The Brazilian arm of the Global Coffee Platform (GCP) has published a study on the economics of coffee grown with regenerative agriculture, based on seven arabica farms in the South of Minas and Cerrado Mineiro regions of Minas Gerais. Four of them are largely mechanised, while three rely mainly on manual labour.
Operating costs ranged from roughly $95 to $145 per 60 kg bag, all below the Minas Gerais benchmark set by Brazil’s CONAB agency. The regenerative plots averaged 45 bags per hectare, against a national average of 30.4. The authors caution, however, that the sample is small and non-representative, and that the study does not prove regenerative practices caused these results.
On the climate side, modelling showed that carbon removals exceeded emissions on all seven farms. Synthetic nitrogen fertiliser accounted for 46% of estimated emissions. The study was funded by JDE Peet’s, with participation from Solidaridad, the Cooxupé cooperative and Emater-MG.
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Source: Daily Coffee News