Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): farmers

New Report: How high-quality carbon offsets can lower livestock methane emissions

By EDF Staff / Published: September 23, 2024

Authors: Erin Leonard and Maggie Monast

With more than 80 times the warming power of carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after its release, methane is one of the most potent greenhouse gasses. One major contributor to global methane is livestock operations — 32% of methane emissions from human activity come from livestock and animal agriculture.

The good news is that methane’s massive warming potential also creates an opportunity for a big and rapid impact if we can mitigate those emissions. To avoid the worst effects of climate change, we need to rapidly lower livestock methane emissions, a process that requires support and incentives to help farmers and ranchers adopt changes in their businesses.

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged agricultural methane, agriculture, carbon credit, climate change, farming, food production, livestock emissions, livestock methane, methane reduction, new report, ranchers, resilience | Comments are closed

Closing the enteric methane emissions innovation gap: A call for funding high-quality research

By EDF Staff / Published: May 23, 2024

By Peri Rosenstein and Nicole Jenkins

Methane emissions are a potent greenhouse gas, warming the climate more than 80 times faster than carbon dioxide on a 20-year timescale. Rapidly and significantly reducing methane is the most effective way to reduce the rate of warming, especially over the next few decades.

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged agricultural methane, agriculture, agriculture research, climate change, climate resilience, food production, methane, research, research funding, sustainability | Comments are closed

Lenders want to support farmers’ conservation efforts. Here’s how their executives can help.

By Mai Lan Hoang / Published: February 7, 2024

corn plants in a conservation practice field in the midwest

Low angle view of young corn plants in a field after the rain

A new survey of agricultural lenders in the upper Midwest reveals important insights about their perceptions and support for farmers’ conservation efforts. As the first of its kind, the survey can inform agricultural lending institutions’ climate and sustainability strategy development.

Farmers rely on agricultural lending institutions for loans to cover equipment, land and operating expenses. In particular, loan officers at these institutions hold relationships with farmers and are often seen as trusted advisers and sources of information. Their perspectives and knowledge of conservation agriculture can significantly influence farmers’ progress in adopting conservation practices.

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged agricultural, agricultural lenders, conservation, ecosystems, farm finance, lenders | Comments are closed

Revisiting a centuries-old approach to farming that embraces water scarcity.

By afajardoanstine / Published: December 7, 2023

As discussions at COP28 wrestle with climate impacts on global food and water security, we hear from a Hopi farmer on his thriving practice of dry farming and his hopes for shared learning in Dubai.

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The arid climate of the Hopi reservation in northeastern Arizona receives a mere 8.5 inches of annual rainfall. For perspective, the yearly United States average is 30 inches. Despite this severe aridity, for over 3,000 years, the Hopi people have stewarded an extraordinary agricultural tradition centered on dry farming.

Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson is an Indigenous Resiliency Specialist at the University of Arizona and a leading practitioner of Hopi dry farming — a form of agriculture that eschews irrigation in regions with limited water moisture. As a 250th-generation Hopi dry farmer, his ongoing traditional practices are a testament to the power of cultural values and the potential of climate-adaptive farming. These ongoing Hopi farming practices defy modern notions of crop needs and vulnerability in areas with limited irrigation and water supply.

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged agriculture, climate change, climate resilience, colorado river, conservation, drought, environmental defense fund, food production, sustainability, water quality, water use | Comments are closed

The growing threat of heat for farmworkers

By Marika Jaeger / Published: August 2, 2023

Farmworkers in field picking yellow squash outside in the heat.

Dangerous health effects and heat-related illnesses result when the body is unable to maintain a safe core temperature through measures like sweating. Symptoms range from mild effects to severe illness and even death.

The summer of 2023 has been one of record-breaking heat with devastating consequences for people, crops and livestock. As the climate continues to warm, heat wave intensity, frequency and duration will increase across the globe.

U.S. farmworkers — invaluable, often unrecognized contributors to food production and the trillion-dollar agricultural economy — are at exceptionally high risk for heat-related health consequences. A report from Environmental Defense Fund and La Isla Network finds that the average U.S. agricultural worker is currently exposed to an estimated 21 unsafe working days due to heat each May-September. Crop workers are also 20 times more likely to die from heat-stress-related illness than civilian workers in the U.S. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged agriculture, agriculture equity, extreme heat, farmworkers, heat stress | Comments are closed

How Farm Credit Canada uses partnerships to help farmers invest in sustainable practices

By Vincent Gauthier / Bio / Published: July 13, 2023

Fields in Canada being farmed.

In 2022, Farm Credit Canada launched the Sustainability Incentive Program to recognize and encourage customers to implement sustainable farming practices. Through the program, FCC partners with agriculture industry-led sustainability initiatives that have established systems for verifying and measuring environmental outcomes. This model has allowed FCC to offer innovative financial incentives to farmers producing several different commodities.

I sat down with Curtis Grainger, FCC’s Director of Lending Products and Sustainability Programs, to learn more about Farm Credit Canada’s Sustainability Incentive Program.

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged agricultural sustainability, farm credit canada, financial incentives, invest | Comments are closed

New report: Investing in Arizona’s water future

By Anélyse Regelbrugge / Published: May 16, 2023

This blog is co-authored by Rachel O’Connor, Manager, Climate Resilient Water Systems.

As Arizona’s water crisis worsens due to extreme drought and overuse, more attention than ever is being directed toward addressing this critical issue. At the federal level, an influx of funding has become available through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. And at the state level, the Water Infrastructure Finance Authority (WIFA) has just begun accepting proposals for its first allocation of $200M for water conservation projects.

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged Arizona, arizona water, climate change, conservation, environmental defense fund, resilience, sustainability | Comments are closed

New report shows climate change will impact strawberry production in Florida

By EDF Staff / Published: May 15, 2023

Authors: Dawn Shirreffs and Kelly Suttles

In 2022, the Florida legislature created the official designation of strawberry shortcake as the State Dessert. Key lime pie advocates may yet have a second chance to emerge victorious as important new research by Environmental Defense Fund and Two Degrees Adapt signals concern for growing strawberries in the Sunshine State due to climate change.

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged climate change, Florida, growers, report, strawberry | Comments are closed

Agricultural banks expect climate change to pose financial risks. Here are five strategies to help them adapt.

By Vincent Gauthier / Bio / Published: March 21, 2023

Climate change is projected to impact agricultural production worldwide, and 87% of agricultural finance institutions in a recent survey expect it to present risks to their business. Meanwhile, only 24% significantly factor climate change into their decision-making processes.

A new guide from EDF and Deloitte offers five strategies for agricultural finance institutions to manage climate risks and act on climate opportunities. These five strategies integrate climate into agricultural finance institutions’ existing risk frameworks and take a proactive approach to help farmers and ranchers adapt to climate change:

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged adapat, agricultural finance, climate change, Deloitte, emissions, GHG, risks | Comments are closed

New analysis shows cover crops and no-till reduce crop insurance claims

By Vincent Gauthier / Bio / Published: March 2, 2023

Soybeans in a cover crop (cereal rye).

The extremely wet spring of 2019 caused 14.2 million acres of cropland to go unplanted in the Midwest. Farmers across the region had flooded fields that kept them from getting equipment onto the fields to plant their crops. This resulted in over $4 billion of prevent-plant crop insurance claims, which assists farmers when weather conditions keep them from planting a crop altogether. Amidst these adverse weather challenges, farmers who were using cover crops and no-till reported facing less water on their fields, which allowed them to plant when their neighbors couldn’t.

A new study backs up these Midwest farmer stories with big data. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged claims, cover crops, crop insurance, farming, Midwest, no-till, research, resilence, university, USDA | Read 1 Response