Growing Returns

A reality check on the drones boom

By Robert Parkhurst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: June 28, 2016

A drone flies over a farm field. Photo credit: Flickr user ackab1

A drone flies over a farm field with an on-board camera. Photo credit: Flickr user ackab1

Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released much anticipated rules on commercial small drone use. In a nutshell:

The rules loosen restrictions on commercial drone use, and later this summer the FAA will start legally allowing permits for drones weighing less than 55 pounds.
The rules are a boon to producers and ranchers interested in precision farming practices, thanks to drones’ advanced imaging technologies.

Industry groups estimate that precision agriculture has the potential to account for almost 80 percent of civilian drone use by 2020. Already, 16 percent of agricultural retailers are selling drones – a figure set to skyrocket in the coming years.

So this is big news for the ag industry – but will it help the environment, too?

Not necessarily. Drones provide lots of data, and nothing more. They don’t actually change anything on the ground or benefit the environment directly. It’s up to growers and their advisors to use the information collected by drones to make informed decisions that can benefit profitability and the planet. Here’s why drones are just one (important) piece of the puzzle. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged ag retailers, ag tech, agricultural retailers, agronomist, civilian drone use, commercial drone use, conservation, crop health, crop management, data analysis, data visualization, drones, environment, environmental defense fund, farmers, Federal Aviation Administration, imaging technology, irrigation, permits, pest management, precision agriculture, producers, ranchers, stewardship | Read 1 Response

Why I promote the value of America’s farms and ranches

By Sara Kroopf / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: June 23, 2016

My home garden, near San Francisco.

When I tend my garden at home near San Francisco, the words of writer and environmentalist Wendell Berry echo in my head: “We learn from our gardens to deal with the most urgent question of the time: How much is enough?”

I do everything I can to conserve. I grow food that has a minimal impact on the environment, I use a drip irrigation system, I compost to minimize waste and collect shower water to reuse on my plants.

In my professional life, I work with large-scale farmers to reduce their environmental footprint while protecting their livelihoods. My job sheds light on the importance of ensuring food security by looking closely at how and where we grow food.

I’m driven by what I learned growing up in a rural farming town, and from my years in the Peace Corps in Mali. These experiences are the reason I work to preserve the complexity of the agro-ecosystems around me.

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged california, fertilizer use, Peace Corps, water use | Comments are closed

How animal agriculture can help meet the Paris Climate Agreement goals

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: June 20, 2016

corn field The Paris Climate Agreement included a special emphasis on food security and the threats it faces from extreme weather events. Despite only brief mentions of agriculture in the preamble to the agreement itself, a recent study from the University of Vermont reveals that global emissions reduction targets absolutely cannot be met without significant contributions from the agricultural sector.

According to this new research in Global Change Biology, agriculture needs to reduce emissions by one gigaton per year in 2030, yet current mitigation strategies can only meet 40 percent of this target, at most, and may deliver as little as 21 percent of what is needed.

The authors argue that agriculture needs to play its part, and I couldn’t agree more. We are dependent on agriculture not only to keep us fed, but also to lead the way in addressing climate change threats. Agriculture represents approximately 9 percent of total emissions in the U.S., and between 10 to 29 percent of emissions globally, though this figure is projected to increase.

Despite the fact that 119 nations included agricultural mitigation as an in-country strategy for meeting the Paris Agreement reduction targets, no country has yet reported on how to accomplish these pledges.

Ultimately, the responsibility to implement tangible on-farm changes that reduce emissions falls on billions of farmers, but there is an even greater responsibility for animal agriculture companies. Here’s why – and what these companies can do to help tackle the climate challenge. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, carbon emissions, climate change agreement, farmers, global carbon emissions, meat consumption, Paris climate change, soil health, sustainability | Comments are closed

Meet Eric Davidson, NutrientStar’s newest review panel member

By Karen Chapman / Bio / Published: June 16, 2016

Dr. Eric Davidson. Image Credit: Jennifer Amendolara

A panel of experts forms the foundation of NutrientStar, the newly independent, science-based program that reviews the performance of commercially available nutrient management tools. This panel reviews all tools based on established scientific criteria and their ability to improve fertilizer efficiency in the field. The panel is a “who’s who” of fertilizer efficiency experts from across the country – from academia, government agencies, and the private sector.

And now, this eight-member panel can add to its ranks a new member: Eric Davidson, professor and director of the Appalachian Laboratory at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science.

Davidson, an ecologist, researches biogeochemical processes including the exchange of plant nutrients from the land to streams and groundwater, and the exchange of greenhouse gases between the soil and the atmosphere.

I asked him about his current research, his nitrogen expertise, and why he believes the NutrientStar model can be replicated at scale to improve water quality in places like the Chesapeake Bay.

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, American Geophysical Union, Chesapeake Bay, conservation, environmental defense fund, nitrogen, nutrient efficiency, Nutrient Star, sustainability, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science | Comments are closed

What if God wants the lesser prairie-chicken to go extinct?

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: June 14, 2016

Lesser prairie-chicken. Photo credit: USDA NRCS

A version of this piece previously ran as an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle.

A few years ago, I was invited by Texas farmer David Cleavinger to visit his family’s farm near Amarillo. This was during a period of time when my organization, Environmental Defense Fund, was deeply involved in conservation efforts for the lesser prairie-chicken, a colorful bird whose habitat is in decline throughout its five-state range, which includes the panhandle of Texas.

David picked me up at the airport and asked if we could make a quick stop on the way to his farm. That stop turned out to be at local radio station KGNC, where David had arranged for me to go on air and talk about wildlife conservation with a particular focus on the local implications for efforts to revive the lesser prairie-chicken.

I agreed to join the show with some trepidation, but it quickly subsided as we got into a lively discussion with the host, James Hunt, and several listeners. Toward the end of my appearance, a caller asked a surprising and provocative question – What if God wants the prairie-chicken to go extinct? Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged Bible, Christianity, conservation, creation, creation care, dominion, Earth, ecology, environmental defense fund, extinction, farmer, farming, gas, Genesis, God, habitat, lesser prairie-chicken, Permian Basin, redemption, sin, stewardship, sustainability, Texas, theology, wildlife | Comments are closed

Controlled drainage is the new black

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: June 13, 2016

Dr. Mohamed Youssef demonstrates the benefits of controlled drainage.

NC State University’s agriculture water management expert Mohamed Youssef, Ph.D, believes the time is ripe for controlled drainage to make a comeback.

Controlled drainage is one of the most effective ways to minimize nitrogen loss from croplands. It’s a management practice involving the use of a control structure installed at the outlet of a drainage ditch or subsurface drain to regulate drainage water outflow according to plant needs and field operations.

“A controlled drainage system can remove between 40 and 60 percent of the nitrogen present in runoff, if used at a large scale. These systems hold huge potential to reduce pollution from very large flows of water runoff,” Youssef explained during my recent visit to NC State’s demonstration farms in eastern North Carolina.

Despite the promise, adoption rates for this practice remain very low, in part because of functionality problems with the first controlled drainage structures. But thanks to new advances in the technology that I recently viewed in the field, adoption rates are rising.

Like any filter practice, controlled drainage is just one tool that can help solve regional water quality problems. It’s not a silver bullet, especially with some geographic limitations since they can be used only on low-sloping fields. While there is no perfect solution to stop farm runoff, after seeing drainage systems first-hand, I too believe we’re nearing a tipping point for widespread adoption of controlled drainage in agriculture – and big environmental benefits. Here’s the story. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, controlled drainage, cover crops, environmental defense fund, farm, farming, fertilizer efficiency, fertilizer management, irrigation, Natural Resources Conservation Service, NC State, new technology, nitrogen, nitrogen surplus, North Carolina, nutrient management, runoff, U.S. Department of Agriculture, USDA, water pollution, water quality | Read 1 Response

Monarch butterflies get help from Texas ranch

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: June 6, 2016

A monarch caterpillar eats antelope horn milkweed growing at Shield Ranch.

A few weeks ago, I visited Shield Ranch, a 6,000-acre property devoted to responsible cattle management and wildlife conservation. I made the visit to the ranch – less than 20 miles west of my home in Austin – to test a new tool being designed to more accurately assess habitat for the monarch butterfly.

Standing in a field of wildflowers with a team of scientists, we used the monarch butterfly habitat quantification tool to measure vegetation and determine what monarch habitat was available on the property. We’ve used similar habitat quantification tools for other at-risk wildlife like the lesser prairie-chicken and greater sage-grouse, but this was the first time we tested a tool for monarch butterfly habitat.

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, conservation, environmental defense fund, farmers, farming, golden cheeked warbler, habitat, land stewardship, milkweed, monarch butterfly, ranchers, ranching, sustainability, wildlife | Comments are closed

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 »

Posted in Agriculture / 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, rice protocol, socially responsible investing, SRI investing, working lands | Read 2 Responses

New guidebook explains how and why to build a farmer network

By Karen Chapman / Bio / Published: May 24, 2016

Farmers educating about corn Amidst all the new tools and technologies being developed to make agriculture more sustainable, there is one tried and true method for testing on-site conservation practices that doesn’t get much attention: farmer networks.

Farmer networks consist of growers within a region working directly with advisors, agronomists and/or scientists to conduct on-farm trials. These trials can test the economic and environmental impacts of changes in crop management, adoption of soil health practices, or use of precision agriculture tools. The data is then aggregated and analyzed to determine best practices for specific farm conditions and to inform future management decisions.

Originally established by the Iowa Soybean Association, the innovative farmer network model has since taken off, with Environmental Defense Fund and others establishing additional networks across the country. As University of Connecticut soil fertility expert Thomas Morris explains, participation in farmer networks has led to greater efficiency on hundreds of thousands of acres across the U.S – benefitting both the planet and yield. The potential for replication is limitless.

That’s why EDF created a how-to guide for other organizations, companies, and universities interested in creating a farmer network. The new Farmer Network Design Manual provides a roadmap to support sustainable agriculture practices, increase farm profits, and build resiliency. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged ag retailer, agriculture, agronomist, case studies, commodity crops, corn, Cornell University, data collection, environmental defense fund, Extension On-Farm Research Program, extension services, farmer networks, fertilizer efficiency, fertilizer optimization, INfield Advantage Program, iowa, Iowa Soybean Association, kansas, Kansas State University, Maumee Farmer Network, North Carolina, North Carolina Agricultural Inputs Management Program, nutrient management, Nutrient Management Spear Program, NutrientStar, privacy, soy, stewardship | Comments are closed

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 Agriculture, Water / 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 groundwater management act, water management, water market, water scarcity, water use | Read 4 Responses