August 10, 2024

Spotlight Stories

Spotlight 1 – Civil Eats publishes 17 food and ag approaches to tackling the climate crisis. Check out the story, here.

Spotlight 2 – An article in Nature looks at the impact of climate-smart agriculture practices on multidimensional poverty among coastal farmers in Bangladesh. Check it out, here.

Spotlight 3 – Vox shines a light on how the most powerful environmental groups help greenwash Big Meat’s climate impact. Decide for yourself, here.

Industry Updates

Candy giant Mars Inc. is in advanced talks to acquire snack-maker Kellanova in a deal that could approach $30 billion in value, according to people familiar with the matter. Kellanova, which was spun off from Kellogg last year, has a market value of around $22 billion. It sells brands including Pringles, Cheez-It, Pop-Tarts, Eggo waffles, MorningStar Farms and some international cereal banners. Privately held Mars sells brands including M&Ms, Snickers and Skittles. The McLean, Va.-based company is family owned and also runs a substantial pet-food business. [link]

The Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC) was selected as a sub-awardee of Growing GRASS, a US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Partnership for Climate-Smart Commodities Grant project. The Growing GRASS project is led by the American Sustainable Business Network and Other Half Processing and aims to establish high-value supply chains for meat processing byproducts of regeneratively raised beef and bison, providing more climate-friendly materials for pet food, textile and ingredients markets. Being awarded this grant supports PSC’s ongoing mission to advance sustainable ingredient sourcing practices within the pet food industry, according to the association. [link]

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA) Director Brian Baldridge announced an additional 500,000 acres of cropland are now enrolled into H2Ohio, bringing the total enrollment to 2.2 million acres statewide. Newly enrolled H2Ohio producers will develop and implement a Voluntary Nutrient Management Plan (VNMP), which help assess and reduce the risks of agricultural nutrient runoff associated with nutrient application that contributes to poor water quality. H2Ohio is Governor DeWine’s statewide water quality initiative designed to address complex issues impacting Ohio’s waters. Launched in 2019, H2Ohio uses a comprehensive approach guided by science and data to reduce algal blooms, stop pollution, and improve access to clean drinking water by supporting best farming practices, road salt runoff reduction, litter cleanup, dam removal, land conservation, and water infrastructure revitalization. [link]

Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding invited state farmers to apply for $13 million in tax credits available to support their efforts to improve soil health and water quality. Tax credits through Pennsylvania’s innovative conservation financing program, Resource Enhancement and Protection (REAP), can be combined with other state funding, including the Agriculture Conservation Assistance Program, and Conservation Excellence Grants, as well as federal funding to help pay for farm enhancements that protect the environment and boost farm sustainability. Farmers may receive REAP tax credits of 50 to 75 percent of a project’s eligible out-of-pocket costs. Farmers whose operation is in a watershed with an EPA-mandated Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) can receive REAP tax credits of 90 percent of out-of-pocket costs for some projects. Examples of funded projects include no-till and precision ag equipment, waste storage facilities, conservation plans, and Nutrient Management Plans. Also eligible for tax credits are measures that limit run-off from high animal-traffic areas, as well as cover crops and stream buffers that prevent erosion, keeping nutrients in the soil and out of the water. [link]

The University of Illinois Extension program will host a field day event entitled, "Farming for the Future: Digital and Regenerative Agriculture Field Day", on August 15th. The event will be held at the University of Illinois Energy Farm in Urbana, IL, and will aim to showcase how digital agriculture and regenerative agriculture can coexist and complement each other. Field day topics will include an update on cover crop practices, robotic on-farm systems for both crops and livestock, insight into making in-field broadband a priority, an update on air quality efforts, and discussions about greenhouse emissions and carbon sequestration. [link]

Brazilian pork and chicken processor BRF will pay a 2% premium from market prices for soybeans produced through regenerative agricultural practices. The initiative is being organized by a consortium, which BRF is part of together with Germany's Bayer AG and other Brazilian companies, as well as a local research group. Produzindo Certo, a firm that sets up sustainable agriculture supply chains and is part of the consortium, expects the project to include 30 soy farms within a year, producing over 200,000 metric tons of verified regenerative soy. [link]

Ever.Ag, a leader in digital solutions for agriculture, announced the official launch of their new Sustainability platform, specifically designed to support the dairy industry in providing sustainable and low carbon dairy ingredients to their customers. Ever.Ag’s Sustainability platform harnesses auditable and reliable data to empower the dairy industry, enabling them to meet rigorous environmental standards and consumer expectations for sustainable products. [link]

Washington state is launching its second year of a program to encourage on-farm compost use by reimbursing growers for some costs. All commercial Washington farmers – including those in agriculture, silviculture and aquaculture – are eligible for the program. Participating farms are eligible for 50% reimbursement on qualifying costs for compost purchases and associated transportation, equipment, and labor costs. Participants must agree to conduct soil sampling before and for several years following the application of compost. Additionally, the compost must be purchased from an approved compost facility. [link]

Mandatory front-of-pack (FOP) labeling rules for added sugars, expected from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in October, are just the beginning of government efforts to reduce sugar consumption and prompt product reformulation away from sugar in the U.S. The FDA is trying to reach “nutritionally illiterate” consumers, or those with low nutrition literacy who aren’t going to flip the product over to the back panel that contains additional information. Since Mexico mandated FOP labeling along with warning signs in 2020, sugar consumption has declined, but diabetes and obesity rates have continued to increase. [link]

The South East Research Farm (SERF) in southern Saskatchewan, Canada has landed a research contract from food giant, PepsiCo, and the U.S. Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR). SERF is running trials with cover cropping and other management practices to discover what their environmental and crop production impacts might be in western Canadian conditions. PepsiCo is interested in boosting canola and oat production’s positive environmental impact because it is a major consumer of oats and provider of oat products such as Quaker oatmeal, while it also uses large amounts of canola oil in its other food products. [link]

A groundbreaking study by Conservation International has unveiled the substantial potential of agricultural lands to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) without compromising food production. By integrating trees into farming systems, the study published in Carbon Balance and Management suggests it’s possible to improve soil health, biodiversity, and water quality while mitigating climate change. The study reveals that tropical and subtropical regions offer the greatest potential for carbon sequestration through increased tree cover on agricultural lands. Implementing these practices across 2.6 billion hectares could remove over 3 billion tons of CO2 annually, which is the equivalent to the total annual emissions from all of the world’s cars. [link]

Nespresso USA is introducing Nespresso Bloom, the brand's first range of honey products, harvested from the same coffee plants as some of the company's coffee products. Harvested from the same flowers as the coffee of Nespresso Master Origins Colombia capsule, the first two products from the Nespresso Bloom range offer endless possibilities for pairing with coffee, pastries, breakfast bites and more. For 20 years, the Nespresso AAA Sustainable Quality Program has been working directly with coffee farmers to improve the quality of their coffee and protect their land for the future through sustainable agriculture practices to help ensure they have a fair income for years to come. [link]

The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) in partnership with Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a $111 million investment in the ag sector through a U.S. EPA Climate Pollution Reduction Grant. Through this program, IDOA will receive $73 million for climate-smart ag practices and IEPA $38 million for electrification of small engines. The funding will be distributed over a five-year period for projects that improve soil health, reduce erosion and improve air quality. [link]

Stephen F. Austin State University’s Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture was awarded a Conservation Innovation Grant from the United States Department of Agriculture to assist in the creation of a demonstration area for climate-smart agricultural practices. The $417,493 grant will support the implementation of beneficial agricultural practices involving silvopasture, the deliberate integration of trees and grazing livestock operations on the same land, and biochar, a substance made from the burning of wood in an oxygen-limited environment. SFA’s project is one of 53 projects that the USDA is supporting in an effort to improve the environment and agricultural production. In total, the USDA is investing $90 million in Conservation Innovation Grants. [link]

In Case You Missed It…

In mid-May, the Noble Research Institute was given a 2024 Regenerative Agriculture Research Grant from the Greenacres Foundation to advance its ongoing pecan-focused silvopasture research. See more, here.