Growing Returns

Report shows how nuts and managed vegetation are a winning combination for California growers

By / Bio / Published: February 22, 2021

California is an agricultural powerhouse, producing billions of pounds of nuts in 2020 and tree nut acreage continuing to increase year after year.

The bountiful Central Valley provides fruit and nuts to the majority of the U.S., but these orchards offer additional potential that growers have yet to reap.

A new report, Managing Vegetation for Agronomic and Ecological Benefits in California Nut Orchards [PDF], details opportunities for growers to build a more resilient agricultural system in California — with both sustainability and profitability in mind. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Tagged , , , , , , | Comments are closed

A breakthrough to measure agriculture’s environmental impact

By / Bio / Published: February 18, 2021

Nitrogen (N) is essential for high crop yields to feed a growing population, but excess nitrogen contributes to climate change as nitrous oxide and to water pollution as nitrate.

Historically, measuring nitrogen losses has been expensive and time consuming. Environmental Defense Fund’s N-Visible framework remedies that.

N-Visible provides an easy-to-use, scientifically robust way for farmers and their advisers to assess nitrogen losses from individual fields. It also allows food companies and policymakers who promote on-farm sustainability to measure progress toward improved environmental outcomes at regional scales.

An open-source implementation guide is now available for download. Here’s what it contains and how to use it. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments are closed

Farm budget analysis finds 3 ways conservation affects the bottom line

By / Bio / Published: February 16, 2021

Soil health practices can provide many public environmental benefits including reduced soil erosion, increased soil organic carbon and improved water quality. However, adoption of soil health practices such as no-till and cover crops only represent 26% and 4% of U.S. farmland respectively.

Still, we know farmers can be rapid adopters of new technologies, including new seed varieties and equipment, when presented with a profitable solution. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Tagged , , , , , , | Comments are closed

How to advance water security for Arizona? These 3 bills are a good start.

By / Bio / Published: February 5, 2021

With dozens of water bills introduced in the Arizona Legislature this session, EDF Action and the Water for Arizona Coalition are focusing on long-overdue steps needed to ensure water security for all, especially rural communities that face high water risk.

Rural Arizona is the only substantial region left across the seven Colorado River Basin states where an “open access” approach to groundwater management is still the norm. This anything-goes approach puts people and ecosystems in rural Arizona at a disproportionate risk of water insecurity and economic instability. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments are closed

New York’s environmental bond can deliver lasting resilience and create jobs

By / Bio / Published: January 28, 2021

New York State, like the rest of the country, is suffering from compounding economic and public health crises as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, the state remains increasingly vulnerable to climate change and sea level rise.

A new report released this week by AECOM, the world’s premiere infrastructure firm, and Rebuild by Design, a community-focused organization advocating for resilient infrastructure, offers hope for recovery for the Empire State as it demonstrates how investments in the environment can help New York not only build lasting climate resilience but also create jobs at a time when they are desperately needed. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Tagged , , , , , | Comments are closed

5 challenges to sustainable groundwater management in Texas and how to tackle them

By / Bio / Published: January 27, 2021

In 50 years, Texas’ population is expected to grow by 70%. That’s 20 million more Texans who will need water in a state that has repeatedly faced drought-induced water shortages and will likely suffer more intense droughts in the future.

As the population grows, groundwater will continue to play a critical role in supporting Texas’ ecology and economy. Today groundwater provides approximately 60% of the 16.1 million acre-feet of water used in the state annually and an estimated 30% of the flows in rivers, streams and springs across the state. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Tagged , , , , | Comments are closed

“Success first.” How one ag retailer is helping farmers adopt conservation practices, profitably.

By / Published: January 27, 2021

Missouri-based ag retailer MFA Incorporated is a regional farm supply and marketing cooperative representing 45,000 farmers and ranchers. It has 130 locations throughout Missouri and in parts of Kansas, Iowa and Arkansas. The co-op’s priority is neither “sales first” nor “conservation first,” but “member success first.”

With this priority in mind, MFA Inc. and three state conservation agencies — Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), Missouri Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) and Missouri Department of Natural Resources — teamed up to help farmers manage for both profitability and environmental sustainability.

The innovative public-private partnership is featured in a new report prepared for Environmental Defense Fund by Datu Research, Helping Farmers Find Profit and Sustainability: A Case Study of MFA Inc. Shows How Conservation Can Support the Bottom Line. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Tagged , , , , , | Comments are closed

Climate leadership is water leadership. This Arizona bill is neither.

By / Bio / Published: January 26, 2021

Climate change is already having sweeping impacts across Arizona — from devastating wildfires to increases in heat-related illnesses and deaths to declines in safe and reliable water supplies. Unless global carbon emissions are reduced to net zero in the coming decades, these impacts will only multiply and increase in severity across the Southwest.

We must embrace all available tools to reduce carbon emissions to help stave off worsening climate change, which is why we oppose HB 2248, a bill that would undermine progress on Arizona’s proposed clean energy rules. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments are closed

4 ways to reduce disproportionate flood risk and build resilience for all communities

By / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: January 22, 2021

More Americans are at risk from flooding than ever before, and that risk is growing rapidly as climate change fuels more intense hurricanes and rainfall, and as sea level rise threatens coastal communities across the country.   

However, flood risk is not equally distributed. In this country, we have a flood risk gap that places low-income communities and communities of color at higher risk from flooding. Systemic inequities compound underlying risks and drive disproportionate impacts from climate change to these communities. This gap is visible in many coastal areas, where communities of extreme wealth and poverty exist within a few square miles, yet have unequal protections against storms, flooding and sea level rise.  Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Tagged , , , , , , | Comments are closed

Top 3 water priorities in the 2021 Arizona legislative session

By / Bio / Published: January 19, 2021

Despite uncertainty about the Legislature’s operations amid the COVID surge, Arizona’s 2021 legislative session opened last week with the expectation that several bills will be introduced to advance water security and support a healthy environment.

State policies that promote water security for all people and ecosystems remain as important as ever as communities confront public health challenges, look to rebuild economies and face what is shaping up to be yet another record-shattering dry winter across the Southwest. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Tagged , , , , , | Comments are closed