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November 09, 2021
 
 
 
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Infrastructure Bill Aims To Advance U.S. Food And Agriculture Resilience
 

Agricultural and forested lands make a cameo in the $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill approved this weekend by the U.S. House of Representatives. Among other activities, the legislation would fund tens of billions in water infrastructure upgrades, resiliency improvements to mitigate risks of flooding and wildfires, and support for ports, rails and broadband—all of which touch agriculture to one degree or another.


In the days ahead, we’ll all have more clarity as to how these funds will be invested and ways they might practically benefit people across food and agriculture. The New York Times has called the legislation the “first major U.S. investment in climate resilience.” Amid the great potential of these investments, let’s also keep in mind we’re all learning, —as an industry and as a nation—how such an omnibus measure will be operationalized. (Not to mention the prospect of putting to work a much larger climate package that’s still in discussion.)


News of the infrastructure bill’s passage aligns well with a Q-and-A article in today’s newsletter edition featuring Anjali Marok, interim global responsibility leader, Corteva Agriscience. Marok notes that to scale regenerative agriculture broadly in the U.S., we’ll need to continue investing in scientific insights and data—the infrastructure that underlies progress in our industry. Research will further validate and illustrate farmers’ lived experiences that yes, regenerative systems can pay dividends environmentally and economically.


What are you paying attention to now that the infrastructure bill has passed Congress? What might it mean for the future of regenerative agriculture in the U.S.? I’d love to hear from you at nbirt@farmjournal.com.


Until next week,
Nate Birt
Vice President, Trust In Food™
 
 
 
 
Tapping The Trusted Adviser Network
 
Shared by Amy Skoczlas Cole, executive vice president, Trust In Food: Now more than ever, trusted advisors have an important role to play in facilitating on-the-ground change, acre by acre. The broader sustainable agriculture community has an important role to play in ensuring that we’re helping break down barriers and identifying opportunities for these advisers to grow their businesses and their impact through supporting producers in making change. Here are my key take-aways from the conversations I've been having around engaging these advisers as forces to help accelerate and scale new programs and practices.
 
 
 
 
Q&A: Creating Farmer-Led Regenerative Agriculture Systems With Anjali Marok, Corteva Agriscience
 
Ahead of a free virtual regenerative agriculture event Nov. 17, 2021, the interim global responsibility leader shares how Corteva is supporting producers, consumers and organizations across the agri-food value chain to improve outcomes for farms and ranches, communities and society.
 
 
 
 

News We’re Following
 

Unhappy With Prices, Ranchers Look To Build Own Meat Plants (via The Associated Press))

Shared by Drew Slattery, human dimensions of change lead, Trust In Food: Beef industry stakeholders are ready to take a risk as they navigate the opening of "Sustainable Beef", a packing plant aiming to demonopolize the sector and offer better profit margins to beef producers. "Besides paying ranchers more and providing dividends to those who own shares, the hope is that their success will spur more plants to open, and the new competitors will add openness to cattle markets."
 
 

Pennsylvania Farmers Are Aging, Creating An Uncertain Future For Their Communities And Industry (via WESA-FM)

Shared by Drew Slattery, human dimensions of change lead, Trust In Food: Fourth-generation row-crop farmer Terry Shields of Jefferson County, Pennsylvania is living out a trend that will alter the U.S. agricultural landscape for years to come: Increasingly, farmers are deciding to "pull back on the reins a little bit and slow down." That could mean worker shortages, land conversion away from farming and a renewed effort to attract the next generation to the industry Shields still champions. Here’s what he and other experts think the future might look like.
 
 

Cover Crop Decisions: Thorough Planning Increases The Odds For Success (via AgWeb.com)

Shared by Emily Smith, community engagement coordinator, Trust In Food: Farm Journal Field Agronomist Ken Ferrie urges farmers to plant cover crops to help accomplish long-term goals. In this article, he explains practical steps row-crop producers can follow to give covers a try in a way that mitigates risk and produces ongoing learnings.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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