Canada.

REFLECTIONS ON
A THREE-YEAR
JOURNEY

At McCain’s Farm of the Future in New Brunswick,innovation and sustainability intersect, demonstratingthat the implementation of regenerative agriculture
not only supports better crop yield and quality, but canhave significant benefits to farm resilience overall.

Our Mission.
The Farm of the Future Canada is committed tosupporting our industry transition from conventional
to regenerative practices. Our mission is to ensure
robust potato yields while prioritizing soil health, water
conservation, biodiversity, and climate resilience.
Through meticulous monitoring and data-driven
decision-making, we are cultivating a farm ecosystemthat thrives on resilience, diversity, and innovation.

FARM OF THE FUTURE CANADA

2Our Path.
Regenerative Agriculture Framework:
The roadmap guiding our sustainable
farm practices.
With a focus on progressing further on our Regenerative Agriculture
Framework, this past year, we’ve achieved five out of seven indicators at anadvanced level or higher, showcasing our advanced overall status. We lead inenhancing crop diversity and farm/ecosystem biodiversity as well as reducing
toxicity of pesticides. We’ve advanced in minimizing soil disturbances, reducing
adverse agro-chemical impacts and optimizing water use, and have engaged inarmouring soils and increasing soil organic matter.
We have introduced several beneficial practices at a commercial scale thatcollectively enhance soil conditions and reduce environmental impact:

The adoption of cover crops
should enhance soil healthwhile reducing erosion.

The chisel plow as a form ofconservative tillage before
potatoes as well as no tillplanting of our rotation crops
preserves soil structure.

FARM OF THE FUTURE CANADA

Controlled traffic farming
minimizes soil compaction,enhancing water infiltration,
thereby increasing
yield potential.

Fall bedding prepares soil
for early spring planting,
improving drainage andtemperature control.

Scientific collaboration and innovation: Evidencing
and building on regenerative agriculture benefits.
Through scientific collaboration with leading
experts and academic institutions, we’ve
incorporated diverse expertise, resources,
and funding that not only enhances thecredibility of our efforts but also facilitates
the integration of cutting-edge research andbest practices into the industry.
Knowing collaboration will drive ourcollective success, we’ve engaged 12 subject
matter experts from Agriculture and AgriFood Canada in a two-year collaborative
project to validate our progress. Additionally,
partnerships with reputable academic
institutions — Cornell University, Dalhousie
University, and the University of Guelph —have propelled innovation projects acrosscarbon sequestration, farm mechanization,and biodiversity measurements, enriching
our endeavors with diverse expertiseand resources.

3Our impact

spotlight.
Our journey in regenerative agriculture isdemonstrating promising results and tangible
benefits across our key impact areas. We’ve reduced
our greenhouse gas emissions, improved water
infiltration, and enhanced soil health through covercropping and reduced pesticide application. Our yields
have remained robust, with varieties like Caribou Russet
and King Russet showcasing resilience and quality.
By prioritizing biodiversity conservation and enhancement, we’ve witnessed thriving
farm ecosystems, with increasing earthworm and wild bee populations as key
indicators of our progress. Our commitment to climate resilience is evident, withinitiatives like solar panel installation and greenhouse gas monitoring driving us
towards a carbon-neutral future.
We are steadily uncovering that regenerative practices are not just sustainable;
they’re essential for the future of farming.

FARM OF THE FUTURE CANADA

4

Our impact detailed.
Enhancing farm resilienceand delivering on
environmental outcomes
across four key impact
areas: soil health, water,
biodiversity, and climate.
Yield and Quality

12

WATER MANAGEMENT: Innovations like controlled-traffic farming have reduced
soil compaction thereby increasing water infiltration by 117%, reducing soil
erosion and nutrient loss by 20–60%, thus contributing to retaining nutrients into
the system and preventing the pollution of our surface and ground water resources.

3BIODIVERSITY: Livestock integration is highlighting the potential for morediverse farming revenue systems while also supporting farm insect diversity.
Thriving ecosystems, with wild bee populations and soil biodiversity flourishing,demonstrate the success of our biodiversity conservation efforts.

Varieties like Caribou Russet and King Russet
have showcased resilience and quality,with stable gross yields and minimal
storage losses due to rot, likely a resultof reduced soil compaction and increased
water infiltration in our fields with theimplementation of control traffic farming.
Harvesters equipped with yield monitors
provide net yield (Greentronics) and geolocated quality insights (HarvestEye)throughout a field. Additionally, aninnovation in the mapping of potatoes
in storage units will ensure accurate size
estimation and allow for better quality
control and resource optimization. We will
be working to deploy prototypes acrossseveral farms in the coming season.

FARM OF THE FUTURE CANADASOIL HEALTH: Soils are less compacted overall with cover cropping and reduced
tillage demonstrating the potential for increases in soil organic carbon, andsubsequently organic matter, enhancing soil health over time.

We are also working to produce insights from the complex diversity of soil animals,bacteria, and fungi we have catalogued with DNA metabarcoding — 500 million
sequences uncovered so far. When examining fungal functionality, seven broadgroups of saprotrophs (64%) — key in organic matter production — made up thelargest portion of diversity. We are also observing patterns indicating the benefits ofcropping diversity where, for example, a higher cropping diversity is linked to a morediverse soil ecosystem in soil animals.

4

Sharing our successes
Our work was featured in a short film
produced by RE:TV, an initiative thatshowcases innovations that are emerging
all over the world in response to the climate
and biodiversity crisis. We also welcomed
more than 400 visitors this year, including
customers, government officials, scientificadvisors, McCain employees, and ourgrowers. We proudly shared our stories ofinnovation:
 otato growers can use AI to monitor
Pand predict potato nutrition in real time
| The Conversation
 S oil’s complexity must be understood |The Western Producer

CLIMATE RESILIENCE: Solar panel installation on the Farm has the potential toproduce approximately 139,000 kWh of clean energy annually, offsetting the powerbill by an estimated $16,000 or more per year. Since commissioning the solar farm inJanuary, the system has generated 17.0 Megawatt-hours of power that would havecost more than $2,000 to purchase from the local utility.
Additionally, greenhouse gas monitoring is evidencing our progress over time, withour carbon footprint remaining below the provincial average (an average carbon
dioxide equivalent of 66.8 kg/t vs 83 and 107.8 in 2021 and 2022 respectively). These
efforts are driving us towards a carbon-neutral future.

5

Showcasing progress within McCain’s Regenerative Agriculture Framework.
Armoured soils, preferablywith living plants
The potato fields on the Farm had living
plants for 171 days, accomplished byunderseeding our grains, and applying
cover crops following our potato seed
bed preparation the previous fall. It isnoteworthy that across our non-potato
fields, the farm had armoured soils withliving roots for the entire year.

Enhanced farm andecosystem biodiversity
More than a quarter of the farm area
(140 of 500 acres) is dedicated tonatural habitat, such as hedgerows andforested areas. In eight of our fields, we haveintroduced pollinator strips (6.16 acres total),
micro ecosystems that attract and encourage
pollinating insects. Additionally, we arequantifying the insect biodiversity, including
pollinators, using expert taxonomists andDNA metabarcoding.

FARM OF THE FUTURE CANADA

Enhanced crop diversity
In total, there were 23 crop speciesgrown, including 12 grasses and eightlegumes. These were used mostly
in multi-species mixes as underseed
or cover crops showcasing strong
potential to increase potato yields
while suppressing disease.

Reduce agro-chemical impact
and optimize water use
All inputs were applied based on Decision
Support Systems (e.g. DACOM, petiole testing),
like in 2022. We have reduced the applicationof fertilizers and pesticides across our fields.
Compared to other farms in the area, nitrogen
was reduced by 8%, phosphorus by 40%,and potassium by 53% contributing to ourdeduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Minimize soil disturbanceBy adopting the use of a chisel plow andfall bedding, we reduced tillage by twoevents in the potato crop and embraced
no-till practices for more than 50% of thenon-potato crops. Deep ripping was used
when soil was compacted in the first year
before employing control traffic.

Increase soil organic matter
Soil health assessments have been completed
and will be reassessed annually, including soil
biodiversity assessments. A total of 1,074
soil samples on a 50 m by 50 m grid serve
as a baseline for soil physio-chemical
properties including 504 biologicalsamples.

Reduced toxicity of pesticides
The Farm has achieved an Environmental
Impact Quotient (EIQ) of 189, a reduction
by 81% in our potato production systemcompared to 2021. This was accomplishedlargely due to the use of fewer, less harmful
products and well-timed application. While theselection of newer and less harmful chemistry
has come with an increased cost, we see a far
greater associated reduction in EIQ (71%). Also,
we actively reduced this expense throughdiligent pesticide management.

See theMcCain Foods’
Regenerative
Agriculture
Framework here.

Innovations like real-time plant nutrient
sensing and “see-and-spray” for theprecise spot application of pesticides willfurther revolutionize our approach, reducing
environmental impact while maximizing yields
and providing a toolkit for McCain growers.

6Join us,

tomorrowawaits.
The Farm of the Future Canada is not just a farm; itembodies McCain’s deep commitment to innovation,
collaboration, and rigorous environmental stewardship.
We are dedicated to developing cutting-edge tools andinsights that not only minimize risk for our growers but
also pave the way for their shared progress.
Join us on this transformative journey where eachseed planted is not just growth for today but a step
towards a sustainable, prosperous future for all.
Together, we are setting new standards, ensuring that
our advancements lead directly to your success and ahealthier planet for future generations.

FARM OF THE FUTURE CANADA

7Canada.