Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): farmers

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 | Leave a comment

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 | Leave a comment

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 | Comments are closed

The farm bill is a powerful opportunity for agricultural climate solutions

By Ben Thomas / Published: February 22, 2023

U.S. farmers, ranchers and foresters will need additional tools and resources to protect their land, keep growing food on a changing planet and contribute to national efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. That’s where the farm bill comes in.

The farm bill is a critical piece of legislation that comes up every five years. It authorizes programs that provide producers with a safety net in tough times and supports them in adopting climate-friendly production practices.

As Congress begins writing the next farm bill, new recommendations from the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance provide some of the most significant alignment on climate and agriculture policy priorities to date. Read More »

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged agriculture, climate resilience, FACA, farm bill, ranchers | Comments are closed

Major banks are setting climate targets. What the agricultural finance sector needs to know.

By Vincent Gauthier / Bio / Published: December 14, 2022

Many major banks have set targets to reduce financed greenhouse gas emissions in their loan portfolios to zero by 2050 (also known as net zero targets). They join a growing movement of companies throughout the agricultural supply chain to set ambitious targets to reach net zero by 2050 to prevent the most severe impacts from climate change.

The Banking for Impact on Climate in Agriculture (B4ICA) initiative recently published “An introductory guide for net zero target setting for farm-based agricultural emissions” that shares best practices for banks to set net zero GHG emissions targets for their agricultural loan portfolios. The guidance helps banks setting agricultural sector emissions reduction targets as part of their commitments to the Net Zero Banking Alliance — an alliance of 122 banks representing 40% of global bank assets that have committed to aligning their assets with net zero GHG emissions by 2050 or sooner. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged agricultural, agricultural finance, agricultural lenders, agriculture, banks, ecosystems, finance, GHG emissions | Comments are closed

How companies can reduce nitrogen pollution and measure progress toward climate goals

By Simone Schenkel / Published: December 8, 2022

Nitrogen is essential for life, but excess nitrogen can pollute the atmosphere and water. This has a huge impact on human and ecosystem health, as well as financial losses to farmers from fertilizer — which is at a record high price — that ultimately won’t be utilized by crops.

EDF’s new N Balance Implementation Guide provides a comprehensive and pragmatic road map for food and agriculture companies to help reduce nitrogen pollution from agricultural production and claim the environmental improvements associated with nitrogen management.

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged ecosystems, farm, fertilizer, implementation guide, N Balance, n balance guide, N Visible, nitrogen, sustainable agriculture | Comments are closed

How will climate change affect U.S. crop yields?

By Kelly Suttles / Published: November 10, 2022

As the UN climate conference kicks off in Egypt, food and agriculture are central to negotiations for the first time. More severe droughts, warmer temperatures and heavier rainfall fueled by climate change are making it harder than ever for the world’s one billion farmers to grow food and fiber. While some farms and regions are more vulnerable than others, climate change will affect farmers everywhere.

Here in the U.S., where farmers have a long history of steadily increasing yields, climate change will likely cause crop productivity gains to stall — or even reverse — as soon as 2030.

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged adaptation, agriculture, climate change, corn, cover crops, food, iowa, kansas, Minnesota, soybeans, sustainable agriculture, wheat | Comments are closed

Farmers see value in agriculture loans that reward stewardship

By Maggie Monast / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: October 14, 2022

In January 2022, global farmer-to-farmer network and ag tech company Farmers Business Network^®, launched a new rebate program for farm operating loans. The Regenerative Agriculture Finance Operating Line program includes a 0.5% interest rate rebate for farmers who achieve climate and water quality benchmarks established by Environmental Defense Fund. Both farmers who already meet the benchmarks, as well as farmers who improve practices to do so, are eligible.

The $25-million pilot fund filled up quickly, with 48 farmers enrolled and a growing waitlist to participate in an expanded fund. With the initial pilot underway, FBN plans to scale the fund to $500 million over the next three years and access public markets to securitize and sell these loans to investors seeking liquid, environmentally friendly investments.

Over the first year of the program, we are sharing what we are learning with others in the agriculture sector. EDF had the chance to sit down with two participating farmers about their experiences — Joel Uthe, operator of Uthe Farm in Chariton, Iowa, and David Iverson, operator of Iverson Farm in Astoria, South Dakota. Read More »

Posted in Uncategorized / Also tagged agriculture, ecosystems, farm finance, soil health | Comments are closed

A conservation win and groundwater loss: Arizona ends 2022 session with mixed water record

By Christopher Kuzdas / Bio / Published: July 20, 2022

The Verde River, one of the last free-flowing rivers in the Southwest, remains unprotected after another year of in action to address rural groundwater pumping in Arizona.

After months of negotiations, the Arizona Legislature passed a major water spending plan last month with funding for new conservation efforts to address deteriorating water supplies. However, for the fourth year in a row, state leaders failed to pass legislation to address unlimited groundwater pumping, missing an opportunity to enable a water secure future for 1.5 million rural residents and the state as a whole.

Posted in Climate Resilience / Also tagged agriculture, Arizona, colorado river, drought, ecosystems, groundwater, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, water use, western water | Comments are closed