Getting Started with the Regenerative Agriculture Standard (RAS)

After years of research, testing, and collaboration, our Regenerative Agriculture Certification is now available—offering a practical standard of science-backed practices for farming that gives back more to people and nature than it takes. This article brings together the key information you need to start working with the Rainforest Alliance Regenerative Agriculture Standard (RAS). It offers a practical overview of how the standard works in the real world—including the systems, tools, and requirements that support farmers, companies, and supply chain partners.

Here’s what you’ll find in this article:

1. Rollout timeline

2. How our RAS indicators support continuous improvement

3. How we contextualize the RAS to local farming conditions

4. Our expectations around premium payments and dual certification

5. Traceability options for Rainforest Alliance Certified Regenerative volumes

6. Certifications scope for supply chain actors

7. Certifications scope for farms

8. Applicable royalties for the RAS

Whether you’re a farmer, buyer, or company, this article will help you understand what to expect and how to get started.

To learn how Rainforest Alliance Regenerative Agriculture Certification benefits your business—and how it differs from our Sustainable Agriculture Standard—read more here.

To understand the journey behind this new standard and the years of research and collaboration that shaped it, read more here.

To explore how our data-backed regenerative agriculture practices translate to measurable outcomes for people and planet, read more here.

1. Rollout timeline

The rollout of our RAS has already started with our first early-adopter coffee farmers and companies in Costa Rica, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Brazil, chosen for their interest in and readiness to be audited against the new standard.

From March 1, 2026, all coffee farmers certified under our Sustainable Agriculture Standard (SAS) can be audited against the RAS add-on. Other crops—such as cocoa, tea, and citrus—will follow later.

What will be possible from March 1, 2026:

• Audits against the RAS add-on (for coffee).

• New partners can also become certified regenerative by adopting both the SAS and the RAS add-on.

• If you want to have some farms certified against the SAS, and others against the SAS+RAS add-on, they will need to be split as two separate certification registrations. It will not be possible for a single certificate registration to include some farms certified under SAS and others under SAS+RAS add-on (mixed scope).

What will not be possible on March 1, 2026 (but is in development):

• Mixed scope certification: when some farms are SAS-certified and others are RAS-certified within the same group. This option will be introduced later, and will include rules for separating volumes.

• Standalone RAS certification: for now, all RAS participation must be combined with SAS. A new partner may become certified with both, but not with only the RAS standalone.

• Other crops: only coffee is included at the start; other crops will follow later.

As of today, most of our materials (including this article, the RAS itself, and supporting guides) are focused on coffee. While the RAS already includes some requirements for other crops, both these and the Requirement Implementation Guide will be further strengthened over time with additional crop- and region-specific requirements and guidance.

Speak to your account manager to learn more or visit our Regenerative Agriculture Certification page to sign up.

2. Indicators: how the RAS supports reporting, redesign of farms, and continuous improvement

The RAS is designed to support farmers and companies on their journey toward more regenerative practices. It offers practical guidance and helps track progress over time—contributing to broader goals like the SDGs or net-zero commitments. The data collected through the standard can be used to inform planning, progress redesign of farms, and supply chain engagement, while highlighting areas for continuous improvement across environmental health, farm management, and farmer livelihoods.

Some examples of the indicators collected through the standard include:

• Farm area under renovation or rehabilitation

• Soil organic matter and earthworm or microorganism counts

• Fertilizer (nitrogen) use efficiency

• Type and quantity of pesticide active ingredients used

• Farm area under natural vegetation and agroforestry

For a full list of indicators, explore the Indicator Annex here.

These indicators are central to tracking regenerative agriculture outcomes—from healthier soils and restored biodiversity to improved climate resilience, water conservation, and stronger farmer livelihoods. Each is directly linked to the practices in our RAS and our Theory of Change, showing how actions on the ground create lasting benefits for people and nature. Learn more in this article, where we break down the five key impact areas covered in the RAS and the practices that drive measurable progress over time.

3. Making regenerative agriculture work in the real world: our contextualized approach

We know that for regenerative agriculture to work in practice, it must reflect real-world farming conditions. That’s why we’ve taken a contextualized, practice-based approach—one that adapts to local climate, soil, biodiversity, and culture. Each practice is directly linked to outcomes and indicators, ensuring that progress can be measured and verified. While the key outcomes remain the same, how they’re achieved changes based on these local realities, making regenerative agriculture more practical, more effective, and more likely to succeed.

The RAS includes crop- and region-specific requirements, supported by the Requirement Implementation Guide. The guide is scheduled for first publication at the end of 2025 and will continue to evolve as more crops are added and as we learn alongside farmers and regions—ensuring the guidance is practical and valuable for them. Together, the crop- and region-specific requirements and the Requirement Implementation Guide will translate regenerative practices into clear, achievable actions for crops such as coffee, cocoa, tea, and citrus.

For example:

• Planting material: Cocoa farms must use at least two high-yielding varieties, and tea farms at least three to support genetic diversity. Across all crops, 50 percent of new plants must be pest- or disease-tolerant based on local risks.

• Soil cover: All farms aim for 60 percent soil cover by the end of the certification cycle, with crop-specific flexibility, such as bare soil allowed during the coffee harvest or earlier targets for tea due to erosion risks.

The Requirement Implementation Guide will support farmers with relevant, practical examples. For instance, mulching techniques vary across farm sizes and landscapes.

4. Rewarding farmers fairly: premiums and dual certification expectations

The requirement for premium payments applies across all Rainforest Alliance standards, including the RAS. We believe that farmers should be fairly compensated for their sustainability efforts and that greater effort should be met with greater reward.

When farms are certified under both the SAS and the RAS, the Rainforest Alliance strongly encourages companies to reflect this added value in their sourcing practices. In such cases, we expect farmers certified against both standards to receive higher compensation than for certification under a single standard. To support this shift, we will continue to closely monitor premium-related data.

Farms certified under the SAS and RAS can sell their volumes as:

• Rainforest Alliance Certified (under the SAS)

• Rainforest Alliance Certified Regenerative (under the RAS add-on)

• or Rainforest Alliance Double Certified (under the SAS+RAS add-on).

5. Traceability options for Rainforest Alliance Certified Regenerative coffee volumes

Currently, Rainforest Alliance Certified Regenerative volumes can use two traceability models:

1. Identity Preserved

2. Segregated

As the range of crops covered by our Regenerative Agriculture Certification expands, we may introduce additional traceability models.

6. Supply chain certification scope

While farm-level requirements differ between the standards, the same Supply Chain Requirements apply across the entire Rainforest Alliance Certification Program.

What does this mean in practice?

• If you are certified under our SAS, then you already meet our Supply Chain Requirements and will only need to add the RAS to your certification scope. You can do this as part of your regular audit process or by initiating a scope extension process with your Certification Body. The requirements remain the same, but auditors will verify that they are applied to both SAS and RAS volumes—particularly that volumes are properly segregated throughout the supply chain. After the extension is approved, you can unlock the related RAS seals and claims.

• If you want to buy or sell only RAS volumes, then you must follow the regular process of meeting our Supply Chain Requirements.

7. Farm certification scope

The RAS can be implemented at the farm-level in two ways:

1. As an add-on to the SAS. This option is available on March 1, 2026

If you are already certified under the SAS, you can choose to add the regenerative requirements during your next scheduled audit. The add-on consists of 17 additional requirements that build on the SAS, strengthening outcomes in soil health and fertility, biodiversity, and crop resilience.

If you would like to be audited against the RAS add-on, take note that you’ll need to prepare before your regularly scheduled SAS audit. The RAS add-on can only be audited at the same time as your SAS audit.  

The RAS is available here on our Knowledge Hub. To see the add-on format, scroll to the end of the document.

2. As a standalone certification. This option is currently still in development and will not be available on March 1, 2026.  

If you are not certified against the SAS and prefer to certify only against the RAS, you can apply for the standalone Regenerative Agriculture Certification. This format combines the 17 regenerative requirements with 102 others, incorporating the same base requirements found in the SAS. Together, these 119 requirements deliver measurable results across five key areas: climate resilience, soil health, biodiversity, water management, and farmer livelihoods.

The RAS is available here on our Knowledge Hub.

Mixed scope
Mixed scope refers to situations where, within a single group or multi-farm certification, some farms are certified under the SAS and others under the RAS (add-on or standalone). The Rainforest Alliance aims to make this option available and is currently assessing the best way and timing to introduce it. This option will not be available on March 1, 2026. Certificate Holders adopting mixed scope will need to keep volumes fully separated for both traceability and claims. Further guidance will be shared in due course.

8. Royalties: a business requirement for certified volumes

For any Rainforest Alliance Certified volumes purchased, a royalty is paid once in the supply chain, based on the unit of volume. The royalty rates for Rainforest Alliance Certified Regenerative coffee are listed below. Rates will vary by crop and will be shared as Regenerative Agriculture Certification is introduced for other crops.