January 20, 2024
Spotlight Story
Foodtank writes about the 20 books shaping our views on food systems right now. Check out the story, here.
Industry Updates
House Bill 2121 has been introduced in the Arizona legislature and would ban the sale or production of cultivated meat in the state if enacted. Those who violate the legislation would face a penalty of up to $25,000. The text of the bill offers two primary reasons for the legislation — to protect public health and to protect the state’s cattle industry. Arizona’s proposed legislation comes in the wake of similar legislation introduced in Florida. In that state, the bill would ban the manufacturing, sale, holding or distribution of cultivated meat in the state if passed. And on Sept. 1, 2023, a law went into effect in Texas that requires the labels of cultivated meat products sold in the state to say “cell-cultured,” “lab-grown” or have similar language on the packaging. [link]
At the QCCA Expo Center's Farm Show in Rock Island, IL this week, the local soil and water conservation specialist shared a new technique on how to test for soil health: cotton underwear. Farmers were encouraged to bury a pair of underwear on their land in the spring, mark it with a flag, and then check the spot in 60 days. If the soil has a healthy amount of microbes, there will be "virtually no underwear left." Healthy soils limit the need for farming chemicals like fertilizers and herbicides, while also helping to restore topsoil levels over time. [link]
Virginia Tech is helping to pilot a $2.7 million multistate project funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture Specialty Crops Research Initiative to introduce the faba bean as a sustainable fall and winter crop in the mid-Atlantic region. Faba beans are a cool-season legume that fit well into the winter production systems of the mid-Atlantic, creating a good cover crop that helps improve soil health while slowing erosion and controlling pests, disease, and weeds. They are also highly nutritious, with one cup of faba beans offering 13 grams of protein along with plenty of fiber, potassium and iron. [link]
A farm in Union Springs, NY will become the state’s first commercial dairy to take separated solids from digested cow manure and run it through a kiln to create environmentally friendly biochar. Biochar, which is similar to charcoal made from organic residue, including manure, can become a valuable agricultural soil amendment that retains nutrients, decreases manure storage costs, sequesters carbon and reduces odors in the surrounding area. Spruce Haven Farm, which has 2,030 cows and 1,770 heifers, and harvests about 3,800 acres of corn and alfalfa for feed, will lease the kiln from Biomass Controls, a company that provides solutions to sanitation challenges, headquartered in Woodstock, Connecticut. [link]
Propagate and Rodale Institute are pleased to announce a new strategic partnership to promote agroforestry. The goal of the partnership is to increase the adoption of agroforestry and tree crop systems in North America. As part of the agreement, new agroforestry educational hubs will be established at the Institute’s research sites in eastern Pennsylvania. The demonstration farms serve multiple purposes: to raise awareness, provide education on regenerative agriculture practices, and provide opportunities to advance research. Planting is expected to begin in Fall 2024. [link]
ADM announced that it has loaded and shipped its first vessels of verified, fully traceable soybeans from the U.S. to Europe. In anticipation of the new EU deforestation regulations becoming effective at the end of the year, ADM now intends to expand these capabilities to other key locations across North America in the 2024 growing season. ADM’s traceable soybean program is an outgrowth of its International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) certified bean program, and utilizes cutting-edge technology – such as FBN’s Gradable digital platform – as well as ADM’s origination and transportation capabilities to verify, trace and segregate participating beans from farms to their final destination. [link]
Precision Planting’s newest product was revealed at the company’s annual Winter Conference: a fully customizable, factory-built planting system called CornerStone. The CornerStone Planting System comes fully built with everything but the planter bar and is integrated with Precision Planting’s technology. Designed as a complete row unit compatible with all standard-height 7x7 planter bars, the system is fully integrated with Precision Planting technologies. Farmers can order exactly which technologies they want and receive a factory-built system with all components already installed. The system is designed to be adaptable as future technologies come onto the market. [link]
A new report from Conservation International and the UN's Green Climate Fund found that farmers implementing climate-smart practices in Madagascar five years ago are realizing greater food security today, while also keeping their land better protected from deforestation. Researchers surveyed more than 1,600 participating farmers to learn more about the quantity and type of food they eat and their ability to pay for essential needs, like housing, clothing and medications. Declines in food insecurity happened in a short time period as farmers used drought-resistant crops, mulching to prevent soil erosion, and native fruit tree plantings to provide shade and additional sources of income. [link]
Researchers from Italy and the U.S. recently published a study in Nature Food that found by replacing some of the energy-intensive crops used as animal feed, such as corn and soybeans, with agricultural by-products, such as straw and bran, they could significantly reduce the consumption of natural resources, such as land and water, and lower the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane. They estimated that by substituting 11-16% of the current animal feed with by-products, they could save up to 13% of cropland area, 9% of water use, and 6% of nitrogen use globally. Moreover, they found that this substitution would also reduce the emissions of carbon dioxide by 7% and methane by 18%, which are the main greenhouse gases produced by the livestock sector. The researchers also pointed out that using by-products as animal feed would not compromise the nutritional quality or safety of the meat and dairy products, as long as they are properly processed and supplemented with vitamins and minerals. [link]
Newly published research from Michigan State University (MSU) shows how evaluating historical crop yields across distinct areas of agricultural fields can provide farmers with essential information on soil health characteristics and carbon sequestration. For this project, researchers sought to determine the relationship between historical crop yields and soil health, with the hypothesis that high-performing regions of fields have higher-quality soil and vice versa. Researchers are aiming to reduce the reliance on traditional soil testing by using historical yield data and a novel analysis metric known as yield stability zones. These zones leverage both yield level and stability — the consistency of yield — over time, offering a more nuanced understanding that accounts for small-scale, in-field variability. Researchers found that yield stability zones successfully identify differences in areas of fields based on statistically distinct relative soil organic carbon and relative soil health. These findings suggest that yield stability zones can identify the feedback relationships between soil formation, soil organic carbon accumulation, soil health and yield potential, particularly in terms of increased water and nutrient holding capacity. [link]
The World Economic Forum, which is meeting in Davos, Switzerland, has released a report proposing a model for achieving sustainable agriculture worldwide. The report says, “To support the adoption of practices and sustain their implementation, a key source of financing should come from the monetization of the full value of all ecosystem services delivered by regenerative practices, including improved resilience and environmental outcomes like healthier soils, carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions avoidance, reduced freshwater use and pollution, and enhanced biodiversity.” In exchange for ecosystem services, all the actors that benefit from regenerative agriculture, including value chain participants (across crop rotations), lenders and insurers, and governments should provide financing. [link]
In Case You Missed It…
In late December, it was announced that it is “very unlikely” that the EU will reach its target of expanding the share of organic farming to at least 25% of EU agricultural land by 2030, according to a new report from the European Environment Agency (EEA). Read more, here.