Growing Returns

The farm bill can make the ag data revolution a reality

By Callie Eideberg / Bio / Published: March 12, 2018

For big data to truly revolutionize agricultural productivity and sustainability, data needs to be accessible. Industry and government have already collected troves of data points. The trick now is to combine disparate data sets and make them available to farmers, researchers and advisers – all while meticulously protecting producer privacy.

The private sector moved aggressively in 2017 to provide farmers with solutions for collecting and interpreting their data. $500 million in investments flowed to start-ups providing farm management software, sensing and other data solutions – a sector with 27 percent year-over-year growth.

It’s time for the public sector to do the same. Here’s how the next farm bill can ensure farmers see benefits from their data. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged crop insurance, data, extreme weather, farm bill, Senator Amy Klobuchar, Senator John Thune, USDA | Comments are closed

Unlikely allies are crowdsourcing funding and habitat to save the monarch butterfly

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: March 1, 2018

The monarch butterfly has a new chance at recovery, thanks to the launch of the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange and inspiring commitments from early participants.

The Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange is an innovative market-based program dedicated to restoring and conserving high-quality monarch habitat on America’s private working lands. It’s been dubbed an ‘Airbnb for butterflies’ because it’s the only program of its kind that can open the vast untapped potential of large-scale farms and ranches to make habitat available for monarchs at an unprecedented scale and pace.

[Tweet “Powerful partners have teamed up to launch a groundbreaking program to recover the monarch butterfly.”]

Studies estimate that the monarch’s population has declined by 95 percent since the 1980s, and the butterfly faces a June 2019 deadline for an Endangered Species Act listing decision.

To change the monarch’s trajectory and avoid the need for restrictive regulations that often accompany a listing, we need to restore millions of acres of native milkweed and wildflowers across the butterfly’s vast migration route, fast.

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged conservation, environmental defense fund, milkweed, missouri, monarch butterfly, prairie, Smithfield Foods, Texas, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, wildlife | Read 11 Responses

$1 million USDA award expands public-private partnerships for ag sustainability

By Shelby Shelton / Bio / Published: February 14, 2018

A collaboration between Smithfield Foods and Environmental Defense Fund has reduced fertilizer loss and improved soil health on more than 400,000 acres in the regions where Smithfield sources feed grain. That acreage is set to grow thanks to a new USDA Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) award of $1,080,000.

The RCPP project will expand Smithfield’s ongoing grain sustainability efforts in North Carolina and scale up the program in Iowa, providing additional opportunities for farmers interested in improving their operations. Participating farmers will be supported by the combined efforts of 16 partner organizations, which include producer groups, government agencies, universities and nonprofits. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged farm bill, iowa, North Carolina, public-private partnerships, RCPP, regional conservation partnership program, Smithfield Foods, soil health, supply chain sustainability, U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA | Comments are closed

3 reasons animal agriculture should be leading the way on supply chain sustainability

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: February 9, 2018

Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicted that Americans will eat a record-breaking amount of meat in 2018 [PDF] – 223 pounds per person of chicken, pork and beef. That’s why I went to Atlanta last week to speak to environmental managers for the nation’s largest meat companies at a conference held by the North American Meat Institute.

My message for those I met? Animal agriculture should be leading the way in addressing the full impacts of their supply chains, from feed grain production all the way to the consumer.

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged animal agriculture, meat production, Smithfield Foods, supply chain sustainability, Tyson Foods | Read 1 Response

Why Trump should care about the fate of the sage-grouse even more than African elephants

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: February 5, 2018

When the Trump administration announced that it was lifting the ban on imports of game trophies, there was public outcry. For days, my twitter feed was filled with photos of African elephants. It was, in Trump’s words, a “horror show” – one that ultimately ended when the president made the decision to keep the trophy ban in place.

At the same time the trophy ban was making headlines across the globe, a different story was unfolding back home. A great American wildlife conservation story was being rewritten. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged America first, conservation, elephant trophies, greater sage-grouse, Interior department, oil and gas, ryan zinke, trophy hunting, wildlife | Read 2 Responses

Climate-resilient agriculture requires both global and local action. Here’s how.

By Josette Lewis / Bio / Published: February 1, 2018

2017 saw 16 weather and climate disasters that cost a billion dollars or more, from freezes and hail, to fires and flooding. Agricultural losses from Hurricane Harvey, Hurricane Irma, Hurricane Maria and California wildfires alone totaled more than $5.7 billion – and counting.

With extreme weather becoming more common, we all have a stake in building a food system that can absorb and recover from such stress. A resilient food supply equips farmers with the tools and incentives to find climate-smart solutions, and that requires action globally and locally. Read More »

Also posted in Water / Tagged california, climate change, climate-smart agriculture, extreme weather, farm bill, food system, iowa, Maryland, Oklahoma, regional conservation partnership program, resilience | Read 2 Responses

7 lessons from a California water leader on managing for the future

By Ann Hayden / Bio / Published: January 23, 2018

David Guy is president of the Northern California Water Association (NCWA), an organization committed to ensuring that water supplies are available for the Sacramento Valley — both for today’s users and for future generations.

“The Sacramento Valley is a rich mosaic of farmlands, cities, rural communities, refuges, managed wetlands and meandering rivers,” David said. “Every drought we experience reveals numerous pressures on the water supplies that support this vibrant region. We have to be motivated and forward-thinking to advance the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the Sacramento Valley by enhancing and preserving its water rights, supplies and water quality.”

I recently had the opportunity to speak with David about his role at NCWA, some of the challenges that he and the region face, and how to prepare for the future. Here’s what David had to say. Read More »

Also posted in Water / Tagged agriculture, birds, california, central valley habitat exchange, fish, northern california water association, Sacramento Valley, salmon, water use, wildlife | Comments are closed

How the Army prepared me for a conservation career in agriculture

By Jamie Powers / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: January 16, 2018

I’ve always been mindful of the environment, but it never struck me that conservation was something you could focus on professionally. It was just something that you cared about.

That’s why my career until now has included a range of other pursuits – playing music professionally and teaching percussion to public school students, collecting and analyzing intelligence in the U.S. Army, and conducting social network analysis for the Department of Defense.

When U.S. military involvement (and thus my own involvement) in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan began to diminish, I took stock of what was important to me and what I wanted to spend the rest of my career doing. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agricultural retailers, Agricultural Retailers Association, agronomy, American Society of Agronomy, Certified Crop Advisers, Field to Market, military, SPARC, veteran | Comments are closed

I’m a rancher, and I support the Endangered Species Act

By Guest Author / Published: January 9, 2018

In a recent op-ed for The Hill, Robert Henneke of the Texas Public Policy Foundation shared his opinion that “The Endangered Species Act is an ineffective regulatory burden.” I believe Mr. Henneke lacked a full perspective of the bedrock American environmental policy.

As a fellow Texan, I was surprised to see Mr. Henneke forget about the great wildlife success stories in our home state. The whooping crane, the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle and the Northern Aplomado Falcon have all experienced growing populations in Texas, thanks to conservation efforts made possible by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Though they are still classified as “endangered,” these species have turned the trajectory from extinction to recovery, so I wouldn’t say the Act is ineffective, and I certainly wouldn’t go so far as Mr. Henneke does to call it “a terrible approach” to saving species with “an abysmal track record.”

I’m a sixth generation rancher in Brady, Texas. My husband George and I love and care for the land, the livestock, and the wide variety of Texas wildlife that call our ranch home. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged Congress, habitat exchange, monarch butterly, ranchers, texas public policy foundation, whooping crane | Comments are closed

3 steps to close the conservation data gap between farmers and investors

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: December 6, 2017

Farmer Scott Henry stands in a soybean field with a tablet computer.

Sustainable agriculture must be economically viable. Photo credit: Leslie Von Pless

In addition to benefiting the environment, on-farm conservation practices tend to create economic value for farmers and surrounding communities. Anecdotal examples of these benefits abound – fertilizer efficiency saves farmers money; no-till lowers labor and fuel expenses; and buffers and wetlands reduce downstream flood risk and drinking water treatment costs.

Quantifying them, however, remains a major challenge. The resulting data gap limits broader adoption of conservation measures.

Farmers care about stewardship, but many conservation practices require large upfront investment or take too long to produce returns. At the same time, investors want to help farmers generate financial and environmental benefits, but a lack of economic data holds them back, according to a study from Encourage Capital [PDF] and the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged conservation finance, data sharing, Datu Research, economics, Encourage Capital, farm finance, investment, National Association of Conservation Districts, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA NRCS | Comments are closed