How USDA Views Climate-Smart Commodities Program After Year One
How time flies when you’re…. busy working to support farmers and mitigate climate change! It has been a full year since USDA announced the Climate-Smart Commodities Partnerships program. Last week, I was fortunate to join USDA Secretary Thomas Vilsack at Gwenyn Hill Farm in Waukesha County, Wis., for an update on the program and the role […]
ACAM Executive Q&A: Mark Flaspohler, Director of Conservation Programs, Ducks Unlimited
One of the country’s leading practice implementers is bolstering its technical advisory capacity to improve resiliency and profitability for growers Ducks Unlimited is globally recognized as one of the leaders in conservation with a focus on protecting, enhancing and restoring wetlands and waterfowl habitats. Their legacy emphasis on recreational lands has, in recent years, led the organization to explore the relationship that those lands have with working lands, and with those who work […]
The Pathway To Helping Producers Do More With Data
We’ve been talking about the opportunities and perils of producers and farm-level data management together with our colleagues at The Sustainability Consortium for quite a while. But the topic is now gaining more mainstream attention. An Aug. 22 article by Belle Lin in The Wall Street Journal asserts that the utilization of data is lower than expected a […]
ACAM Field Day Takeaway: Experiment with Diverse Cover Crops to Drive Soil Health
Stewardship is something the Kruegers have passed down through the generations. “I’ve always felt there was a need for conservationist practices,” Walter Krueger said when he was honored as the 1994 Indiana Master Farm Conservationist of the Year. “God has made a good Earth, and it’s my responsibility to help protect what God has given […]
Cultivating Wellness: Farm-to-Pharmacy Movement Opens New Markets for Producers
2014 Farm Bill program aims to increase consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables to mitigate healthcare costs. Vegetable farmer Rachel Summers began her regenerative journey with an actual road trip that started by selling her house and buying a van to travel across the country to work on farms and learn from other producers. During her two years on the road, […]
Why Local-Led Conservation Moves the Needle
If you’ve been following us on social media, you’ll see a crush of field day activities as part of our work with America’s Conservation Ag Movement (ACAM). Our resident regenerative farmer and rancher, Jimmy Emmons, has been dotting the Corn Belt since June, and we’re eager to start our rotation of field days with our ACAM Conservation […]
How Farm Policy Responds To Producer Needs
Farm Bill programs and new funding mechanisms aim to meet the backlog of demand from farmers and ranchers. Both sides of his family survived the Dust Bowl, the drought of the 1950s, two world wars and the early 21st Century drought, which U.S. Rep. Frank Lucas says was the most severe. Through the years his […]
USDA Under Secretary Robert Bonnie: The Private Sector Is Central to Driving Large-Scale Deployment of Climate-Smart Practices
Earlier this month, the Trust In Food team gathered our partners in America’s Conservation Ag Movement to discuss private-sector innovation with the USDA in Washington. Amid the backdrop of historic funding for farmers, I couldn’t be more encouraged by USDA’s engagement with and advocacy for the work being done with private and nonprofit partners in […]
Syngenta’s Cropwise Sustainability App Gives Producers a Platform to Assess Opportunities In Conservation
Self-assessment tool allows farmers and ranchers to establish a conservation score to baseline different aspects of their operations. Farmers around the country want to do the right things when it comes to conservation, and they have been adopting conservation practices for generations. Many say they’re not getting credit for the best practices they’ve established through […]
ACAM Executive Q&A: Mike Zwingman, Director of Agronomy, Row Crops, Verdesian Life Sciences
Drought and volatile prices bring heightened focus on fertilizer and nutrient management. One of the greatest agronomic challenges facing producers today is the multi-year drought pattern affecting the Corn Belt, says Mike Zwingman, director of agronomy, row crops for Verdesian Life Sciences. “The impact of drought is more than just water stress,” Zwingman says. “It […]