Growing Returns

Agricultural carbon markets get yet another boost

By Sara Kroopf / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: September 15, 2015

In the past three months, three new revenue opportunities have emerged for growers. In June, the first ever carbon offset protocol for crop-base agriculture in a cap-and-trade market was approved for U.S. rice growers by the California Air Resources Board (ARB). The “rice protocol” announcement was followed shortly after by approval of a voluntary grasslands protocol, which rewards farmers for avoiding the conversion of grasslands to cropland.

And now, USDA has demonstrated its interest in and support of another market-based approach for growers: increasing fertilizer use efficiency. Thanks to a new grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), EDF and partners will be helping almond and corn farmers reduce fertilizer runoff and nitrous oxide emissions, and earn greenhouse gas credits that can generate revenue.

Here’s what this project will entail: Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, almond board of california, almonds, American Carbon Registry, California Air Resources Board, cap and trade, CIG grant, climate action reserve, conservation innovation grant, environmental defense fund, greenhouse gas emissions, nitrogen, NRCS, rice growers, UC Davis, United Suppliers, USDA | Comments are closed

Why a “Godzilla” El Niño won’t end California’s drought

By Ilissa Ocko / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: September 9, 2015

The original version of this post appeared on EDF’s Voices blog.

An El Niño advisory is now official, and scientists suggest there is a greater than a 90-percent chance that it will arrive this winter.

They also believe the developing El Niño could become one of the most powerful on record – rivaling its 1997-98 predecessor, which sent California twice as much rain and the Sierra Nevada double the snowpack it usually gets.

So news of another El Niño may sound like a blessing for California farmers, who help make the state the world’s eighth-largest economy, as they suffer through the worst drought in more than a millennium. Read More »

Posted in Water / Tagged aquifers, california, Climate, drought, El Niño, farmers, greenhouse gas emissions, Sierra Nevada, water use | Comments are closed

Powerful business: the lever for change across the ag supply chain

By Elizabeth Sturcken / Bio / Published: September 3, 2015

A longer version of this post was first published on EDF+Business.

Sometimes when a problem seems too big, too ugly and too complex to handle, you need a lever to help move things along. All of the big environmental problems we currently face fall into this category.

When it comes to tackling our planet’s biggest problems, there is a full spectrum of approaches and many different leverage points. A thriving planet and a thriving economy, farmers included, don’t have to be at odds. EDF is focusing on helping businesses make their supply chains cleaner, more efficient and more profitable.

By collaborating with decision makers at every point in the agricultural supply chain – from retailers and food companies to agribusiness and farmers – we are building demand for and increasing the supply of sustainably produced grains.

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, consumer products, deforestation, farmers, FedEx, food production, greenhouse gas, McDonald's, supply chain, sustainability, Walmart | Comments are closed

Why wastewater treatment plants are investing in farmers

By Karen Chapman / Bio / Published: September 1, 2015

Wastewater treatment plant. Credit: Flickr user Florida Water Daily.

The Des Moines Water Works lawsuit represents one of the most contentious challenges in modern-day agriculture: who should pay for protecting water quality from excessive nutrient loads?

Excess nutrients in streams and watersheds can cause algae blooms as well as air and water pollution. Whether due to excess fertilizer runoff from agriculture, urban sewage, stormwater runoff, or air depositions of nitrogen, wastewater treatment facilities often bear the primary responsibility of nutrient removal in many watersheds. Under the Clean Water Act, these facilities are charged with cleaning water to a certain standard, which can be increasingly hard to meet – and to pay for – when excess nutrients are present.

But there are some interesting solutions in the works.

I asked Pat Sinicropi, Senior Director of Legislative Affairs at the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA), to tell me about the collaborative approach her organization is taking to solve the problem – by working with farmers. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, Clean Water Act, conservation, farmers, sewage treatment, sustainable, water, water quality | Comments are closed

USDA taps ranchers to continue stewarding sage-grouse habitat

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: August 27, 2015

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced a four-year strategy to invest more that $200 million in greater sage-grouse conservation efforts.

The strategy, known as Sage Grouse Initiative 2.0, will build on successful public and private conservation efforts to improve sage-grouse habitat by providing additional assistance for ranchers to make conservation improvements to their land.

It’s encouraging to see USDA remaining at the forefront of federal efforts to move sage-grouse protection forward. This funding is a huge boost for sage-grouse, but there are opportunities through emerging programs for impact industries to do even more to protect this iconic bird. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged greater sage-grouse, habitat exchange, sage grouse, sage grouse initiative, Secretary Vilsack, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA | Comments are closed

Strong market signal for sustainable grain

By Katie Anderson / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: August 24, 2015

Walmart, Smithfield Foods and USDA discuss sustainable agriculture in St. Louis.

The agricultural supply chain is shifting towards demanding more sustainably produced grains, according to some of the country’s biggest food companies and retailers.

Representatives from Walmart, Smithfield Foods, and USDA recently discussed the importance of and increased consumer demand for agricultural sustainability in front of 100 agricultural retailers in St Louis. They were there for a meeting convened by United Suppliers, Inc., with a primary focus of the company’s SUSTAIN™ platform.

Three messages were clear:

Demand for more sustainable crops is here to stay.
Growers’ connection with the consumers of their products is increasing.
Fertilizer optimization and soil health offer a business opportunity for growers, ag retailers, and food companies alike.

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, Campbell Soup, Dr. Jerry Hatfield, Janelle Kearsley, Kraig Westerbeek, nitrogen, Smithfield Foods, soil health, St. Louis, SUSTAIN, sustainability, United Suppliers, USDA, USDA-Agriculture Research Service, Walmart | Read 1 Response

3 ways drones can help take agriculture to new sustainability heights

By Stephanie Businelli / Published: August 19, 2015

A drone collects data while in flight. Photo credit

Drone technology has been around for decades, taking to the skies to capture movie sequences, collect scientific data and scout territory. But there’s another industry where drones are really beginning to take off: farming.

Agriculture is on tap to make up 80 percent of the market for unmanned aircrafts in the next couple of decades. With the invention of newer, more effective technologies, drones have the potential to launch the agriculture industry into a future of sustainability.

4 ways drones are helping people and nature prepare for climate change

Rules of the sky

In February of this year, the Federal Aviation Administration proposed long-awaited rules on the commercial use of small drones in the agricultural sector. The new regulations require operators to be certified, fly only during daylight and keep their aircraft in sight. Although this proposed legislation could take one or two years for final adoption, it marks a major step for the industry, as the guidelines provide the formal structure needed to legitimize drone use and advance the market for their production.

Although drone technology is still modifying production to increase ease of use and lower prices, these machines already have the potential to go a long way towards improving farmers’ bottom lines – and the environment. Here are three key benefits of drone use in agriculture: Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, algal bloom, california, cameras, crops, dead zones, drones, efficiency, Federal Aviation Administration, runoff, sustainability, technology, vegetation, water quality | Read 2 Responses

The devastation of the Soda Fire, and the seeds of hope for the future

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: August 18, 2015

Wildlife warning sign on Highway 95.

My family and I returned home to California a few days ago following an idyllic week camping on Payette Lake near McCall, Idaho. Our route home took us down Highway 95 in southwestern Idaho, a road typically bordered by the beautiful farmlands of the Snake River Basin. But our views weren’t so picturesque.

Just south of Nampa, Idaho we began to notice the charred landscape left behind by the Soda Fire, the largest of recent fires burning across the United States. The Soda Fire has burned more than 280,000 acres of prime sagebrush steppe, which provides key grazing lands for cattle ranchers and important habitat for threatened wildlife like the greater sage-grouse.

As I gazed upon the aftermath of the fire, all I could think about was the devastating effects it has had on local ranching families and wildlife. Fortunately, there are steps we can take to restore these scorched landscapes and prevent damaging wildfires in the future, but we have to act fast. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged great river basin, habitat exchange, Highway 95, idaho, Interior department, mule deer, national seed strategy, ranchers, restoration, sage grouse, sagebrush, sally jewell, soda fire, wildfire, wildfire restoration, wildlife | Comments are closed

Cutting food waste to support farmers and the famished

By Peyton Johnson / Published: August 11, 2015

Surplus food at the Food Donation Connection. Photo Credit: USDA.

Food waste affects more than just our wallets. Approximately one-third of all food produced in the world gets thrown away every year, leading to 3.3 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions. At 2.6 trillion pounds, that’s enough sustenance to feed three billion people, or almost all people living in poverty worldwide today.

That’s why, last week, when I attended a Q&A session for ag interns at the U.S. Department of Agriculture with Secretary Tom Vilsack, I was intrigued when a fellow intern asked a question regarding food sustainability and what the U.S. can do to ensure that there will be enough food to feed the 9 billion people expected to populate the world by 2050.

The Secretary’s answer? Reduce food waste.

Posted in Agriculture, Food / Tagged agriculture, emissions, farm, farmers, feeding forward, food, food and agriculture organization of the united nations, food bank, food chain, food companies, food waste, greenhouse gas, grocery store, homeless shelter, poverty, produce, producers, secretary tom vilsack, supply chain, sustainability, sustainable, teens opposing poverty, united states department of agriculture, USDA, waste no food | Read 1 Response

Grasslands protocol opens another carbon market for farmers

By Robert Parkhurst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: August 10, 2015

Growers with grasslands on their property have a new reason to leave that land untouched.

On July 22, the Climate Action Reserve, a non-profit organization that creates offset standards and serves as one of the offset registries for California’s cap-and-trade program, approved a new protocol that rewards farmers for avoiding the conversion of grasslands to cropland.

The new “grasslands protocol” highlights a growing trend in agriculture: farmers being paid for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, American Carbon Registry, California Air Resources Board, cap and trade, carbon credit, Carbon Offsets, climate action reserve, environmental defense fund, farmers, grasslands protocol, greater sage-grouse, greenhouse gas emissions, lesser prairie-chicken, methane, ranchers | Read 1 Response