Building trust in food begins with empowering farmers through one of the largest and most diverse conservation- and sustainability-focused public-private partnerships in our nation’s history: America’s Conservation Ag Movement. To find the latest news and resources related to the Movement, visit AgWeb.com/ACAM.
With an early harvest and plenty of days for fieldwork, 2020 has been an atypical start to winter for Chase Dewitz. The central North Dakota farmer is spending plenty of time in the tractor thinking about maximizing returns and minimizing risk across 34,000 acres and nearly 1,500 cow/calf pairs.
For the last decade he’s used conservation practices such as no-till and variable rate fertilizer applications. Recently he has dived into using rye as a cover crop.
“I’ve probably tried just about every way of intercrop seeding there is,” Dewitz says. “This fall I seeded a significant amount of rye including quite a bit into soybean ground or in fields that had soil health issues.”
Real-World ROI
While the logistics of cover crops has taken time to untangle, the benefits are clear. They provide winter grazing for Dewitz’s cattle, spring growth can be baled or chopped for feed and it helps on weed control during spring planting.
“From a weed control standpoint, the rye has definitely paid for itself,” he says. “We’re cutting out at least one pass out of all of these fields.”
The benefits of conservation agriculture is enticing others to consider it as a risk management tool. Farmers have an opportunity to leverage these practices with their lenders, says Maggie Monast, director for working lands programs with the Environmental Defense Fund.
“The work we’ve been doing is with agricultural accountants, farmers and others to understand the financial impacts of conservation agriculture,” Monast says. “We have made huge strides in figuring out how to quantify that value. Farmers who do practices to help build the health of the soil or add diversity will ultimately see it contribute to their financial resilience.”
Mitigate Weather Impacts
While Mother Nature will always have the last say, certain practices can smooth her ebbs and flows.
“It’s the variability in season that ultimately determines the success of the crop,” says Eric Snodgrass, principal atmospheric scientist with Nutrien Ag Solutions.
For example, data from NOAA shows during the past 70 years, Illinois has seen an increase of 5" of rainfall during the growing season. Since 1981, daily rainfall events exceeding 2" in the “I” states have almost tripled in frequency.
These significant rainfall events have impacted spring planting by reducing the days suitable to field work by as many as five days. As a result, Snodgrass says, soil health and soil tilth are critical to ensure crop success in a wide range of weather scenarios.
Holistic Benefits to Animals
For centuries, farmers have understood healthy animals are good for business.
“As animals are healthier, they tend to be more efficient and we tend to have reduced environmental impacts per unit of meat, milk or egg production,” says Sarah Place, chief sustainability officer with Elanco Animal Health. “Globally, up to 20% of production is actually lost because of animal disease.”
Elanco’s goal is to help farmers quantify this point through its “Healthy Purpose” initiative. With a focus on animal health, the efficiency gains will help ease financial losses for farmers and consumers.
Place says studies have shown in the past 40 years farmers and ranchers can produce 30% more beef with the same number of animals.
“Our commitment is by 2030 we’re going to improve animal protein availability by 57 million people’s annual protein requirements and at the same time be able to avoid 21 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions,” she says.
Sustainability = Transparency
Conservation practices must make agronomic sense on the farm, and the marketplace must appreciate — and pay — for them.
While most farmers do some conservation practice on their operation, nearly half of farmers say the end consumer has no right to know what happens on their farm, according to research from the Sustainability Consortium.
While farmers value privacy, consumers are serious about transparency, which is influencing the companies that sell to them, says Christy Slay, senior director of science and research applications at the Sustainability Consortium.
“Retailers, food companies and restaurants are under tremendous pressure from their customers and investors, who want to know if you’re managing their supply chain in a sustainable way,” Slay says. “That means a company has to ask the farmer what’s happening on the farm, and it’s becoming a cost of doing business.”
Ultimately, there isn’t just production or cost risks to consider. There is a demand risk.
“Farmers and growers need sharable digital records so they can continue to be part of the supply chain,” Slay says. “Eventually there will be market implications and farmers are putting their business at risk by not being transparent.”
Widespread Benefits
Back in North Dakota, Dewitz tries to be as transparent as possible while easing his farming risks.
“I probably don’t consider myself a conservationist because I’m not doing it for a certain program,” Dewitz says. “I’m just doing it on my own because there’s been a financial incentive to do it.”
Farmers Talk Conservation
Trust In Food and The Sustainability Consortium recently surveyed U.S. farmers on their perceptions of data collection and sharing. Key findings include:
74% of farmers implement conservation agriculture practices because they believe it is the right thing to do for the environment.
61% use conservation practices to ensure they pass on a profitable and viable farming operation to the next generation.
49% of farmers do not believe their customer has a right to know how they manage their farm.
62% report not using data collection and sharing software during the 2019 season.
71% of farmers say their primary ag adviser or consultant has never suggested increasing on-farm data collection, data sharing or both.
Source: “Farmer Perspectives On Data” report based on responses by nearly 400 farmers in more than 40 states.
