Growing Returns

How Smithfield’s landmark climate goal benefits farmers and the planet

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: December 5, 2016

Read an update on methane, manure and community impacts in North Carolina

Smithfields foods will reduce emissions in its supply chains

Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork company, is known as a leader in animal agriculture. Now Smithfield is showing its sustainability leadership by becoming the first major livestock company to make an absolute, supply chain commitment to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that contribute to climate change.

The company will reduce emissions in its U.S. supply chain, from feed grain to packaged bacon, 25 percent by 2025. To meet the goal, Smithfield will improve fertilizer use on feed grain, install advanced manure management technologies, and increase energy efficiency in transportation.

When a company as big as Smithfield makes a new sustainability commitment, it’s natural for farmers and neighboring communities to wonder how it will affect them. The good news is that all the actions Smithfield plans will generate benefits both for farmers and our environment.

Here are three: Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged biogas, cover crops, fertilizer efficiency, fertilizer optimization, greenhouse gas emissions, healthy soils, hogs, Hurricane Matthew, lagoon covers, livestock, manure, methane, nitrogen, North Carolina, nutrient management, protein company, resilience, Smithfield, Smithfield Foods, water quality | Read 2 Responses

How agriculture can help drive a low-carbon economy

By Robert Parkhurst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: December 1, 2016

The White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) recently released an intriguing report on how the United States can transition to a low-carbon economy by 2050 while continuing economic growth. The report gives a starring role in this job to agricultural lands.

“Mid-Century Strategy for Deep Decarbonization” outlines a 3-pronged strategy for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent while accelerating job-creating innovation. Calling each strategy “critical,” CEQ first lists the familiar call to transition to renewable and low carbon forms of energy.

The second key strategy, however, is less often discussed: the potential of cropland and grassland soils, as well as forests, to store and sequester hundreds of millions of tons of CO₂ annually. The report – informed by decades of scientific research – describes the opportunities to explore in this area. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged American Carbon Registry, carbon sequestration, climate action reserve, conservation, cover crops, economic growth, farming, fertilizer optimization, grasslands, grasslands protocol, greenhouse gas emissions, livestock, market-based, nitrous oxide, no-till, ranching | Comments are closed

Will Trump’s victory defeat the environment? It’s time to rally around shared values

By David Festa / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: November 16, 2016

Like all Americans, I woke up on November 9 to a new reality: A few more Democrats in Congress, and yes, a President-elect who promised to dismantle our nation’s core environmental protections.

Though the overwhelming majority of rural counties voted for Donald Trump, I do not believe they voted to increase air and water pollution or jeopardize wildlife.

We live in amazing times. Compared to 40 years ago, our environment is healthier, even as our economy has grown 300 percent.

But 40 years is a long time ago, and it’s easy to forget that progress didn’t happen overnight. It took Republican and Democratic administrations to put our bedrock environmental protections in place so the rules laid out in them could be enforced. These laws include:

A wildlife protection act that brought our national symbol, the bald eagle, back from the brink of extinction.
A clean air act that has helped to reduce smog and acid rain that was threatening our children’s health and killing our forests.
A water quality act that has cleaned up our rivers so they may never catch fire again. (Yes, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland was so polluted that it ignited in 1969.)

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged America, bipartisan, conservation, donald trump, election, environment, farmers, fertilizer use, habitat, habitat exchanges, market-based, Nevada, pollution, protection, public health, public-private partnerships, ranchers, stewardship, sustainability, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, water quality, wildlife | Comments are closed

Despite a new political landscape, landscape conservation commitments remain

By Brian Jackson / Bio / Published: November 15, 2016

Sagebrush in Carson Valley, Nevada. Photo credit: Flickr user loren chipman.

Sagebrush landscape in Carson Valley, Nevada. Photo credit: Flickr user loren chipman.

The presidential election has changed the political landscape both nationally and in the states we work. As we continue to make sense of the changes, what hasn’t changed is the commitment of many state leaders – Republicans and Democrats – to protecting our nation’s treasured landscapes.

In Nevada, the state just made a second wave of funding available to Nevada landowners who enhance and restore high-quality habitat for greater sage-grouse. This funding supplements an initial $1 million made available earlier this year to fund the first four credit projects through the Nevada Conservation Credit System (CCS).

Nevada created the CCS to keep the greater sage-grouse off the Endangered Species List and to provide a robust, efficient mitigation program for industries seeking to offset impacts to the imperiled bird’s habitat. Under the system, landowners sell credits to industries needing to mitigate future disturbances to the bird’s habitat in order to receive permits from the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged Bureau of Land Management, conservation, donald trump, election, greater sage-grouse, habitat, mining, mitigation, Nevada, neveda conservation credit system, ranchers, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Comments are closed

Three areas ripe for public investment in U.S. agriculture

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: November 7, 2016

Sichuan Province, China

Agriculture doesn’t often attract big investments like those that flow to technology.

But that may have just changed.

The Chinese government recently announced plans to invest $450 billion over the next four years – yep, billions – to help modernize agriculture and scale up practices that increase food security while hopefully minimizing impacts to the environment.

This eye-popping investment should be seen as a wake up call to the United States. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agricultural research, China, climate change, conservation, cover crops, data, grasslands, greenhouse gas emissions, investment, no-till, research funding, resilience, soil sensor, U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA | Comments are closed

This Iowa farmer proves that profit and sustainability go hand in hand

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: November 2, 2016

Photo credit: John Rae

Denny Friest is one of the most progressive and savvy farmers I’ve ever met. Through his participation in the Iowa Soybean Association’s On-Farm Network since 2001, Denny conducted replicated strip trials on his operation to compare different nitrogen application rates and find ways to be more efficient and profitable.

The Iowa legislature saw so much value in this field trial program that it provided funding to reimburse farmers who lost yield in their efforts to improve efficiency. With no risk involved, Denny was able to see “how low he could go” with fertilizer applications before he had an economic loss in production. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged ag retailers, corn, Des Moines Water Works, fertilizer efficiency, fertilizer management, fertilizer optimization, fertilizer runoff, iowa, Iowa Corn Growers Association, Iowa Soybean Association, Land O'Lakes, nitrogen, nitrogen surplus, nutrient management, nutrient use, soil health, soy, SUSTAIN, water quality | Comments are closed

Ranchlands: An untapped reservoir of monarch butterfly habitat

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: October 18, 2016

The monarch migration path through central Texas is often referred to as the “Texas Funnel.” Source: Journey North

As monarch butterflies have returned to Texas on their fall migration south, so have my colleagues and I to Shield Ranch for another round of field testing for the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange, a new conservation program we expect to launch in key states in 2017.

Texas offers a lot of potential habitat for monarchs, being a critical layover on the species’ annual migrations north and south, and having a number of landowners willing and eager to find a solution for the iconic butterfly’s decline.

During our visit to Shield Ranch, we saw dozens of monarchs and other butterflies, as an unusually high amount of rain in August sparked a profusion of fall wildflowers in central Texas. With targeted conservation funding through the Monarch Butterfly Habitat Exchange, we can make rapid progress on the ground. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged cattle, conservation, environmental defense fund, farming, habitat exchange, habitat quantification tool, migration, milkweed, monarch butterfly, ranching, Texas, texas parks and wildlife department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Read 1 Response

What was left off the menu at the WSJ Global Food Forum?

By Jenny Ahlen / Bio / Published: October 14, 2016

Mother with child Many of us spend a considerable amount of time thinking about food – whether it’s deciding what’s for dinner or how healthy something is for our family. Given that I work on food sustainability and am married to a chef, I spend an even more extreme amount of time thinking about food.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal hosted the first annual Global Food Forum in New York City – more proof that food and agricultural issues are increasingly on the radar screens of many executives, including those from Walmart, Campbell’s Soup, Panera, Perdue, Monsanto and many more.

I was eager to attend the event and hear the discussions among some of the most powerful food companies out there. They covered many topics including food safety, “clean” labels, biotechnology, antibiotic use and the humane treatment of animals.

All important stuff – but given the prestige of the event, I’d like to bring up the elephant in the room (or more accurately the elephant not in the room): sustainability. The environmental impacts of agriculture were barely touched upon, and considering the corporate heavyweights who were in the room, this was a missed opportunity on a massive scale. Read More »

Also posted in Food, Water / Tagged agricultural sustainability, agriculture, climate change, conservation, deforestation, drought, environmental defense fund, farmers, food production, Land O'Lakes, midwest row crop collaborative, supply chain, SUSTAIN, sustainability, water quality | Comments are closed

What Michael Pollan gets wrong about Big Ag

By David Festa / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: October 12, 2016

Journalist Michael Pollan deserves credit for elevating the national conversation about food. Over the course of 25 years, his articles and books have thoughtfully contemplated the troubling side effects of the American diet and the way our food is produced.

But his latest piece in the New York Times Magazine reads like a script for a black and white Western, with food companies, agribusiness and commodity producers cast in the role of Bad Guy and local organic farmers and vegans cast as the Men in White Hats.

In Pollan’s script, the bad guys are responsible for everything from America’s weight problem and rising health care costs to widespread environmental degradation and monocultures that threaten national security. If only the law would get on the good guys’ side, he muses.

Food production is actually changing

All industries have issues that continually need to be addressed, and the food industry is no exception.

Agriculture consumes a lot of land and water and emits greenhouse gas emissions that must be curbed. And, yes, our diets have contributed to America’s obesity epidemic.

Except, our food system is changing, more than Pollan acknowledges.

The uptick in consumer demand for local, organic products is promising. So, too, are the contributions that Pollan’s so-called villains – the companies, agribusinesses and commodity farmers who produce what’s on our plate – are making to the environment. They deserve recognition. Read More »

Also posted in Food / Tagged ag retailer, ag retailers, agribusiness, Campbell Soup, climate change, commodity crops, commodity farmer, corn, cover crops, David Festa, environmental defense fund, factory farm, farm, farmer, farmers, fertilizer efficiency, fertilizer pollution, food industry, General Mills, greenhouse gas emissions, industrial-scale, Kellogg, Kellogg's, Land O' Lakes, large-scale, Michael Pollan, monoculture, no-till, nutrient efficiency, resilience, resiliency, Smithfield, Smithfield Foods, soil health, soy, SUSTAIN, tilling, Walmart, wheat | Read 3 Responses

New project guarantees payment for growers who implement conservation measures

By Rebecca Haynes / Twitter profile / Published: October 3, 2016

Arkansas rice farmers participating in agricultural carbon markets. Credit: Adam Jahiel

Early adopters of innovative land-based conservation measures are rarely given an adequate reward for participating in agricultural carbon markets. But that’s all about to change, thanks to a nearly $1.2 million USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG) that will leverage private capital investment into agricultural carbon offset practices and ensure that producers are paid for their efforts.

These efforts will guarantee the sale of at least 100,000 tons of credits over the next three years. Here’s how it will work. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agricultural carbon markets, agricultural offset projects, arkansas, BlueSource, california, cap and trade, carbon credits, carbon markets, Carbon Offsets, CIG grant, ClimeCo, conservation, conservation innovation grant, Encourage Capital, grasslands protocol, investment, Natural Resources Conservation Service, private capital, purchase agreement, USDA, USDA NRCS, Working Lands Investment Fund | Comments are closed