The State of Sustainable Ag
An ongoing research collaboration with Field To Market to identify production trends and farmer perspectives in conservation farming. THE ISSUE: Understanding farmer perceptions around sustainable ag is a critical need Knowing how farmers understand, value, and perceive sustainable production practices is essential to good programming. OUR SOLUTION: Annual survey of farmers We collaborated with Field […]
Ag Targets
A partnership with the University of Montana, Stroud Water Research Center, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation using behavioral data to improve how conservation messaging is delivered. THE ISSUE: Reaching farmers at scale with the right message One of the primary challenges conservation outreach campaigns face is the juxtaposition between available investment dollars and the […]
Farmer Perspectives on Data
An ongoing research program with The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) to identify behavioral trends in how farmers collect and share their production-level data and how they feel about it. THE ISSUE: Farm-level data collection and sharing is critically low Farm-level production data is a critical element for environmental, financial, and social sustainability of farm operations. Without […]
Digital Ag is Sustainable Ag
The on-farm digital transition is central to achieving supply chain sustainability goals – here is how we can accelerate it. According to research produced by The Sustainability Consortium (TSC), nearly 50% of food and beverage companies report having no visibility into the on-farm practices that produce the inputs they use. Think about that for a […]
Rental Relationships with Non-Operating Landowners
A collaboration with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) to empower landowners and their tenants to collaborate more effectively on conservation activities. THE ISSUE: Farm rental relationships are a barrier to conservation A significant amount of farmland in the U.S. is rented by a farmer rom a non-operating landowner. In the Midwest 62% of farmland is rented, […]
Relationship Health is Soil Health
Most farmland in America is rented – to drive regenerative goals let’s make sure the landowner-tenant relationship is healthy. It is estimated that 62% of Midwest farmland – up to 80% in certain counties – is rented by tenant farm operators from non-operating landowners (NOLs). Put another way, more than half of the crop acres […]
Activating the Raccoon Watershed
A partnership with Iowa Soybean Association and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to scale the number of on-farm consultations made by local conservation coordinators. THE ISSUE: Resource constraints limit conservation consultations Conservation partners across the Raccoon watershed in Iowa face resource constraints that limit their ability to meet with farmers to generate demand for conservation […]
The Future of Ag Retail
Three ways innovative ag retailers are leaning in to sustainability offerings in order to grow their business. Ag retailers have tremendous influence over agricultural production, given their role as one of a farmer’s most trusted advisors. They can therefore play an outsized role in accelerating the transition to a more sustainable and regenerative production system. […]