Growing Returns

Selected tag(s): ranchers

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, farmers, farming, food production, livestock emissions, livestock methane, methane reduction, new report, resilience | 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, farmers | Comments are closed

I’m a rancher, and I support the Endangered Species Act

By Guest Author / Published: January 9, 2018

In a recent op-ed for The Hill, Robert Henneke of the Texas Public Policy Foundation shared his opinion that “The Endangered Species Act is an ineffective regulatory burden.” I believe Mr. Henneke lacked a full perspective of the bedrock American environmental policy.

As a fellow Texan, I was surprised to see Mr. Henneke forget about the great wildlife success stories in our home state. The whooping crane, the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle and the Northern Aplomado Falcon have all experienced growing populations in Texas, thanks to conservation efforts made possible by the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Though they are still classified as “endangered,” these species have turned the trajectory from extinction to recovery, so I wouldn’t say the Act is ineffective, and I certainly wouldn’t go so far as Mr. Henneke does to call it “a terrible approach” to saving species with “an abysmal track record.”

I’m a sixth generation rancher in Brady, Texas. My husband George and I love and care for the land, the livestock, and the wide variety of Texas wildlife that call our ranch home. Read More »

Posted in Habitat Exchange / Also tagged Congress, Endangered Species Act, habitat exchange, monarch butterly, texas public policy foundation, whooping crane | Comments are closed

New online hub pairs landowners with conservation investors

By Kjellen Belcher / Published: December 19, 2017

Assessing habitat for songbirds at a ranch in the Central Valley.

The drive through the Central Valley’s mosaic of agricultural land, water infrastructure, riparian zones and floodplains has become a familiar one for me and my colleagues. We meet frequently with landowners who are creating, restoring and protecting habitat for wildlife on these working lands.

At each farm and ranch we visit, I am inspired by the landowners who are stepping up to do what they can for the at-risk species that are a part of the Central Valley’s ecology and history.

Whether they are managing flooded fields for Chinook salmon and giant garter snakes, planting trees for Swainson’s hawks and riparian songbirds to nest, or allowing native milkweed and wildflowers to grow for monarch butterflies to breed and feed, these landowners are showcasing conservation innovations that honor and sustain the region’s natural heritage. Read More »

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged agriculture, california, central valley, central valley habitat exchange, Chinook salmon, conservation, ecosystems, farmers, giant garter snake, monarch butterfly, riparian songbirds, Swainson's hawk, wildlife | Read 3 Responses

To help the environment, we must first help people

By Audrey Archer / Bio / Published: March 27, 2017

Author Audrey Archer explores her natural surroundings and assesses need for conservation practices

Now living in Austin, Texas where diverse wildlands are numerous and easily accessible, Audrey takes any opportunity she can get to put on her hiking boots and explore her natural surroundings. She also volunteers with the City of Austin to give guided hikes on preserves. Credit: Rob Binder

I grew up in the high and dry panhandle plains of Texas, where trees are scarce, wind is always blowing, and the smell of feedlots lingers in the air. Needless to say, I was not overly inspired by my surroundings – at least not at the time I lived there.

Had I not traveled with my family growing up, I wouldn’t have known what I was missing. Throughout these travels, I became enraptured by the biodiversity and lushness of other ecosystems and felt compelled to learn as much as I could about them.

But the stark contrast between some of the natural ecosystems and working landscapes I was exposed to led me to develop a pretty pessimistic view of humans’ impact on the environment. Surely, there had to be a better way of balancing human needs for things like food, water and shelter with nature’s needs.

Determined to tackle this problem, I got my Master’s in Environmental Management from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and took a job at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), where I had heard that scientists and economists were developing incentive programs for landowners to improve water quality, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and restore habitat for at-risk wildlife.

Little did I know my worldview was about to be turned upside down.

Putting people first Read More »

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged conservation, Duke University, ecosystems, environmental defense fund, farmers, habitat, habitat exchange, Kristin Weeks Duncanson, Minnesota, monarch butterfly, Nicholas School of the Environment, Texas, wildlife | Read 2 Responses

Let’s make ESA listings extinct, not wildlife

By Eric Holst / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: March 3, 2017

The listing process for the lesser prairie-chicken was tumultuous, with a 2016 ruling that stripped the bird of its previous federal protections and sparked questions about ESA implementation, in addition to what moral obligation humans have to protect wildlife. Photo credit: USDA NRCS

Since the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works held a hearing two weeks ago to discuss the “Modernization of the Endangered Species Act (ESA),” a new public debate over the act’s effectiveness has begun, even if the arguments on each side haven’t changed much.

On one hand, reform proponents point to the fact that only 47 of 1,652 species have been removed from the Endangered Species List since 1973. On the other, the act’s defenders note that nearly every species on the list has been saved from extinction.

Yet those may be the wrong metrics. Instead, we may want to ask why those species end up on the list in the first place, and whether we are taking common-sense approaches to wildlife conservation before they do. Read More »

Posted in Habitat Exchange / Also tagged conservation, endangered species list, ESA reform, farmers, greater sage-grouse, habitat exchange, lesser prairie-chicken, modernization of the endangered species act, monarch butterfly | Read 5 Responses

How healthy riparian forests benefit California ranchers

By Evan Patrick / Published: January 5, 2017

John Anderson overlooking his riparian forest and restoration area on Yanci Ranch.

California landowners have a number of important reasons to value riparian forests. They offer shade to cattle, provide critical erosion and flood control, sequester carbon and support abundant wildlife.

Yet many landowners, especially those already stretched to manage their farms and ranches, often overlook these benefits in their day-to-day work.

Unfortunately, California’s riparian forests are dwindling, covering only 5 percent of their historic range. That’s why Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) is working with leading researchers in the state to measure the wildlife and carbon benefits of riparian restoration, with the objective of bringing new funding sources to stewards of private lands.

Meet John Anderson

One landowner who is working actively to create riparian forests on his ranch is John Anderson, owner of Yanci Ranch in Yolo County. An experienced steward of his land, John has gone the extra mile restore the remnant riparian forest on his property. Read More »

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged california, central valley habitat exchange, conservation, ecosystems, habitat quantification tool, national bird day, riparian forests, sustainable agriculture, wildlife | Comments are closed

Will Trump’s victory defeat the environment? It’s time to rally around shared values

By David Festa / Bio / Twitter profile / Published: November 16, 2016

Like all Americans, I woke up on November 9 to a new reality: A few more Democrats in Congress, and yes, a President-elect who promised to dismantle our nation’s core environmental protections.

Though the overwhelming majority of rural counties voted for Donald Trump, I do not believe they voted to increase air and water pollution or jeopardize wildlife.

We live in amazing times. Compared to 40 years ago, our environment is healthier, even as our economy has grown 300 percent.

But 40 years is a long time ago, and it’s easy to forget that progress didn’t happen overnight. It took Republican and Democratic administrations to put our bedrock environmental protections in place so the rules laid out in them could be enforced. These laws include:

A wildlife protection act that brought our national symbol, the bald eagle, back from the brink of extinction.
A clean air act that has helped to reduce smog and acid rain that was threatening our children’s health and killing our forests.
A water quality act that has cleaned up our rivers so they may never catch fire again. (Yes, the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland was so polluted that it ignited in 1969.)

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged America, bipartisan, conservation, donald trump, ecosystems, election, environment, farmers, fertilizer use, habitat, habitat exchanges, market-based, Nevada, Partnerships, pollution, protection, public health, public-private partnerships, stewardship, sustainability, sustainable agriculture, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, water quality, wildlife | Comments are closed

Despite a new political landscape, landscape conservation commitments remain

By Brian Jackson / Bio / Published: November 15, 2016

Sagebrush in Carson Valley, Nevada. Photo credit: Flickr user loren chipman.

Sagebrush landscape in Carson Valley, Nevada. Photo credit: Flickr user loren chipman.

The presidential election has changed the political landscape both nationally and in the states we work. As we continue to make sense of the changes, what hasn’t changed is the commitment of many state leaders – Republicans and Democrats – to protecting our nation’s treasured landscapes.

In Nevada, the state just made a second wave of funding available to Nevada landowners who enhance and restore high-quality habitat for greater sage-grouse. This funding supplements an initial $1 million made available earlier this year to fund the first four credit projects through the Nevada Conservation Credit System (CCS).

Nevada created the CCS to keep the greater sage-grouse off the Endangered Species List and to provide a robust, efficient mitigation program for industries seeking to offset impacts to the imperiled bird’s habitat. Under the system, landowners sell credits to industries needing to mitigate future disturbances to the bird’s habitat in order to receive permits from the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Read More »

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged Bureau of Land Management, conservation, donald trump, ecosystems, election, greater sage-grouse, habitat, mining, mitigation, Nevada, neveda conservation credit system, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service | Comments are closed

As winter approaches, monarch caterpillars fuel up on a Minnesota farm

By David Wolfe / Bio / Published: September 19, 2016

Kristin Duncanson shows me monarch caterpillar we found on her farm. “Everyone has a monarch story," she said.

Kristin Duncanson holds a monarch caterpillar we found on her farm. “Everyone has a monarch story,” she said.

Duncanson Growers is a family farm located in the heart of southern Minnesota. Owners Kristin and Pat Duncanson produce pork and grow corn, soybeans and vegetable peas on the farm, with a commitment to sustainable practices that improve the quality of their land. But it’s not just about environmental sustainability.

“We also need to maintain and increase our productivity to be economically sustainable,” Kristin said.

The Duncanson family has been committed to sustainability not only through their own farming operations, but also through outreach and education efforts. I recently paid a visit to the family’s farm, where just the night before they had hosted 30 college students for dinner, recognizing the importance of communicating their sustainability practices to others.

In addition to their current practices, which include improving data collection to increase fertilizer efficiency, reducing tillage where possible and rotating crops, the Duncansons have also maintained some very high quality habitat for monarch caterpillars and butterflies. Read More »

Posted in Habitat Exchange, Wildlife Protection / Also tagged conservation, duncanson growers, ecosystems, EDF, farmers, habitat exchange, habitat quantification tool, Karen Oberhauser, Kristin Weeks Duncanson, Midwest, milkweed, Minnesota, monarch butterfly, Monarch Lab, sustainable agriculture, University of Minnesota | Comments are closed