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July 27, 2023
 
 
 
 
 
USDA Undersecretary Robert Bonnie: The Private Sector Is Central to Driving Large-Scale Deployment of Climate-Smart Practices  
 


Earlier this month, the Trust In Food team gathered our partners in America’s Conservation Ag Movement to discuss private-sector innovation with the USDA in Washington.

Amid the backdrop of historic funding for farmers, I couldn’t be more encouraged by USDA’s engagement with and advocacy for the work being done with private and nonprofit partners in the next 3-5 years and the focus on productivity and profitability for farmers.

“We recognize the importance of productivity in and of itself as a climate solution,” USDA Undersecretary Robert Bonnie told our ACAM delegation in a private briefing at USDA’s Headquarters. “If you see what’s going on in Europe, essentially reducing productivity as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, that’s not a good strategy. All you’re doing is shifting production elsewhere. We have to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions while we maintain productivity. That means innovation, technology, and all those things [that the private sector brings].”

There is a critical need to deliver more farmer-centered information about programs and participation. It would be ideal if those messages were aligned, too. With more than 140 pilot projects going to market with Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities, producers are likely to receive multiple messages that could affect how they understand, value and engage in programs.

“There’s opportunity for U.S. agriculture to be able to move quickly and do big things relatively quickly,” Bonnie said. “Farmers are ready. Ranchers are ready. Folks in the forest sector are ready … I think we have an opportunity now to build something together … The USDA is a facilitator and we have a role to play, but the private sector is central to this.”

I’ve love to hear how you and your companies are positioning producer benefits in your outreach campaigns. Drop me a line to learn how our research identifies what producers value most so we can collectively make the most of this once-in-a-generation opportunity to align funding with producer sentiment. 

Yours in regenerative ag,
Amy Skoczlas Cole
President, Trust In Food™



 
 
 
 
Verdesian Life Sciences Agronomist Discusses Nutrient Use’s Role in Drought Mitigation for Growers
 
By Jamie Sears Rawlings, manager of climate-smart content, Trust In Food: One of the greatest agronomic challenges facing producers today is the multi-year drought pattern affecting the Corn Belt, says Mike Zwingman, director of agronomy, row crops for Verdesian Life Sciences. America’s Conservation Ag Movement sat down with Zwingman to get his perspective on nutrient use, the National Corn Yield Contest and the next generation of products to help producers manage emerging pressures on their operations.  
 
 
 
 
Syngenta’s Cropwise Sustainability App Gives Producers a Platform to Assess Opportunities In Conservation
 

By David Frabotta, director of climate-smart content, Trust In Food: A new mobile app by Syngenta helps provide farmers with the perspective they need to assess their current operations and plan for continuous improvement. The Cropwise Sustainability app uses a self-guided survey and assessment tool to generate a score that gives users immediate feedback on how their operation ranks in various categories using its Sustainable Outcomes in Agriculture Standard, a gold-level equivalency standard against the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform’s Farm Sustainability Assessment 3.0. 

 
 
 
 

News We’re Following

 

By: Jenna Hoffman, content creator, agriculture and food policy, Farm Journal: Ag accounts for 11.2 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to a USDA’s 2020 estimates. While these estimates are two years old, USDA intends to improve the future measure, monitoring, reporting and verification of ag climate emissions via a $300 million investment announced on Wednesday.

 
 

By: Chris Bennett, Associate Editor, Farm Journal: Illinois farmer Bill Jones is going against the grain on his farm and seeing huge impacts from triple-cropping and other conservation measures. The fifth generation farmer is carrying forth a legacy on his farm of bucking consensus and doing what works for him and his land. “This is about ROI, hitting yield averages, and taking care of my soil. Home runs are fine, but they’re for somebody else to chase," he says. Learn more about Jones' success from AgWeb.


 
 

Shared by Jamie Sears Rawlings, manager of climate-smart content, Trust In Food: The United Sorghum Checkoff Program launched its first Farm-to-School Curriculum, an agricultural education initiative that aims to integrate the science and production of sorghum, in addition to its nutritional value, into classrooms across the United States.

“We are thrilled to provide teachers with comprehensive materials that incorporate various aspects of sorghum into subjects from STEM to Language Arts,” Sorghum Checkoff Director of Food Innovations & Institutional Markets, Lanier Dabruzzi said. “This initiative underscores our commitment to agriculture education and our goal to inspire the next generation to recognize and utilize the potential of sorghum in their lives and the world around them.”

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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