Wildfires to Water Quality: State Leaders Discuss Agricultural Adversity
In honor of National Ag Day (March 22), the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) hosted a discussion with state leaders to share how their state is “Growing a Climate for Tomorrow”—a theme the USDA is celebrating on the National Mall this week.
Ted McKinney, NASDA CEO, led the diverse climate conversation with an equally diverse list of speakers. From wildfires to water quality, each corner of the nation spoke to their state’s agricultural adversity, and their work in overcoming it.
To the Northeast
“Decades ago, we embarked on moves towards sustainability and environmental stewardship,” says NASDA Commissioner Richard Ball. “Our efforts began for environmental stewardship in water quality and air quality. Now, we transfer that into our climate thinking.”
Ball says New York has one of the toughest climate action programs in the country, which has translated into a Climate Action Council along with an Ag and Forestry Panel. He says these members hail from different sectors of the industry—spanning from the environmental side, farm side to research side—to achieve a consensus on how agriculture can be part of the climate solution.
To the Midwest
From the federal to local level, Director of Indiana DOA, Bruce Keller says his state has a formalized partnership to work together on conservation in soil and water quality, while improving soil health. Keller says the state’s sustainability success is attributed to a multi-faceted approach.
“Our conservation partnerships are working great because you’re getting a buy in from the federal level, clear to the local level, says Keller “It allows us to look for grants and programs from non-governmental organizations. When folks know what the cooperation coordination is, it really opens their eyes that we’re not working totally in silos—they see that it does work.”
To the West
Western states like Wyoming are more focused on their ranchers because “they’re the ones that were there first, they’re still there now and they’ll be the last ones there—even after all the industrial development,” according to Doug Miyamoto, Wyoming DOA director.
To keep ranches top-of-mind, Miyamoto says Wyoming DOA is actively addressing climate change through predatory animals and invasive plant species—like cheatgrass—for drought and wildfire resilience.
“I always tell all the folks at the Wyoming Department of Agriculture we have two primary jobs: The first one is to make sure that farmers keep farming and ranchers keep ranching. And the second one is we always have to advocate for solid environmental stewardship. And we all know what that is already, we just need to implement it to the highest degree that we can,” he says.
To the South
Producing roughly 50% of the nation’s rice crop, water quality drove Arkansas Secretary of Agriculture Wes Wade’s time on the National Ag Day panel.
Wade says Arkansas has seen a “dedicated” effort to switch from groundwater to surface water through numerous, large-scale projects.
“Individual producers recognize that they can conserve water on their own, voluntarily,” says Wade. “Our producers say they don’t need someone to mandate their water. They want to figure it out themselves to make water quality and availability better for themselves, their families, neighbors and community—for future generations of the state, as a whole.”
To hear more on National Ag Day, listen here.
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