliency Action Plan says it has not committed to SBTi validation but built the targets with SBTi methods. The same plan is unusually frank: use of the machines it sells makes up about 75% of its footprint, and its own operations less than 1%. In 2024, AGCO reported 64,279 t CO2e in Scope 1 and 21,853 t in Scope 2.

AGCO sells precision tools such as Precision Planting’s SymphonyNozzle for variable-rate application, and it piloted a machine-learning tool with McKinsey and Amazon Web Services to model emission cuts. We did not find a farmer-facing AI product named in its plan, so the AI column says “Not confirmed”.

6. CNH

Best for: Case IH and New Holland fleets adding vision-based spot spraying.

CNH lists a 2030 goal of a 50% absolute cut in operational emissions from 2018 and 100% renewable electricity. In the SBTi file, its earlier commitment shows as removed because it expired (record dated April 2022). For AI, CNH bought Augmenta in March 2023. Augmenta’s Sense & Act machine vision adjusts spray volume from what its sensors see, and was to be folded into CNH’s Raven business. We found no public figure for chemical savings from CNH’s own fleet.

7. Corteva Agriscience

Best for: buyers who want a seed supplier that discloses its full CDP response.

Corteva’s 2025 CDP response sets a 42% absolute cut in operational emissions by 2030 from 2020. It calls the target 1.5°C-aligned but says Corteva has not committed to seek SBTi validation within two years; SBTi shows its 2021 commitment as removed. The same response reports 911,908 t CO2e for 2024, against 995,000 t in 2020, or about 20% of the planned cut achieved after four of ten years. Corteva put its 2024 Scope 3 emissions from purchased goods and services alone at about 4.9 million t, more than five times its own operations.

The filing proves Corteva disclosed to CDP; it is not a CDP score. We did not find a current farmer-facing AI product announcement from Corteva in our check, so we list none.

AI-first agtech companies with product-level evidence

Young firms rarely set company-wide climate targets, and neither of these appears in the SBTi file. Their case rests on what the machine does in the field, so read their claims as maximums from the maker.

8. Carbon Robotics

Best for: vegetable and specialty crop growers who want weed control without herbicide.

The US company’s LaserWeeder G2, launched in 2025, uses computer vision and deep learning to tell crops from weeds, then kills weeds with lasers. Future Farming reported in March 2025 that the G2 has 240-watt lasers, works about twice as fast as the first version and comes in widths from 2 to 18.3 meters. We found no company-wide emissions target.

9. Ecorobotix

Best for: growers in Europe, the Americas and Oceania who want plant-by-plant spraying.

The Swiss firm’s ARA sprayer uses cameras and AI to recognize crops and weeds and place droplets within a few centimeters. The company says it cuts herbicide, fungicide and foliar product use by up to 95%. In October 2025 it reported $150 million in funding across two rounds, more than 25 crop models and sales in more than 20 countries. The 95% figure is a maximum, not an average.

Our product: Farmonaut

Disclosure: we publish this page, so we do not place our product in the list or score it. The Farmonaut Satellite + AI Farm Monitoring System shows satellite vegetation maps of fields on web, Android and iOS, and through an agriculture API for agtech teams (satellite API sign-up, API docs). It does not appear in the SBTi file, and we have not published a company climate target.

▶ How satellite NDVI maps show crop stress before it is visible on the ground. · 4:09

Food and trading companies with SBTi land targets

Large buyers of grain, oilseeds and cocoa also shape farm practice. Several have forest, land and agriculture (FLAG) targets, which SBTi created for land-intensive firms to cover land-use emissions and carbon removals; see the SBTi FLAG guidance. They are not in our numbered list because we did not confirm a farmer-facing AI tool for them.

The EU Deforestation Regulation requires that, from 30 December 2026, cattle, cocoa, coffee, palm oil, rubber, soy and wood products sold in or exported from the EU are deforestation-free. Suppliers to those chains will be asked for plot-level proof.

Does AI spraying cut chemical use? What independent trials show

Most savings figures for AI sprayers come from the makers. Independent field data is thinner, but it exists. In 2024, an Iowa State University demonstration of a commercial precision spray system on five conventional soybean fields, 415 acres in all, found post-emergence herbicide savings of 44% to 91% per field. The average was 76%, worth about $15.70 per acre in herbicide.

Chart

Herbicide saved by a precision spray system

% of post-emergence herbicide saved per field, five conventional soybean fields, 415 acres, Iowa

The spread is the useful lesson. The researchers found savings depended on how many weeds were present: the three fields where the pre-emergence herbicide had held up best had the fewest weeds and saved 87% to 91%. So a supplier’s “up to” figure tells you little about your own farm; your weed seed bank does. Follow the product label and local rules for any herbicide program, and ask your adviser how spot spraying fits your resistance plan.

How to check a supplier’s sustainability claims

If you buy from or partner with agriculture companies, five checks catch most weak claims:

1. Look up the name in the SBTi dashboard. “Validated Targets” means outside review. “Commitment Removed” means a pledge lapsed. No record means no SBTi process.
2. Read the target wording. Note the base year, the end year, absolute or intensity, and which scopes are covered.
3. Ask about Scope 3. The GHG Protocol Scope 3 Standard covers emissions across the value chain. For AGCO and Corteva, these dwarf own operations.
4. Check a CDP score at the source. CDP says 899 companies made its 2025 A List, about 5% of nearly 20,000 scored. A filed CDP response is not a score.
5. Ask for progress, not only goals. Then test whether the pace is enough with the calculator below.

To try it with real numbers, enter Corteva’s own figures: 995,000 t in 2020, 911,908 t in 2024 and a 42% cut by 2030. The default values are round examples, not any company’s data.

Try the numbers for your own farm below.

ESG trends in the agriculture industry

Four shifts stand out in the sources above:

• More disclosure. CDP says over 22,100 companies disclosed environmental data through it in 2025.
• Land-based targets. Traders such as ofi and Wilmar now carry FLAG targets and no-deforestation dates, and the EU rule adds legal weight from December 2026.
• Value-chain focus. Machinery and input makers are being judged on the emissions of what they sell, not only their factories.
• AI at the nozzle. Camera spraying and laser weeding are the AI uses with the clearest input savings, and university trials are starting to test the claims.

▶ Seven green farming technologies that save water, fuel and fertilizer, explained simply. · 2:24

Where the evidence is missing

• We could not verify 2025 CDP scores for any of the nine companies, so we list none. Verified agriculture-linked examples exist: Sappi reported A for Forests, A- for Climate and B for Water, and AAK reported A- for Forests, B for Climate and C for Water, both for CDP 2025.
• We did not find dated progress figures we could open for Bayer, Deere, CNH or Syngenta. Ask them for their latest audited emissions table.
• Product savings for See & Spray, Arc, ARA and LaserWeeder are company figures. Only the Iowa State demo above is independent, and it covers one season, one state and one system.
• SBTi status shows the target has been reviewed. It does not show the company will meet it.

FAQ

What are sustainable agriculture companies?

They are firms that farm, process or supply agriculture and can show measured progress on environmental and social goals. A useful test is a public climate target with a base year, dated progress figures, and products that cut waste on farms.

Which agriculture companies have science-based targets?

In the SBTi file updated 15 October 2026, Bayer, Deere, FMC and Syngenta have validated targets among the input and machinery firms we checked, and ofi, Wilmar, Bunge and Cargill among traders. Corteva, CNH, ADM, Nutrien and Yara show “Commitment Removed”.

What are ESG agriculture companies?

ESG stands for environmental, social and governance. An ESG agriculture company reports on its emissions, land and water use, worker safety and board oversight. The label alone proves little; look for targets, audited data and outside review.

Which AI agriculture companies cut chemical use?

Camera-based sprayers have the clearest evidence: Deere See & Spray and Ecorobotix ARA spray only where weeds or plants are seen, CNH’s Augmenta system varies the spray rate from what its sensor sees, and Carbon Robotics uses lasers instead of herbicide. Savings depend on weed pressure, as the Iowa State trial showed.

Is a CDP score the same as an SBTi target?

No. CDP scores how well a company discloses and manages environmental issues, from A to D-. SBTi checks whether a climate target matches what science says is needed. A company can have one, both or neither.

Related pages on our site: carbon footprint tracking, product traceability, satellite checks for crop loans and insurance, fleet management, large-scale farm management, ESG agriculture models, AI agriculture startup ideas and the web app.