By Caroline Bode, 
Director of Shareholder Advocacy Mercy Investments

Growing scientific evidence links pesticide use to reduced soil health and farm resilience, and exposure to pesticides and agrichemicals is associated with serious adverse health impacts, particularly for children and farm workers. The base of a successful regenerative agriculture system is healthy soils and, without addressing and reducing agrichemical use, such systems are unable to effectively achieve regenerative outcomes.

Despite growing reference in food company annual reporting to regenerative agriculture programs and commitments, As You Sow’s 2026 Pesticides in the Pantry report found that more than half of the 17 benchmarked companies’ scores declined from their 2023 assessment and that several companies decreased or eliminated pesticide disclosure from their public reporting. And the assessment of 78 global agri-food companies by the investor network FAIRR  (formerly the Farm Animal Investment Risk and Return) found that none have set a target to reduce the use of pesticides as part of their regenerative agriculture programs.

For decades, Adrian Dominican Sisters Portfolio Advisory Board (PAB) has been a consistent voice calling for a transition to a safer and more sustainable food system and the development of safer forms of pest control, leading a multi-year engagement with Michigan-based Dow Chemical and participating in a similar engagement with Missouri-based Monsanto.  

The PAB has continued to engage with Dow’s agricultural chemical spin-off company, Corteva, and the German company Bayer, which acquired Monsanto in 2018. Current engagements with both companies ask them to develop pest control products that are safer for people and planet. In 2025, Corteva announced a multi-million-dollar joint venture to accelerate the development of new crop protection solutions inspired by nature. 

In its 2026 sustainability reporting, Bayer shared that it has reduced the environmental impact of its global crop protection portfolio by 14% against the baseline. However, Bayer has also been in the headlines this year due to its legal stance in the numerous lawsuits brought against the company concerning the health impacts of its signature product Roundup, which was originally developed by Monsanto.  

Earlier this year when the case reached the Supreme Court, Bayer argued that they should be immune from “failure to warn” lawsuits on the grounds that the language in the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) gives the EPA universal control to approve product labels and that any EPA-approved labels should preempt state labeling laws or individual rights to sue agrochemical producers. 

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s ruling in Bayer’s favor removes a primary tool for individuals to hold these companies accountable when they fail to warn consumers of undisclosed risks and harm. Adrian Dominican Sisters and other investors will continue to engage Bayer and other agrochemical producers on the need to transition their crop protection portfolios to solutions that are less hazardous and toxic to human and environmental health.

In part due to years of investor pressure, most major food manufacturers also have commitments to implement regenerative practices and several, such as Campbell’s, Lamb Weston, and Nestlé, are tracking and monitoring pesticide use. Kroger and Walmart have commitments to implement integrated pest management practices with their food suppliers to help transition to least-toxic growing methods.

Investors are also asking food retailers to disclose how they are working to reduce the use of pesticides in the products they sell. In the 2026 proxy season, the PAB co-filed a shareholder proposal at Target asking the company to report on pesticide use and reduction efforts within its supply chains. 

Despite Target’s commitments to safer chemical management and protecting biodiversity, the company lags its peers and may be overlooking risks associated with pesticide use. The proposal received 17.2% of the vote in support, indicating strong interest from shareholders on this issue.  

Investors will continue to press chemical companies to reduce the environmental and human health impacts of their agricultural products and to ask food and beverage companies and retailers to disclose how they are working to reduce pesticide use in their supply chains.