April 6, 2024

Spotlight Stories

Spotlight 1 – IPM News discusses the oldest soil sample archive in the world, located in Illinois. Check out the story, here.

Spotlight 2 – The Wall Street Journal gives an update on bird flu spreading across dairy farms in the U.S.; the beef sector is on high alert. Check it out, here.

Industry Updates

Banfi, producer and importer of fine wines, announced that its organic wine label, Natura, will partner with globally recognized environmental organization, 1% For The Planet. By joining the network, Banfi is committing 1% of total Natura sales in the USA being redistributed back to investment in the environment. As a member of 1% For The Planet, Natura is partnering with Rodale Institute to help increase regenerative organic acreage throughout the USA. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit’s mission is to advance groundbreaking research and best-in-class education that enables farms and farmers to transition to regenerative organic agricultural practices, thereby improving the health of the world’s soil and securing the global food supply. [link]

Anthropologie has forged a partnership with Kiss the Ground, a nonprofit promoting regeneration and healthy soil as a viable solution to the wellness, water and climate crisis. Kicking off Earth Month, Anthropologie hopes to improve awareness, education and engagement around regenerative agriculture and how it contributes to a healthier planet. Anthropologie and Kiss the Ground will work together to generate awareness and involvement through collaborative programming. Through the partnership, Anthropologie has committed to an annual donation of $100,000 to Kiss the Ground, as well as offering their customers the opportunity to contribute through roundup at checkout donations in all Anthropologie stores worldwide throughout April. Anthropologie will also introduce its first regenerative cotton capsule collection. The line will reimagine existing customer favorites, now made with third-party certified regenerative cotton. [link]

A person in Texas tested positive for avian influenza after exposure to dairy cattle presumed to be infected with the H5N1 bird flu, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week. The case marks the second known instance that a person in the U.S. has been infected with H5N1 bird flu. The person reported eye redness, or conjunctivitis, as their only symptom and is being treated with an antiviral drug. The U.S. Agriculture Department reported the avian influenza in dairy cows in Texas and Kansas in late March this year. Unpasteurized milk from sick cattle at two dairy farms in Kansas and one in Texas, as well as a throat swab from a cow in Texas, tested positive for the same strain of the virus that is currently widespread among birds. [link]

Twenty members of the U.S. House of Representatives wrote a letter to House Agriculture Committee Leadership urging them to include a voluntary crop insurance premium incentive program for farmers who plant cover crops in the upcoming Farm Bill. The lawmakers note that drought, rain, and extreme weather have stressed America’s soils and crop insurance payments have risen more than 400% for drought-related losses, and nearly 300% for rain and flooding-related losses between 1995 and 2020. Without mitigating actions, climate change will continue to exacerbate losses and the cost of the Federal Crop Insurance Program (FCIP) could increase anywhere from 10 to 37%. Cover crops are a solution to help farmers mitigate risk. A 2023 study found that higher cover-crop adoption led to lower levels of crop insurance losses due to prevented planting. Another study found that just a 1% increase in cover crop adoption led to nearly $40 million in savings. [link]

New research from Curtin University underscores how rising temperatures threaten to turn Australia’s soil into a net carbon emitter, exacerbating the climate crisis. As temperatures increase, the ability of Australia's soil to continue holding carbon diminishes. Additionally, under certain conditions, it can even begin to release stored carbon back into the atmosphere. Professor Raphael Viscarra Rossel and his team at Curtin University estimate that under a "middle of the road" emissions scenario, soil emissions in Australia could contribute over 14% of the country's total emissions by 2045, increasing significantly more by 2100. This is particularly critical in sensitive coastal areas and the nation’s extensive rangelands, which hold an estimated 70% of the country’s soil carbon reserves. [link]

Nestlé has launched a key environmental performance improvement drive, aiming to deliver two new products alongside suppliers Cargill and development group, ETG | Beyond Beans, as part of existing net zero 2050 commitments. The new five-year initiative is tasked with reducing and removing carbon emissions from Nestle's supply chains by implementing  agroforestry and regenerative agriculture within core cocoa communities. The scheme will involve planting over 2 million shade trees on cocoa land managed by close to 20,000 farmers in Ghana and Ivory Coast, with an ultimate goal of removing over 500,000 metric tons of carbon over a 20-year period. [link]

Fairtrade Africa, Max Havelaar France and the French Development Agency (AFD France) have launched the Ghana Agroforestry for Impact (GAIM) Project at a short ceremony in Goaso, in the Ahafo region of Ghana. Ghana is the second largest cocoa producer in the world and cocoa is the main export crop. Cocoa production in Ghana faces challenges like increasing environmental degradation, deforestation, ageing farmers, pests and diseases and climate change. The project will focus on the intensification of production systems using Dynamic Agroforestry Techniques; gender and youth inclusion; a feasibility study to establish payment for environmental services; market studies for diversified crop distribution, and more. [link]

BASF and Solidaridad have partnered to understand how sustainable farming activities can have an increased effect on biodiversity, environmental conservation and the coexistence of agriculture and pollinators like bees. The project will be conducted within a network of small to mid-sized soybean farmers in Brazil. The partners will be supported by two organizations: GeoApis, to monitor managed bees and facilitate communication between farmers and beekeepers, and Wheatley Young Partners, to assess the feasibility of a nature-market in Brazil, where farmers are paid to deliver and maintain environmental service projects on their land. The first phase of the project started in January 2024 and is set to run for twelve months. [link]

ThriveAgric has launched a strategic partnership with Acorn Rabobank in a project committed to sustainable agroforestry practices and carbon market development in Nigeria. The initiative aims to enable over 30,000+ smallholder farmers to gain carbon credit access while benefiting from the adoption of agroforestry practices. The project seeks to enhance carbon sequestration, promote biodiversity, improve soil health, and provide economic benefits to local communities impacting smallholder farmers across 9 states including Kaduna, Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Jigawa, Niger, Nassarawa, and Kano states, affording them the opportunity to receive additional income from carbon credits and other climate-smart benefits on the initiative. [link]

Demand is high for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture’s (MDA) new Soil Health Financial Assistance Grant, which recently awarded 81 grants to individual producers, producer groups, and local governments to purchase or retrofit soil health equipment. The grants total over $2.35 million. Interest far outpaced available funding. The MDA received 284 applications for $8.4 million in requests – more than three times the money in this round of grants. The grants will provide up to 50% cost-share for equipment and parts, up to a cap of $50,000. The soil health practices on those acres include cover cropping, no-till planting, strip tillage, incorporation of perennials into cropping systems, low-disturbance nutrient application, and more. The most common types of equipment noted in the grant awards were no-till drills (21) and strip tillage equipment (12). [link]

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the availability of $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2024 to invest in conservation and climate solutions through the Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is accepting project proposals now through July 2, 2024, that will help farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners adopt and expand conservation strategies to enhance natural resources while tackling the climate crisis. Additionally, NRCS is announcing progress on its effort to streamline and simplify RCPP and improve processes and implementation. [link]

The U.S. government announced a $6.97 billion investment from the National Clean Investment Fund (NCIF) to Climate United, a national nonprofit focused on delivering the benefits of green technologies to communities across the county. The coalition, composed of Calvert Impact, the Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), and Self-Help, was one of several entities competing to manage a portion of the NCIF, one of three programs under the $27 billion Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). Agricultural climate solutions that may be financed through this opportunity include renewable energy technologies, farm energy efficiency upgrades, technologies to capture or reduce livestock methane emissions, farming practices that reduce nitrous oxide emissions from fertilizer use on crops, and more. In alignment with the Biden Administration's Justice40 initiative, Climate United has committed to deploy at least 60 percent of funds in low-income and disadvantaged communities, at least 20 percent in rural communities, and at least 10 percent in Native communities. [link]

In observance of Earth Month, New Seasons Market is launching "Building Better Soil for a Healthier Future," an effort in which the neighborhood grocer and select vendor partners are collaborating to contribute to the vitality of the planet. During the month of April, more than 25 brands found at New Seasons Market’s 21 stores will donate ONE PERCENT of their sales to benefit Zero Foodprint, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping farmers and ranchers implement regenerative agricultural practices. In collaboration, New Seasons Market will also contribute one percent of its Partner Brand private label product sales. [link]

Grass-fed beef producer American Farmers Network (AFN) announced that it has established and implemented criteria for regeneratively raised beef standards through its network of family ranchers, and that it stands ready to lead the effort for a viable certification program across the United States. The company said it already received USDA approval to use the Regenerative Agriculture claim on its packaging for products currently distributed through retail chains across the country. The goal is for future certification criteria across the country to encompass various aspects of beef production, including grazing management, soil health, animal welfare and social responsibility. [link]

In Case You Missed It…

In January, Boulder County in Colorado announced the launch of the Soil Health Initiative, a new grant program providing $1.1 million to local food producers for projects that foster soil health while advancing sustainable agriculture practices. See more, here.