September 21, 2024
Spotlight Stories
Spotlight 1 – Forbes shares the big problems with big livestock farms. Check out the story, here.
Spotlight 2 – Grist asks if we can eat our way out of the climate crisis. Check it out, here.
Spotlight 3 – Just Food does a deep dive on food companies and their water usage. Read about it, here.
Industry Updates
The governments of Canada and Ontario are investing an additional $9 million in the Ontario Agricultural Sustainability Initiative through the Sustainable Canadian Agricultural Partnership to help farmers enhance the sustainability and competitiveness of their farms. Funding will be used to help with the adoption of new technologies and best management practices to support soil health, water quality, and energy efficiency while increasing on-farm productivity. The initiative will also help Ontario farmers improve the long-term environmental resilience of their farms. Farmers will be able to submit up to two applications to the program, depending on their needs, with successful recipients receiving up to $90,000 depending on the project category. [link]
The USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) has awarded $3.5 million to a UF/IFAS scientist and his team to study microbial life in the soil and share research findings to promote crop productivity and sustainable soil health management. Samuel Martins, a UF/IFAS assistant professor of plant pathology, is leading eight researchers from six institutions: the University of Florida; Pennsylvania State University; the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station; the University of California, Davis; William Paterson University in Wayne, New Jersey; and the USDA Agricultural Research Service. The team will collect soil before and after harvest at 12 organic tomato farms in California, Connecticut, Florida, and Pennsylvania. After extracting DNA from samples, they will conduct computational analyses to identify the soil's microbial and viral composition and determine associations between predators and prey. The researchers propose to test the effects of various organic amendments like worm casings and chicken manure on micro-predators and pathogens in the ground. They want to learn whether micro-predator predation can be enhanced in the soil with amendments to better protect plants. [link]
The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is now accepting applications for grants to support innovative sustainability-focused research or demonstration projects on Minnesota farms. The Agricultural Growth, Research, and Innovation (AGRI) Sustainable Agriculture Demonstration Grant funds projects that explore the energy efficiency, environmental benefit, and profitability of sustainable ag techniques, from the production through marketing processes. Eligible projects must test and demonstrate on-farm practices that will benefit a broad range of farmers. Past grants have explored topics such as cover crops and crop rotation; conservation tillage; pest management techniques; input reduction strategies; and alternative energies such as wind, methane, and biomass. The MDA will award approximately $350,000 in this round of grant funding, and applicants may request up to $50,000 per project. No cash match is required for requests below $25,000. However, for requests between $25,000 and $50,000, applicants must provide a dollar-for-dollar match. [link]
Rodale Institute has received $1M from Holdfast Collective, Patagonia’s non-profit shareholder, with the grant serving as a catalyst in funding the Institute’s work providing technical assistance, business planning services, and equipment stipends to historically underserved farmers and ranchers in Ventura County, CA. The California Department of Food and Agriculture will provide an additional $1.5M to total a $2.5M investment as the organization continues to raise funds for these and other critical projects across the country. The California Organic Center in Camarillo will serve as the hub for demonstrations of regenerative organic practices in Ventura County. Rodale Institute agronomists will be consulting directly with farmers to help with crop selection, marketing coordination, as well as Organic and Regenerative Organic Certifications. [link]
The COP29 Azerbaijan Presidency revealed outcomes on its Action Agenda, including updates related to the Declaration on Reducing Methane from Organic Waste as well as the Baku Harmoniya Initiative for Farmers, a new initiative that will unite the disparate landscape of existing programs, coalitions and networks designed to empower farmers. The Baku Harmoniya Initiative for Farmers aims to create a portal to clarify the landscape of existing programs designed to empower farmers along with catalyzing investment in climate-resilient agrifood systems by matching needs with available funds. The Declaration Reducing Methane from Organic Waste is being developed in partnership with the Global Methane Pledge (GMP) Secretariat and UNEP’s Climate and Clean Air Coalition and seeks to enhance ambition with more governments signing the GMP. [link]
A surge of pollen in spring can affect the formation of clouds and rainfall, according to a new study. The authors say that, as the planet warms, pollen counts are expected to grow, potentially giving rise to more springtime rainfall. For the new study, scientists analyzed pollen counts from 50 sites across the U.S. over a decade, finding that a boom in springtime pollen led to an uptick in cloud ice, which was linked to more frequent rainfall. The study was published in Environmental Research Letters. In light of the findings, the researchers call for incorporating the effect of pollen into climate models. As the planet warms and springs grow longer, pollen counts are edging upwards. More airborne pollen could lead to more frequent and intense rainfall in the decades to come. [link]
The One Planet Business for Biodiversity (OP2B) coalition, one of the first private sector regenerative agriculture initiatives, convened by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), reached a major impact milestones as it celebrates its five-year anniversary in September. Comprising 26 corporate members with a collective market value of $893 billion, OP2B has worked since its launch in 2019 to incentivize regenerative agriculture, a holistic approach to transform agricultural models, taking environmental and socioeconomic dimensions into account. According to its five-year progress report released this week, investments in transition finance for regenerative agriculture totaled $3.6 billion between 2019 and 2023. The coalition aims to impact over 12 million hectares of land, equivalent to over 29 million acres, by 2030. [link]
Purdue University and Bayer announced the creation of the Coalition for Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture, a public-private partnership designed to help improve the soil health of farmland while also increasing food production for a growing population. The coalition’s mission is to generate robust, real-world data in support of regenerative agriculture practices to help farmers restore soil health and biomass, increase biodiversity, and improve the resiliency of ecosystems over time. The coalition’s new framework will also support education and outreach programs to enhance sustainable and regenerative agriculture. [link]
CPG General Mills and food retailer Ahold Delhaize USA (ADUSA) are partnering to transition more acreage within their shared supply chain to regenerative agriculture. The two companies will co-invest in “priority supply sheds” — geographic regions where they source ingredients — by helping farmers in those areas transition to regenerative agriculture. Farmers will receive technical and financial support to implement regenerative agriculture practices such as cover cropping and nutrient management. The goal of the partnership is to transition more than 70,000 acres of farmland in the state of Kansas and in Canadian province Saskatchewan by the end of 2025, which is “the approximate number of acres” from which General Mills sources ingredients for products sold at Ahold Delhaize USA brands. [link]
Farm data from the UK Government's recent comprehensive review of 685 farms and 235,000 hectares shows that soil carbon varies greatly, depending on a number of factors. The review was delivered through the Soil Association’s Exchange program in partnership with Lloyds Banking Group which has provided finance for 84% of participating farms. Overall, soil carbon varied greatly from 32 to 267 tonnes of carbon/hectare, reflecting the diversity of farm types, landscapes and geographical locations of the businesses involved. Farms that included livestock scored well for diversity of plant life, had higher levels of carbon stored in their soil and produced manure which reduced the need for artificial fertilizer, but scored poorly on carbon emissions. The review focused on six key areas: soil health, carbon, biodiversity, animal welfare, water, and people & society. It found stark differences between farm types, both in terms of their current footprint and the measures they could feasibly adopt to improve their environmental performance. [link]
In Case You Missed It…
In late-August, the USDA said that it had infused $82.3 million into the American specialty crop sector to bolster the competitiveness of fruit, vegetable, and tree nut producers. See more, here.