Conservation has the potential to improve the efficiency and both short-term and long-term profitability of an operation, and it can also protect the soil and water resources, establish a stronger legacy for the next generation, and meet program and regulatory requirements.
| | | | | | | | | Climate-Smart Agriculture Is Fundamentally A Human Pursuit | | | A book I started over the weekend has given me plenty of food for thought about the fundamentally human pursuit of working toward a climate-smart future. In “Take Charge Of You,” business executives David Novak and Jason Goldsmith describe the importance of self-coaching in life and in career. We can master new skills, become better leaders and achieve outrageous goals when we get serious about understanding what hampers us, what brings us joy and what outside experts can do to inform our journey. In a similar way, there is no one size fits all approach to climate-smart agriculture. Farmers take pride in their businesses and their land just as Main Street and Wall Street business leaders beam about their enterprises. Yet you wouldn’t (typically) invite a stockbroker to supervise a heart surgery any more than you would present yourself to a producer as an expert in the vagaries and specialized needs of the soils that underpin their operation (unless, that is, you are a soil scientist, an agronomist or an earthworm). Our responsibility as regenerative agriculture professionals is to deeply understand the unique perspectives, experiences and factors that drive individual farmers to make individual decisions—then be the conduit that gets them what they need to do the job. If we fail to appreciate the needs of fellow humans and instead make the climate-smart conversation all about putting practices on acres, we are inviting side-eyes and skepticism. Farmers take pride in their work, just like you and I do. Farmers have business needs, just like you and I do. Farmers don’t have a lot of extra time for a runaround, least of all at this time of year here in the Midwest where I live. Climate-smart agriculture will require practice adoption and innovation and a whole-of-industry transition that requires everyone to do their part, that’s true. (You’ll see what I mean when you read this week’s post about the Ginsu knife that is the spectrum of conservation ag activities available to U.S. producers.) But let’s not for a moment dampen the joy and nobility of agriculture as a profession in the process. Let’s empower farmers and let them do their jobs and put some humanity back in our business transactions. Because climate-smart agriculture requires people-smart leadership. Until next week,
Nate Birt
Vice President, Trust In Food™ | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | Conservation Practices: A Ginsu Knife For Agriculture | | | | By Stephanie Mercier, senior policy adviser, Farm Journal Foundation, and Skip Hyberg, consultant, Trust In Food: Conservation has the potential to improve the efficiency and both short-term and long-term profitability of an operation. It can also protect the soil and water resources, establish a stronger legacy for the next generation, and meet program and regulatory requirements. Whether conservation will enhance an operation depends on its resources, opportunities, constraints and challenges, but it's not an either/or proposition. | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | The 4Rs Can Help Reduce The Sting Of Fertilizer Supply Logistics | | | | By Rhonda Brooks, content projects manager for Farm Journal and editor of Bovine Veterinarian: Farmers can’t fix the situation with fertilizer availability and high input cost, but they can get a better grasp on their crop fertility requirements and set new standards for their operation. “If you're not soil sampling, if you're not using variable rate application, if you're not using the 4R stewardship principles to be as efficient as possible with your fertilizer, now is the time to do it,” says Corey Rosenbusch, president and CEO of The Fertilizer Institute. “If there’s any bright light in the current market situation it’s that it really will drive farmers to adopt and use these nutrient stewardship principles in their farm.” | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | Free Seed Program To Encourage Crop Diversity On U.S. Farms | | Shared by Ryan Heiniger, director of America's Conservation Ag Movement, Trust In Food: The First Acre program provides up to one acre of Green Cover milpa garden seed mix for free to any grower who is willing to plant, harvest and donate at least 50% of the produce from the milpa garden to the community. The ancient milpa system of intercropping regional vegetables improves soil health, water quality and habitats for pollinators and wildlife. Farmers can sign up at the Green Cover Seed website. | | Read More |
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| | Weather Ready Farms Initiative Provides Producer Tools For Resiliency | | Shared by David Frabotta, manager of climate-smart ag interactive programming, Trust In Food: The University of Nebraska–Lincoln is helping agricultural producers, businesses and communities increase resiliency by identifying vulnerabilities and providing tools for weather scenario planning. The Nebraska Extension Weather Ready Farms initiative is a certification program that recognizes and rewards Nebraska farmers who prioritize weather readiness and are committed to reducing the impact of extreme weather events on their farms. | | Read More |
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| | SEC Proposal Would Require Companies To Disclose Climate Risk | | Shared by David Frabotta, manager of climate-smart ag interactive programming, Trust In Food: The Securities and Exchange Commission in late March proposed rules that would require companies to disclose greenhouse gas emissions and detail how climate change might affect their business. This includes assessments on Scope 3 emissions and information on climate-related risks that are reasonably likely to have a material impact on their business. Banking leaders have been sounding the alarm about climate-related risks and the blind spot that an absence of climate information can create for investors. | | Read More |
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