Adoption of sustainable-farming practices is growing, but penetration remains low; they seek more operational and financial support. Sustainable-farming practices are necessary to meet decarbonization goals and broader environmental targets. Agriculture accounts for nearly a quarter of global emissions, and it was identified as the industry that contributes the most to exceeding planetary boundaries in McKinsey’s 2022 report Nature in the balance. However, average 2021–22 global finance flows for agriculture were only $43 billion, compared with $515 billion for energy systems and $336 billion for transport. And adoption of sustainable-farming practices is not increasing fast enough to meet the sustainability goals of food processors and consumer goods companies. While this is a good report with useful statistics, absent in the consideration is the need to provide access to markets. The magic bullet here is obvious; we want farmers to provide ecosystem services by enriching their soils back to life. Healthy soils yield healthy nutrient rich crops. Why not find a way to pay farmers for value differentiated crops, create the financial incentives to reward the outcomes we seek? To operationalize such a shift will require changes in the supply chain that are disruptive to established business models, yet unavoidable. The longer this transition takes, the more difficult it will get. https://lnkd.in/g7M5muwM
Michael Twining
2mo
As someone who advises many progressive farmers, I believe that we tend to make things more complicated than they need to be. By focusing on the carbon cycle and reducing or sequestering carbon emissions, we can start a conversation at the farm level about soil health, which can create opportunities for measurable outcomes beyond just yield that farmers can be compensated for. As a society, there is an awesome opportunity to start thinking about paying farmers for the environmental outcomes they achieve. Currently, we only pay them for yield. This could be accomplished with a uniform and defined consumer-facing food label. It's not much more complicated than that. If stakeholders in the industry are willing to work together to achieve incremental improvements over large areas of land, we can make significant progress on millions of acres. In the end, it's important to remember that perfection is the enemy of progress, and this will always be a journey rather than a destination.
Jim Johnson
2mo
Farms operate in a complex stakeholder ecosystem. Every group, institution or system within the ecosystem can contribute to or harm sustainability and regeneration. Agronomists play a major role in farmers decision-making. What are the trends among agronomists and agronomist associations with respect to understanding and recommending sustainable practices?
President
2moThe article states farmers are aware of the benefits of sustainable farming practices - that is promising - but adoption is low. As society considers the transition to a more sustainable future, we have a tendency to wish big, but not think big. On our farm operation we produce many positive externalities and many neighboring farms have zero costs for the negative externalities they produce. I think this scenario is understood by most in this space. Wishing big is about hoping this doesn’t matter. Thinking big is about how to internalize the positive externalities so those that generate these economic benefits prosper, expand their operations, and hence, indirectly motivate other farm managers to seek out these newly recognized economic values. Government programs certainly can put their thumb on the “good side” of the scale, but it is wishful thinking that government programs only put their thumb on the one side. It is as if we give voice to the urgency of our situation, but then lack the big thinking required to guide the transition at the foundational level where it is ultimately required.