View in Browser
March 22, 2023
 
 
 
 
Meaningful Climate-Smart Ag Hinges On Innovation For Producers
 

As I look back on a busy Q1 conference schedule for agriculture and food, it’s impossible to overlook the fact that that sustainability is overtly everywhere. During my time at NCBA, the Meat Conference and Commodity Classic, I found myself amazed and encouraged at the number of climate solutions on offer from startups and legacy companies alike. Sustainability has seeped into a stunning volume of messages and monikers from food manufacturers, CPGs and nearly every other link in the value chain.


It's perfect timing. A new analysis by the UN’s climate scientists says the world is on track to surpass a significant level of warming in the next 10 years. That’s despite some of the real progress that has been made to reduce our carbon footprint.


This means the window for action to avert a climate crisis is closing. There is a real sense of urgency for us in this space to accelerate our work. Luckily, we have opportunity to do so. At the Trust In Food Symposium earlier this year, NRCS Chief Terry Cosby called the government’s climate spending a “once-in-a-lifetime investment into conservation.” The agency is engaging the public and non-profit sectors like never before to help drive change on the ground.


With this opportunity comes a serious responsibility to affect meaningful change at scale to help preserve a food production system that is the envy of the world. Most farmers simply aren’t prepared to mitigate the risk of extreme weather events. From droughts to floods, our weather is becoming more severe. Farmers need to build resiliency into their production systems to maintain their margins, output and viability.


Tyson Foods' launch of its Climate-Smart Beef Program is one example of how the private sector is helping producers meet climate challenges. They will do so through incentives and an accounting framework. The program will incentivize producers who adopt practices that help reduce GHG emissions and, as a result, "rebuild and enrich the soil, absorb more carbon and retain more water, promote healthy grasslands and improve biodiversity," as Dr. Justin Ransom and Chad Martin explain in a post at The Feed.


Tyson will use data and technology to track beef emissions at the individual animal level and work with its feedlot partners to share the data with producers. And they’ve created a new market for climate-smart beef: Brazen Beef is the first beef product to earn USDA approval for a climate-friendly claim. This is because it demonstrates a "10% GHG reduction from pasture to production against the standard emissions for conventionally raised beef," the company notes.


With these programs, Tyson meets several producer needs. The company provides incentives on the front end to subsidize practice change. It offers technical support and data management to drive best practices and accounting mechanisms. It opens access to a market that rewards producers for their operational innovation.


For climate-smart agriculture to succeed, it’s imperative that the entire value chain devise and deploy producer-centered innovation. Our Human Dimensions of Change work reinforces the need for a farmer-first mentality if we truly want agriculture to be seen as a solution to the world’s rapidly changing climate.


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

 
 
 
 
The Carbon Games: Agricultural Producers Still Looking For The Leaderboard
 
By Cara Urban, sustainability + carbon analyst, Trust In Food: Producers struggle to understand or see value in carbon markets, according to panelists of “Making Carbon Markets Work For Producers” at the Trust In Food Symposium in January. “No one will tell farmers what game they’re supposed to be playing,” said Mitchell Hora, founder and CEO of Continuum Ag and a seventh-generation farmer. “What we need to do to move carbon past the starting line is to show farmers the scoreboard and tell them exactly what they need to do to earn their points.”  
 
 
 
 
Skeptical Farmer Burns Ag’s Playbook, Steers Turnaround On 2,000 Acres
 
By Chris Bennett, associate editor, Farm Journal: Many operations within Colorado farmer Roy Pfaltzgraff’s geography maintain organic matter at .5% to 1%, but Pfaltzgraff has boosted his soil to a 2.5% average in the top 12”, with several fields above 3%. Using double-cropping on 16” of annual precipitation, table sugar in-furrow, drastic synthetic fertilizer reductions, 14-18 crops per season, no specialized equipment, and direct-market scrambling, he has engineered a remarkable and regenerative turnaround on 2,000 dryland acres.
 
 
 
 

News We’re Following

 

Interactive 'Virtual Farm' Website Expands Access To Dairy Sustainability Topics (via Phys.org)

Shared by David Frabotta, director of climate-smart content, Trust In Food: A new Carbon Calculator online tool lets dairy farmers, their employees and others explore the emissions impacts of farm systems and activities. "Science-based information is found at all levels, yet users do not feel 'blinded by science' beyond their level of interest in a topic," explains Penn State professor Eileen Fabian. The tool has earned a national Blue Ribbon prize from the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

 
 

Farmers: Share Your Thoughts on Cover Crops in the National Cover Crop Survey! (via Conservation Technology Information Center)

Shared by David Frabotta, director of climate-smart content, Trust In Food: Farmers are invited to share their thoughts on cover crops in an online survey, the seventh of its kind to be conducted since 2012. Responses will help guide research, communications and seed development. Participating producers can enter to win one of three $100 Visa gift cards.

 
 

Farm Groups Take Climate Lead Roles (via Progressive Farmer)

Shared by David Frabotta, director of climate-smart content, Trust In Food: Several major Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities projects officially are underway after a signing ceremony with Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack at this month’s Commodity Classic meeting in Orlando. Farmers for Soil Health aims to expand cover crop plantings by 1 million acres, while the Midwest Climate-Smart Commodity Program will help corn, soybean and wheat farmers implement climate-smart practices in 12 states.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Connect With Us:
You are receiving this email because you are a subscriber or past subscriber to a Farm Journal Product.
 
 
 
Copyright 2023 Farm Journal, Inc 8725 Rosehill Road Lenexa, KS, 66215