Walmart, McDonald's back $18M fund to protect Great Plains grasslands
What's the deal? The National Fish and Wildlife FoundationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (NFWFDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →) launched the Great Plains Grassland Fund with a $9 million grant from the Walmart FoundationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, matched by $9 million from McDonald's USADealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and its suppliers. The $18 million fund will protect and sustainably manage intact grasslands across the US Great Plains.
What's the endgame? The fund pairs voluntary land protection with technical and financial help for ranchers. It aims to permanently protect 150,000 to 200,000 acres of high-value grasslands at risk of conversion, while improving regenerative practices on a further 150,000 to 200,000 acres.
How it works: Projects may use voluntary conservation easements, grassbanks, grazing associations, and other community-based models. Participating landowners keep ranching as the primary use of their land. Up to $10 million is expected to be available for projects, with awards announced in 2027.
Why now? Great Plains grasslands are among the most threatened and least protected in North America. Roughly 2 million acres are converted to cropland each year, and only about half the region's grasslands remain intact. Once plowed, their soil health, wildlife habitat, and water-filtering capacity cannot be readily restored.
Much of what remains is privately owned by ranching families, who often struggle to compete economically with returns from row crops or development.
What they said: "Healthy grasslands support an extraordinary range of wildlife while sustaining ranching families, rural economies and vital food supply chains," said Jeff Trandahl, executive director and chief executive officer of NFWF.
The signal: The fund is built as a durable pooling mechanism that additional public and private funders can join over time, tying corporate beef supply chains to the conservation of the land that feeds them.
Read more: feedstuffs.com
Image credit: Ken Lund
