| | | | | | | | | Kicking Off A Red-Hot Climate-Smart Summer | | | As summer heats up across the country, I see no signs that the red-hot market for agricultural carbon programs will slow down anytime soon. Indeed, USDA shared that they received an astonishing 450 proposals, totaling $3 billion to $4 billion in requests, for the first tranche of the $1 billion Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities pilot program. The latest addition to the exuberance is the launch of the FFAR-funded Ecosystem Services Marketplace Consortium’s Eco-Harvest program. Different than the many private-sector programs that have sprung up, Eco-Harvest was developed and built by a consortium of members from across the agricultural value chain. (Note: Trust In Food is an ESMC member.) I attended the launch of Eco-Harvest in Washington two weeks ago and left excited by this newest offering in carbon markets for a few reasons: First, competition is generally a good thing. Providing farmers and ranchers more options for ecosystem services revenue should help with both price discovery and understanding the true cost of implementing change. Second, Eco-Harvest is looking beyond carbon to additional benefits, including biodiversity and water. And finally, a number of ESMC members are food companies that, at least in theory, ought to be able to enter the market as buyers with Scope 3 carbon insets. I think Eco-Harvest’s launch marks an important leap forward for voluntary ag carbon markets. The question now is: Will farmers jump in to meet growing demand? On that, I’m not quite so bullish. We’re previewing new research later this summer on that exact topic: You can see a sneak peek of that research here, and we’ll announce the full research through this newsletter. So stay tuned! Let me know your thoughts on carbon markets at acole@farmjournal.com. Yours in regenerative ag,
Amy Skoczlas Cole
Executive Vice President, Trust In Food™ | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | How Farmer Centricity Drives Sustainable Innovation at Corteva Agriscience | | | | By David Frabotta, manager of climate-smart ag interactive programming, Trust In Food: Corteva's collaboration with producers helps to create next-generation technologies to meet the pressing challenges of climate change, population growth and food security. “I think we’re at a really critical time,” says Wendy Srnic, vice president, seeds research and development for Corteva Agriscience. “Recent events have highlighted the importance of things we already know. The challenges facing farmers right now–to feed a rapidly growing world in a climate-positive way that preserves their land for generations to come–have never been as acute as they are now.” Read the wide-ranging interview with Srnic on the future of R&D and how farmers are shaping inputs for the future. | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | Food Waste And Loss Hurt Human, Environmental Health, Panel Says | | | | Shared by David Frabotta, manager of climate-smart ag interactive programming, Trust In Food: The Farm Journal Foundation's Speaker Series assembled a fascinating panel discussion on how food waste puts pressure on human health and climate. Between 20% and 30% of all food produced worldwide is lost at various stages of the supply chain before it is ever consumed, said Dr. Patrick Webb, a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University and director of USAID’s Feed the Future’s Food Systems for Nutrition Innovation Lab. Webb keynoted the April 12 Speaker Series event, titled “Food Waste and Loss: Global Perspectives.” You can register for future Farm Journal Foundation Events on its website.
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| | | | | | | Shared by Nate Birt, vice president, Trust In Food: USDA Under Secretary Robert Bonnie announced a new partnership that uses diverse Farm Bill investments to support voluntary conservation of private working lands and migratory big game populations in Wyoming. Using lessons learned from this pilot, USDA seeks to scale up this model across the West as part of President Biden’s commitment to support voluntary, locally-led conservation efforts to reach the administration’s national conservation goals. USDA is committing an initial $15 million in investment through EQIP and ACEP for Wyoming, in addition to the rental payments that will go to producers who enroll in Grasslands CRP. | | |
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| | | Shared by David Frabotta, manager of climate-smart ag interactive programming, Trust In Food: By combining biological and synthetic inputs, farmers can reduce row passes and maintain microbial sterility with the new packaging system. This package will be plug-and-play compatible with the SIMPAS agricultural application system, enabling simultaneous application of SIMPAS products from synthetic crop inputs in returnable/refillable SmartCartridge® containers alongside biological inputs in disposable packaging on the same crop row. The new package will be fully trackable with Smart Tag™ technology and compatible with Ultimus®, AMVAC’s container/supply-chain traceability tool. | | |
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| | | Shared by Ryan Heiniger, director of America's Conservation Ag Movement, Trust In Food: Nutrien will build the world’s largest clean ammonia production facility in Geismar, Louisiana, to “decarbonize agriculture and other hard-to-abate sectors.” Raef Sully, Nutrien’s executive vice president and CEO, says the company is “optimally positioned” to produce clean ammonia for the ag supply chain through the facility in Louisiana. The roughly $2-billion site is currently in the design phase. Nutrien expects final investment decision will be made in 2023, with construction following until production lines open in 2027. | | |
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