climate change
Farm bill should broaden climate mitigation, land stewardship, says FACA
When Congress writes the new farm bill, it should include incentives for farmers to adopt cover crops and purchase so-called precision agriculture equipment that more efficiently uses fertilizers and pesticides, said the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance on Wednesday.
Report offers options, from modest to controversial, to boost climate resilience in ag
The USDA has taken steps to encourage climate resilience in the farm sector, “but the department could do more,” said the Government Accountability Office on Thursday. In a report, it listed 13 options. Some were relatively modest, such as prioritizing climate resilience as part of conservation planning. Others were sure to be controversial, such as requiring farmers to adopt climate-resilient practices if they want premium subsidies on crop insurance.
Can Danone reach its climate goals without scaling back dairy farming?
Last month, the French food company Danone — owner of milk and yogurt brands like Activia and Horizon Organics — pledged to cut absolute methane emissions from its milk supply chains by 30 percent by 2030, making it the first major food company with a methane-specific emissions target. But reducing those methane emissions is far from simple. A “methane ambition” document released by Danone outlines a few options, although somewhat vaguely and without acknowledging some of the controversies surrounding them. <strong>No paywall</strong>
Carbon contracts don’t pay enough, large-farm survey finds
Comparatively few farmers are actively considering a carbon contract and the vast majority of them want a higher payment per acre than was being offered, said the monthly Ag Economy Barometer on Tuesday. Growers commonly said they were offered $10-$30 for each tonne of carbon sequestered through farming practices, a fraction of what they desire.
Extreme weather spells food insecurity for California farmworkers
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Congress encourages corporate sponsorship of USDA conservation programs
In the year-end Washington scramble to pass a government funding package, Congress snuck in a concerning new law that helps agribusiness corporations influence federal farm conservation policy. The SUSTAINS Act, first introduced by Republican leader of the House Agriculture Committee Glenn Thompson, allows corporations to give money to the Department of Agriculture to fund conservation programs. <strong>No paywall </strong>
Why are Pacific salmon shrinking?
Pacific salmon returning to waterways up and down North America are shrinking. As Miranda Weiss explains in FERN’s latest story, published with bioGraphic, the fish are growing more slowly at sea and, in many cases, returning to spawn younger and smaller than ever before. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
The ‘four corners’ of ag policy are back for the farm bill
House Democrats elected Georgia Rep. David Scott as their leader on the Agriculture Committee on Thursday for the congressional session that begins on Jan. 3. The vote means the “four corners” of the 2023 farm bill will be the same four lawmakers who led the House and Senate ag committees for the past two years.
Advocates looked for a ‘Paris moment’ at biodiversity talks. They think they got it.
Environmental groups at the UN Biodiversity Conference hoped for a "Paris moment" for nature — one that would bring the same urgency to the fight against biodiversity loss that now propels the one against climate change. As the conference came to a close in Montreal on Monday, there was the sense among many that they had largely succeeded, even if putting the deal into practice will require a huge effort. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
As ecological ‘triple threat’ looms, U.S. envoy urges action on biodiversity
Leaders must act to confront the "triple threat" of nature loss, climate change and pollution, said Monica Medina, the U.S. Special Envoy for Biodiversity and Water Resources, speaking Friday at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
How food became a weapon in America’s culture war
As the conversation around food got bigger in the ’90s, the stakes also got higher. Mounting evidence that the American way of eating was causing serious health problems spurred talk of reform. Rather than engage with reformers, however, the right simply broadened its culture war around food, politicizing the debate in ways that had significant consequences, not only for public health but, eventually, for the nation’s response to climate change.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
Smallest Florida orange crop in 85 years
Hurricanes Ian and Nicole pummeled Florida's orange groves this fall, resulting in the smallest orange crop since the 1937-38 season, according to a USDA estimate.
Critic of Biden climate program will head House Agriculture Committee
With a farm bill fight brewing over President Biden’s climate agenda, House Republican leaders named Pennsylvania Rep. Glenn Thompson chair of the House Agriculture Committee on Thursday. Thompson, who wants to expand farm supports, has accused the administration of acting as “a lone wolf” in setting up its $3.5 billion proposal to develop climate-smart commodities.
Spending on climate-smart projects hard to track, says UCS
Meat, dairy, and livestock are likely to get a larger share of the funding than other commodities in the USDA’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program, though it’s hard to track spending on the pilot projects, said a Union of Concerned Scientists blog on Thursday.
World faces ‘mass climate deaths from starvation,’ says anti-hunger leader
By disrupting food production, climate change threatens “death from starvation on a scale that no living human today has ever witnessed,” said the head of an anti-hunger foundation during a panel discussion of malnutrition on Wednesday.
With cover crops, the hype far outpaces the science
Cover crops have gained elite status as a way for farmers to fight climate change. But a closer look at the growing body of research raises questions about their ability to lower agriculture’s greenhouse gas emissions.
Study: In California’s Central Valley, repurposing farmland could save communities
As the water crisis in California’s Central Valley intensifies, farmers are fallowing fields, slashing jobs and hemorrhaging money. But according to a study released this week, some rural towns might be better off abandoning agriculture entirely and repurposing farmland to create better-paying jobs, ease water usage, decrease pollution and preserve landowners’ revenue streams.
Report: Research is key to thwarting climate impact on agriculture
The global demand for food is rising at the same time that climate change is affecting agricultural production, especially in developing nations, said a new report that calls for increased funding of agricultural research and extension programs to boost productivity on smallholder farms.