Growing Returns

Why investments in agricultural carbon markets make good business sense

By Sara Kroopf / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: June 1, 2016

Farmers shaking hands Over the past decade, private investment in conservation has more than doubled, with sustainable forestry and agriculture investments as the main drivers of growth. This unprecedented expansion in “impact investing” or “conservation finance” has occurred as investors seek good returns that can also benefit the environment. According to Credit Suisse, sustainable agriculture is particularly appealing to investors as it offers a wider array of risk mitigation approaches than sectors such as energy and transportation.

Yet despite this boom, there has been very little investment from private capital in emerging ecosystems markets, especially in the agricultural sector.

We’ve blogged before about the benefits growers – and the environment – realize from participating in agricultural carbon markets or habitat exchanges. But here’s why the private sector, food companies and retailers should invest in agricultural carbon markets. Read More »

Also posted in Carbon Market / Tagged agricultural offset projects, agriculture, American Carbon Registry, cap and trade, carbon neutral, Carbon Offsets, climate action reserve, conservation finance, environmental defense fund, ESG investing, greenhouse gas, impact investing, opportunity for investment, Paris climate agreement, Partnerships, rice protocol, socially responsible investing, SRI investing, sustainable agriculture, working lands | Read 2 Responses

Despite drought, California agriculture is doing well. But there are hidden costs.

By Scott Sellers / Bio / Published: May 23, 2016

Water scarcity has affected California vineyards

Photo credit: Henrik Johansson

According to a new World Bank report, regions around the world could gain or lose up to 6 percent of their GDP by 2050 depending on how they manage for climate-driven water scarcity.

I was curious about how the report’s findings might apply to California, where I live.

Here in the Golden State, water scarcity is a familiar threat. And while the World Bank found that climate-water costs to North American GDP should be minimal, many Californians have suffered acutely from sustained drought.

In some cases, however, it isn’t entirely clear what the impacts of water scarcity have been. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged agriculture, california, central valley, Climate, climate change, climate-water nexus, drought, economy, environmental defense fund, farmers, global warming, groundwater, groundwater management, job creation, resilience, resiliency, sustainable agriculture, sustainable groundwater management act, water management, water market, water scarcity, water use, western water | Read 4 Responses

Want to bring ag sustainability to scale? Collaboration, not confrontation.

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: May 11, 2016

One year ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced 10 “building blocks” for climate-smart agriculture and forestry, with the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by over 120 million metric tons by 2025.

The agency’s focus on partnering with farmers and ranchers – as well as with the private sector – was a huge step in the right direction toward widespread implementation of climate-smart agriculture techniques and programs.

Tomorrow, USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack will announce another big investment in conservation stewardship and climate-smart agriculture approaches to advance the building blocks agenda. I’ll be joining Secretary Vilsack to talk about EDF’s partnerships within the agricultural supply chain and our collaborative approach to ag sustainability.

Working across public-private sector lines, through a collaborative approach, and with the entire ag supply chain is the only way to bring sustainability to scale while protecting farmers’ livelihoods.

Here’s what key sectors of the ag supply chain are doing – and can do – to improve water quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and increase agricultural resilience. Read More »

Also posted in Carbon Market, Supply Chain / Tagged agriculture, Campbell's Soup, Carbon Offsets, climate change, conservation, corn, cover crops, ecosystems, environmental defense fund, farmers, farming, fertilizer, Field to Market, food production, food security, General Mills, Kellogg's, nitrogen, nutrient efficiency, Partnerships, Smithfield Foods, soil health, SUSTAIN, sustainable agriculture, Unilever, United Suppliers, USDA, Walmart | Comments are closed

The science behind agricultural carbon markets

By Robert Parkhurst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: May 5, 2016

Dry seeding rice reduces early season methane emissions.

There’s been a lot of recent attention on the California Air Resources Board’s (ARB) rice protocol, the first ever carbon offset protocol for crop agriculture in a compliance market.

The protocol, approved in June 2015, allows rice farmers who reduce methane emissions to become eligible for carbon credits through California’s cap-and-trade program, though growers from any rice-growing state can participate. The momentum is building. In less than one year, rice growers on more than 22,000 acres have expressed interest in the protocol – representing nearly 1 percent of all rice grown in the U.S.

When the first credits become available for purchase this summer, policymakers and regulated companies can have confidence in the rice protocol’s ability to improve climate stability, and growers can earn extra revenue, thanks to the sound science that measures emissions reductions. Here’s a primer. Read More »

Also posted in Carbon Market / Tagged agricultural offset protocol, agricultural research, arkansas, california, California Air Resources Board, carbon credit, carbon market, carbon offset, conservation, dry seeding, ecosystems, emissions, fertilizer, field studies, fossil fuel usage, greenhouse gas emissions, methane, rice, rice cultivation, soil methane, sustainable agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA, water consumption | Comments are closed

Monarchs still need milkweed, and farmers are growing it

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: May 3, 2016

Rain builds over a field near Lubbock, Texas. Photo credit: Flickr user Craig O’Neal

I am watching the rain pour down outside my window as I write this blog. El Niño is once again giving central and north Texas a good drenching, which has brought with it some severe and deadly flood conditions. But the rains are a welcome sight to Texas farmers and ranchers who have become all too used to drought and wildfire conditions. And they aren’t the only ones benefitting from the heavy rains.

All this wet weather has resulted in a spectacular display of spring wildflowers, including vast expanses of milkweed and nectar plants that the iconic North American monarch butterflies need to survive and thrive.

Recent headlines suggest that milkweed loss is just one of several threats to monarch populations, with drought, habitat fragmentation and reduced availability of nectar plants also influencing the species’ decline. In reality, all of these threats are interconnected in a recipe that could spell disaster for the monarch. Read More »

Also posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Tagged conservation credits, Corn Belt, ecosystems, El Niño, environmental defense fund, Environmental Incentives, farmers, golden cheeked warbler, habitat conservation, habitat exchange, habitat fragmentation, milkweed, monarch butterflies, Monarch Lab, Partnerships, ranchers, revenue, Shield Ranch, Texas, University of Minnesota | Read 2 Responses

USDA gives big boost to sustainable farming in North Carolina

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: March 31, 2016

Environmental Defense Fund’s efforts to improve sustainable farming practices through the grain supply chain received another boost, thanks to a USDA Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) grant of $500,000 in North Carolina.

The award supports EDF’s collaboration with Smithfield Foods, the world’s largest pork producer, and brings in university and grower organization partners. In 2014, Smithfield’s hog production division made a commitment to engage 75 percent of its grain sourcing acres, or about half a million acres, in sustainable farming practices by 2018. These practices reduce fertilizer losses to the water and air, thereby improving water quality and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

In 2015, through a sustainability program called MBGro, Smithfield helped farmers plant cover crops, use efficient nitrogen sensors, and employ other conservation practices on nearly 100,000 acres in the Southeast. Earlier this year, the company announced the expansion of its sustainable grain program to its Midwest sourcing region with ag retailer United Suppliers.

And now, the RCPP project officially kicks off this week – and will directly engage producers to expand conservation practices in agriculture. Here’s what it entails. Read More »

Also posted in Supply Chain / Tagged agriculture, conservation tillage, cover crops, ecosystems, environmental defense fund, Farm Bureau, fertilizer, GHG emissions, grain, NC State, NCGA, North Carolina, Partnerships, Pork Council, RCPP, Smithfield Foods, SUSTAIN, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, tillage, U.S. Department of Agriculture, UNC, United Suppliers, USDA, water quality, western water | Read 2 Responses

My two agricultural hats: scientist & advocate

By Eileen McLellan / Bio / Published: March 29, 2016

“It’s the hydrology, stupid!” a colleague once joked about the thrust of my career. I couldn’t agree more. I study what’s working and what’s not across agricultural landscapes — the Midwest corn belt is a current focus — and believe that the fundamental changes we’ve made to the land by draining it, removing native vegetation and altering the water flow have caused many of the environmental issues the region faces today.

I’m intrigued by agriculture, where people and nature intersect across vibrant landscapes to provide tangible benefits to individuals, local communities, and the surrounding ecosystem. My job, which allows me to indulge that fascination on a daily basis, requires me to simultaneously think like a scientist and an environmental advocate, a dual role that I first started to cultivate growing up in rural England. Read More »

Also posted in Wildlife Protection / Tagged agriculture, climate change, conservation, corn, ecosystems, England, environmental defense fund, farmers, farming, farms, fertilizer, food production, Gulf of Mexico, hydrology, Mississippi, nitrogen, nutrient efficiency, runoff, sustainable agriculture, western water | Comments are closed

Organic or conventional. Which production system can feed the world sustainably?

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: March 15, 2016

Organic. Conventional. Locally grown. And the list goes on. The seemingly age-old debate of what system can best feed and sustain the planet is again at the front of my mind on National Ag Day.

When I spoke at a recent Food Entrepreneurship Symposium event at Princeton University, an audience member asked me if organic is the best path forward to feed the planet sustainably. At Commodity Classic in New Orleans earlier this month, I spoke with growers about whether conventional ag is the way to feed a growing population.

My answer: there is no silver bullet when it comes to sustainable agriculture. There is no single system, no one-size-fits-all prescription that can solve our food security and environmental sustainability challenges.

That’s why we cannot afford to shut the door on any idea, or on any system of food production. Here’s how organic and conventional compare on yields and environmental impacts, and why we need both systems, local and global production, and big and small farms in order to protect food security and the planet. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged agriculture, air pollution, climate change, commodity classic, conservation, conventional, ecosystems, farmers, farming, farms, fertilizer, food, food production, food security, nitrogen, organic, soil health, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, water quality, yield | Comments are closed

Meet the farmer who helped make no-till the norm in north central Montana

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: February 24, 2016

Approximately 56 percent of all corn, soy, wheat, and cotton farms use strip-tillage or no-till on at least a portion of their land. No-till, as defined by experts at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, means “limiting soil disturbance to manage the amount and distribution of crop and plant residue on the soil surface year round.” Strip tillage, meaning soil disturbance occurs on 30 percent or less of the field, also qualifies as no-till.

No-till is a widely recognized conservation practice that can help growers maximize soil health. The practice works best when implemented year after year and combined with other conservation measures like fertilizer efficiency and cover crops (wherever geography permits). There are myriad benefits for farmers and the planet, but barriers still exist.

That’s why I’m so amazed by a no-till adoption rate of 90 percent in north central Montana.

I talked with Carl Mattson, Montana grain grower and an agricultural policy and conservation consultant, about why he made the switch to no-till, why he was an early adopter of the practice, why so many farmers in his region use no-till, and what he sees as other obstacles to the future of sustainable farming. Read More »

Also posted in Wildlife Protection / Tagged agriculture, conservation, conservation tillage, cover crops, drought, ecosystems, environmental defense fund, farmers, farming, farms, fertilizer, food production, food security, no-till, NRCS, nutrient efficiency, soil health, stewardship, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, USDA, wheat | Comments are closed

Animal feed is at the heart of grain sustainability

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: February 23, 2016

Building my energy-efficient home in North Carolina.

My passion for improving the food system for the health of my family, my fellow citizens and our planet is in my genes.

My grandmother ran a natural foods business out of her kitchen in the 1950s, a time when the country was moving towards more processed food. My parents, who took me on annual Earth Day trash walks to pick up garbage alongside the road by our house, instilled in me a deep respect for the environment. My mother, a teacher, also started a composting and gardening program at her school that incorporates what the students grow into the school menus.

I draw on my family’s heritage in my life and work. That’s why I’m proud to be part of the team that helped Smithfield Foods establish and deploy a program to improve the sustainability of the grains they feed their hogs.

EDF and Smithfield don’t agree on everything, but we do agree that farmers growing animal feed have an important role to play in reducing the climate and water impacts of agriculture.

Here’s why a career focused on feed grain sustainability is a perfect fit for me – and why I believe that momentum in animal feed sustainability is a great way for protein companies across the supply chain to make tangible improvements to air and water quality. Read More »

Also posted in Supply Chain / Tagged agriculture, conservation, corn, ecosystems, environmental defense fund, farmers, farming, farms, fertilizer, food, food production, Partnerships, Smithfield Foods, sustainability, sustainable agriculture | Comments are closed