Walmart details its push to engage ranchers and supply chains to meet its sustainable sourcing goals.
| | | | | | | | | Are Producers Prepared To Accept Supply Chain Transparency? | | | Our research over the years – up to and including the 2022 State of Sustainable Ag report – tells a clear story: Agricultural producers by and large reject the idea that food companies and their supply chain ought to influence on-farm production practices. And just about one-third of farmers say that consumers, food companies and governments have a right to know about their farm-management practices. Considering the ever-growing numbers of initiatives from retailers and their supply chain partners coupled with the evolving expectations of consumers to know more about how their food is produced, I have the uneasy feeling that we’re watching a slow-moving disaster in the making. Although certainly some farmers will move quickly, today’s farmer sentiment paints a picture that more, rather than less, conflict might be ahead for our food supply chain. This week, we’re sharing a timely interview I conducted with two key Walmart executives charged with implementing regenerative agriculture within the company’s protein supply chain. I was struck by how ambitious Walmart’s goals are – and how much they rely on their supply chain partners to achieve them. Walmart is leading the pack, but many food companies are following in their footsteps. At Trust In Food, we focus a lot on how farmers think about making change. After this interview with Walmart and reviewing our own volumes of research, I wonder if we need to spend more time understanding how the food supply chain is thinking as well. Do you work at or with a food company – and are you willing to have an informal conversation about how you see farmer sentiment and how you’re preparing producers for more transparency? I’d love to connect at acole@farmjournal.com Yours in regenerative ag,
Amy Skoczlas Cole
Executive Vice President, Trust In Food™ | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | USDA Unveils Pandemic Cover Crop Program For 2022 | | | | Shared by David Frabotta, manager of climate-smart ag interactive programming, Trust In Food: USDA recently announced the Pandemic Cover Crop Program for producers who planted a cover crop this year. Producers who have insured their crops and chose to plant a qualifying cover crop in the 2022 crop year can capture the premium support of $5 per acre. The program is part of a growing network of incentives from the federal government and private industry that provide incremental compensation to farmers for their existing conservation practices. | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | Data-Driven Study Digs Into The State Of U.S. Farm Livelihoods | | Shared by Cara Urban, sustainability + carbon analyst, Trust In Food: A new study led by Emory University and published in the journal Frontiers of Sustainable Food Systems digs deeper into the question of why, despite the extraordinary productivity of U.S. agriculture, U.S. farm operators are systematically losing money. Rising input costs, shrinking production values, commodity specialization and challenges to land access all appear to be connected to declining farm operator livelihoods. The analysis suggests finding ways to support the diversity of people, plants and practices in the national farm landscape to help address the growing issues of agricultural sustainability and climate change. | | Read More |
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| | Iowa Farmer Wins National Conservation Legacy Award | | Shared by David Frabotta, manager of climate-smart ag interactive programming, Trust In Food: The American Soybean Association (ASA) presented Wayne and Ruth Fredericks from Osage, Iowa, with the 2022 National Conservation Legacy Award for the farm's large-scale implementation of no-till planting and cover crops, which have reduced weed pressure, created healthier soils that are more resilient in dry weather and improved yields. "Strip-till corn came about a decade after no-till. The technology evolved and showed very real promise for those of us farming in colder, wetter climates," Wayne Fredericks says. "I live and farm 'just south of the North Pole,' where many farmers believe it is too cold to practice no-till or to plant cover crops. I have proved them wrong." | | Read More |
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| | These Cattle Ranchers Are Raising Better Beef, Spending Less — And Reducing Carbon Emissions (Via CNBC) | | Shared by David Frabotta, manager of climate-smart ag interactive programming, Trust In Food: It's great to see consumer media highlighting the work ranchers are doing to implement regenerative practices. This article chronicles the philosophical evolution of generational farmers and the many agronomic and financial benefits they enjoy from integrated land management practices. | | Read More |
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