How American Farmland Trust is helping keep farmers in business while making conservation profitable
Get more on how you can benefit from funding, research, tools and training resources HERE
For the past 40 years, American Farmland Trust, or AFT, has been working to ensure America’s farmland remains viable and productive rather than being lost to development or degradation.
American Farmland Trust believes that one of the key methods to ensuring American farmland remains productive farmland is by empowering farmers to operate sustainably and profitably.
In a typical year, farmers face enormous challenges maintaining yield, keeping costs under control and improving their operation’s profitability. In 2020, those challenges have grown by leaps and bounds. Extreme weather, a trade war and pandemic-related market disruptions have made farm management even more challenging than usual.
Soil health practices, like cover crops, no-till and nutrient management, can help address environmental and climate challenges while also improving farm profitability in the long term. But with so much complex information out there regarding these practices and how they relate to each unique farm operation, farmers can be reluctant to change management techniques without knowing how much the practices will cost and what the financial benefits will be.
This is where American Farmland Trust steps up to help farmers.
- Helping Farmers Design Cover Crop Solutions that Fit Their Operations
Partnering with the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service On-Farm Conservation Innovation Trials through a $2.6 million grant, AFT is implementing the “Conquering Cover Crop Challenges Coast to Coast” project beginning in 2021.
Through 20 on-farm demonstration trials across the nation and a comprehensive soil, economic and social evaluation system, it will test innovative solutions and generate five years of results that will help overcome regional and crop-specific barriers to cover crop adoption.
- Helping Farmers Better Understand the Economics of Soil Health
AFT has launched online access to the methods, tools and training resources used in developing its case studies featuring “soil health successful farmers.” The ultimate goal is to enable farm advisors to use this suite of tools and training resources to produce their own case studies demonstrating the economic and environmental benefits of soil health.
In turn, farmers who have been considering adopting soil health practices will be able to review economic evidence quantified for a farmer in their area, enabling them to more effectively implement soil health practices that lead to profitability increases.
- Helping Illinois Farmers Reap the Benefits
In Illinois, AFT has worked with the Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) and several agricultural, environmental and conservation organizations to develop a crop insurance premium discount program for cover crops. For two years in a row, the Illinois Legislature has approved a new line item in the IDOA budget for $300,000 to fund a crop insurance premium discount program for cover crops. Same as last year, IDOA is supporting 50,000 acres of cover crops with this year’s funding.
In addition to the crop insurance premium program, AFT is also supporting the development of carbon markets for Illinois farmers, estimating more than $150 million dollars in market value statewide could be available, once the markets are stood up. It is also supporting nutrient management through webinars that will focus on managing phosphorus in conservation cropping systems. Presentations will highlight current research and management tips for farmers and their advisors on cover crops and other best management practices that reduce non-point source phosphorus loading in Illinois. Participants will be offered 1.5 hours of Continuing Education Credits in nutrient management.
You can get involved with American Farmland Trust’s work to advance conservation-minded farming practices, empower existing farmers and ranchers to stay in business, attract and support the next generation of farmers and keep American farmland in production here:
