Growing Returns

Could catalytic capital help shape the agriculture of tomorrow?

By Vincent Gauthier / Bio / Published: October 15, 2020

Investing in climate-smart agriculture is a hot topic. Startups in plant-based meats and dairy alternatives are taking the market by storm. Major food companies are setting sustainability targets and investing in soil health practices.

Yet farmers face poor farm economic conditions stemming from trade disputes, COVID-19 supply chain disruptions, and increasingly frequent, extreme and destructive weather events.

Farmers across the U.S. have felt the pain of extreme weather in 2020, from the derecho that wreaked havoc in the Midwest to the destructive wildfires that continue to rage out West. (Photo credit: National Weather Service).

It’s clear that more innovation is needed to make the food system fit to face 21st century challenges, and fast. Catalytic capital can help.

3 takeaways from my testimony to Congress on climate-related financial risks to U.S. agriculture

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: October 7, 2020

Highlight: EDF’s Maggie Monast testified at a hearing of the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, “Creating a Climate Resilient America: Strengthening the U.S. Financial System and Expanding Economic Opportunity.” Watch here.

It’s becoming impossible to ignore the risks that climate change poses to financial markets, including those that support U.S. agriculture.

Increased temperatures and more frequent droughts and extreme precipitation events threaten crop productivity across the nation. In 2020 alone, we have seen ample evidence of these impacts, including destructive storms in the Midwest, hurricanes along our coasts, and wildfires and smoke in the West.

These physical risks of climate change create risks to the U.S. financial system, which was the topic of last week’s hearing held by the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, entitled “Creating a Climate Resilient America: Strengthening the U.S. Financial System and Expanding Economic Opportunity.”

I testified to the committee on climate risks to the agriculture finance system — and opportunities to build resilience. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, Congress, farm finance, resilience, risk, testimony | Comments are closed

How female farmers are conservation leaders on the farm and beyond

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: October 2, 2020

Surveys show that women own or co-own nearly half the farmland in the Midwest but are often under-represented in leadership positions, including in policymaking bodies, financial institutions, and other agricultural agencies and institutions.

The Women, Food and Agriculture Network is working to change that, giving women the resources and connections they need to be effective practitioners and supporters of sustainable agriculture. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged Women Food and Agriculture Network, women in agriculture | Comments are closed

Financial leaders release climate risk report calling for agricultural resilience

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: September 9, 2020

A report released today by a subcommittee of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Managing Climate Risk in the U.S. Financial System, examines the threat that increasingly extreme and volatile weather poses to the stability of financial markets, including U.S. agricultural markets. Representatives from EDF served on the 35-member panel.

The report found climate risks pose a wide range of threats to U.S. agriculture — including heat stress on farmworkers, livestock and crops, soil and water quality degradation, more frequent supply chain disruptions and productivity declines. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agricultural lending, climate risk, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, farm finance, finance, flooding | Comments are closed

3 steps for agricultural lenders to mitigate climate risk and finance resilience

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: September 2, 2020

Farmers in the U.S. are facing severe challenges including poor economic conditions, extreme weather and disruptions from the COVID-19 pandemic. These risks also impact farmers’ financial partners, including agricultural lenders.

While some of these risks are difficult to anticipate and plan for, there are growing opportunities and resources available for farmers and their lenders to better understand their vulnerabilities related to climate change — and take steps to build resilience.

A new report, Financing Resilient Agriculture: How Agricultural Lenders Can Reduce Climate Risk and Help Farmers Build Resilience, finds that lenders can reduce risk by supporting farmer investments in conservation practices like no-till and cover crops that are known to build climate resilience.

This report provides a path forward for lenders to support a more productive, profitable and resilient agricultural system.

Read the report

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agricultural lenders, farm finance, lending, report, risk | Comments are closed

Change in weather shifts Iowa farmer’s approach, saving money and time

By Guest Author / Published: July 21, 2020

This blog is authored by Bethany Baratta, senior writer at Iowa Soybean Association. It originally posted on the Iowa Soybean Association Newsroom.

Wayne Fredericks and his wife Ruth began farming in northern Iowa in the early 1970s. For the first 19 years of their farming careers, their farm was managed conventionally: corn stalks were plowed and soybean stubble was tilled before planting.

Iowa farmer Wayne Fredericks says his integrated cropping system saves time and money and protects natural resources. (Photo: Joseph L. Murphy/Iowa Soybean Association)

It was a change in the weather that altered their conventional farming practices — for the better. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged cover crops, iowa, Iowa soybean, John Deere, no-till | Comments are closed

Why recordkeeping is “one of the most essential pieces of farming today”

By Guest Author / Published: June 18, 2020

This blog is authored by Bethany Baratta, senior writer at Iowa Soybean Association. It originally posted on the Iowa Soybean Association Newsroom.

Devoting adequate time and attention to maintaining records that blend agronomic and financial data is key to farm business success, especially in tight or low margin environments.

“I think recordkeeping is one of those overlooked parts of farm businesses,” says Dave Walton, an Iowa farmer and Iowa Soybean Association (ISA) District 6 director. “It takes a little extra time to do it, but you learn so much more by taking that extra time. It helps you make really, really comfortable, solid decisions.” Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged data, finance, Iowa Soybean Association, no-till, recordkeeping, sustainability | Comments are closed

Congress just took two actions to boost climate resilience in agriculture

By Callie Eideberg / Bio / Published: June 8, 2020

Many farmers have been feeling climate impacts on their operations through more variable rainfall, warmer nights, and shifting planting and harvesting windows. These impacts only compound other uncertainties in the agricultural economy.

Policies that help reduce production risk and increase yield resilience are good for farmers and the farm economy. Conservation practices like cover crops and fertilizer optimization can do both, while also providing broader benefits like emissions reductions or water quality protections.

Congress recently took two important, bipartisan steps to reward farmers for being part of the climate solution. Here’s how these policies will help build climate resilience for U.S. agriculture.

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged bipartisan, climate change, Cover Crop Flexibility Act, farmers, Growing Climate Solutions Act, USDA | Read 1 Response

3 ways to build a more resilient food supply chain

By David Festa / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: May 11, 2020

COVID-19 is upending the food supply chain. Thousands of workers have been infected. Businesses have shut down. Supplies of meats and other labor-intensive foods are tightening, while a surplus of perishable milk and crops has been dumped or left in fields to rot.

This is a nightmare for farmers, workers and consumers. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture, Food / Tagged consumers, coronavirus, COVID-19, farmers, food shortages, meat, supply chain | Read 2 Responses

How farm transition plans can preserve conservation values and legacies

By Guest Author / Published: May 1, 2020

This blog is authored by Bethany Baratta, senior writer at Iowa Soybean Association.

A significant number of farmland acres in Iowa will be transferred to the next generation of farmers in the coming decade, providing a great opportunity for preserving and expanding conservation practices that have proven financial and resilience benefits.

According to Iowa State University, 60% of Iowa farmland is owned by people over the age of 65, and 35% of Iowa farmland is owned by those over 75. By 2024, landlords in the U.S. expect to transfer 91.5 million acres, or 10% of all U.S. farmland.

The way in which the land is transferred from one generation to the next could have a profound impact on the future of conservation efforts, and of the land itself. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged conservation, farm, iowa, Iowa soybean, organic matter, soil health, transition | Comments are closed