Growing Returns

Meet Christine Hamilton, fourth-generation farmer forging a sustainable path

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: March 13, 2015

Christine Hamilton and her family have been farming and ranching in central South Dakota for more than 120 years – and they hope to still be farming there 120 years from now.

But to be able to ensure the long-term viability of her family’s farm, Christine and her colleagues at Christiansen Land and Cattle (CLC) knew that they would need to take a step back, look closely at their operations, and set a vision for the future.

Tools and certification programs can help farmers like Christine to measure and understand the sustainability of their farm and ranch operations, and to set specific goals. But none of these platforms was a good fit for CLC, which raises crops such as corn, soybeans, and winter wheat, as well as cattle. So Christine led the development of a customized sustainability management plan for CLC that articulates what is important to them now and what they want to improve in the future.

Here, in honor of USDA’s new focus on women in agriculture, I ask Christine about her farm’s visionary plan. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, conservation, farmers, farms, food production, food security, measurement, ranching, south dakota, sustainability, water quality | Read 2 Responses

How the private sector can help stem emissions from agriculture

By Rebecca Shaw / Bio / Published: March 12, 2015

Credit: Flickr user Rory MacLeod

Here’s the challenge: we need to feed 9 billion people by 2050, yet if we continue with current farming practices agriculture could be responsible for 70 percent of the planet’s greenhouse gas emissions by that same year, according to an official at the World Bank.

So what do we do?

We can’t just point the finger at growers and tell them to solve the problem. This is a tall order – and it will require all hands on deck: food companies, suppliers, consumers, and producers. We all need to implement climate-smart agricultural approaches on a global scale to reduce emissions, increase resilience, and protect farmers’ livelihoods.

But climate-smart agriculture absolutely cannot become mainstream without more help from the private sector. We need corporations to invest in research and to make tangible changes to their supply chains. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, Climate, climate change, conservation, farmers, food production, food security, GHG mitigation, nutrient efficiency, private sector, supply chain, Walmart | Comments are closed

California governor reappoints EDF working lands director to state food and agriculture board

By Chandler Clay / Published: February 27, 2015

Eric Holst, director of EDF’s working lands program

Eric Holst, senior director of Environmental Defense Fund’s working lands program, has been reappointed to the California State Board of Food and Agriculture by Governor Jerry Brown.

Holst has served on the board – a fifteen-member state board appointed by the governor to represent a range of agricultural commodities, geographic regions and academic systems – since 2012. The board encourages public participation and input in all matters concerning agriculture and food policy within the state, from hunger and malnutrition to climate change and environmental markets. But the dominant focus over the last year has been drought and how to mitigate impacts on California agriculture.

A natural choice

Holst has been a leader in developing innovative partnerships with farmers, ranchers and foresters to improve environmental and economic performance on working lands for more than a decade, both in California and elsewhere across the country. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged california, california state board, craig mcnamara, drought, environmental defense fund, eric holst, food and agriculture, habitat exchange, jerry brown, sierra orchards | Comments are closed

No illusion here. Optical sensors can save farmers money.

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: February 25, 2015

Precision agriculture is on its way to becoming mainstream. First, farmers need tools and technologies that make this kind of smart farming dramatically easier.

Optical sensors are one of the most promising technologies available now. This technology is very exciting because it helps farmers save money on fertilizer – and improve crop yields.

Optical sensors are devices attached to a farmer’s fertilizer applicator. As the farmer travels across the field applying fertilizer, the technology reads how green or healthy the crop is, and it applies the right amount of fertilizer in accordance with each plant’s needs. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, corn, farmers, farms, food production, nutrient efficiency, precision agriculture | Comments are closed

Collaborative conservation: A ripe example from America’s farms

By Ann Hayden / Bio / Published: February 19, 2015

Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) has been working with farmers and ranchers for more than a decade to transform business as usual by providing incentives for conservation. As EDF’s 2014 strategic plan notes, “we’ve seen some encouraging things.”

EDF staff join farmers and other conservation collaborators in the field to track outcomes for habitats and species.

With proven success in the field, we are now looking to take these programs to scale to boost food production while maintaining profitable farms, a safe environment and healthy people. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged birds, california trout, central valley, central valley habitat exchange, Chinook salmon, conservation, farming, floodplain, garter snake, habitat exchange, habitat. california, john brennan, knaggs ranch, waterfowl | Comments are closed

USDA: Helping ranchers is crucial to helping sage-grouse

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: February 13, 2015

Central Oregon rancher restores sage-grouse habitat with NRCS assistance. Source: nrcs.usda.gov

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) just announced new funding to support sage-grouse habitat conservation on working lands.

This is very promising, considering the last round of sage-grouse funding engaged more than 1,000 ranchers to conserve 4.4 million acres of bird habitat – an area twice the size of Yellowstone National Park.

That last round of funding – made available in 2010 through the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Sage Grouse Initiative – invested $296.5 million to restore and conserve sage-grouse habitat. Today, NRCS pledged to extend these efforts by $200 million over another for years.

Doubling down on a good investment
Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged bird habitat, central wyoming, conservation, farmers, habitat exchange, NRCS, ranchers, robert bonnie, sage grouse, upper green river, Upper Green River Conservation Exchange, USDA | Comments are closed

Nuts about chocolate and wine? Your favorite Valentine’s Day treats are at risk

By Rebecca Shaw / Bio / Published: February 13, 2015

If you are among the old school Valentines who appreciate a good box of chocolates and a fine cabernet, you’ll be heartbroken to learn that these romantic treats may be much harder to come by in the future because of climate change.

Droughts and rising temperatures pose great risks to agricultural productivity across the globe, from California’s Napa Valley to West Africa’s cocoa fields.
Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged almonds, chocolate, climate change, cocoa, cocoa farmers, drought, farmers, fruit, Napa Valley, nuts, pistachios, Valentine's Day, vintners, warmer temperatures, weather, wine | Read 1 Response

A farmer’s perspective: 4 reasons why collecting data is important

By Suzy Friedman / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: February 11, 2015

Kristin Duncanson

Thanks to GPS and the Internet, many farmers have been collecting data about their farms – water usage, inputs, crop yields – for over 20 years. Only in recent years has the term “big data” taken on a new meaning, given the plethora of new tools and technologies available today to help farmers collect and analyze data on all aspects of their farm operations.

This week also marks the launch of the first-ever Big Data Roundtable Series, an annual event that brings together experts from across the agricultural arena to discuss how major retailers can leverage data to improve business sustainability, and how growers can utilize measurement tools and analyze data to use fertilizer more efficiently and save on input costs.

Here, I ask Kristin Weeks Duncanson, a crop and livestock operator and member of the AGree advisory committee, to explain the value of collecting data for farm operations and the environment and why many farmers are still hesitant to collect data. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, big data, conservation, farmers, farms, food production, Kristin Weeks Duncanson, measurement, nutrient efficiency, soil health, sustainability | Comments are closed

Three reasons fertilizer retailers should promote nitrogen efficiency

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: February 6, 2015

At first, the idea that fertilizer companies should help farmers become more efficient with fertilizer use is counterintuitive. After all, fertilizer retailers are in business to make money, so it makes sense that they would want to maximize sales of their core product.

Fortunately, using fertilizer more efficiently – even if this means less in some cases — can create more profit for retailers and growers. Fertilizer retailers have good reasons to incorporate fertilizer efficiency in their business strategies. Read More »

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, conservation, nitrogen, nutrient efficiency, precision agriculture, United Suppliers | Comments are closed

How nature can protect farmers against droughts and floods

By Eileen McLellan / Bio / Published: February 2, 2015

Wacky weather isn’t just a fluke. According to the National Climate Assessment (NCA), extreme weather events are becoming more common and are likely to increase in the future, which poses challenges for farmers and communities.

Traditional ways of responding to weather crises, such as building higher flood walls and digging deeper wells are expensive and often fail.

The good news is that farmers are increasingly turning to more natural solutions and practices, often referred to as “green infrastructure,” that use nature to reduce the impacts of both floods and droughts.

Green infrastructure is also needed to reduce fertilizer pollution and restore the Gulf of Mexico dead zone to safe levels, as a new study published today in the Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) reports.

Posted in Agriculture / Tagged agriculture, climate change, conservation tillage, cover crops, crops, drought, erosion, floods, food production, green infrastructure, water quality, wetland | Comments are closed