This edition of the Daugherty Water for Food podcast features a discussion with Randall Ritzema, Tika Gurung, and Nick Brozović on the Melting Cryosphere and Food & Water Security. A 2023 report called Water, ice, society, and ecosystems in the Hindu Kush Himalaya: An Outlook (HI-WISE), published by the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), was an urgent call …
Climate Smart Ag Partnerships at ASTA FCSC
With governments and corporations increasingly leading with climate-smart and sustainability initiatives, there is a role for the seed industry to play. At the American Seed Trade Association’s Field Crop Seed Convention last week, former USDA NRCS Chief Bruce Knight with Strategic Conservation Solutions led a panel on the topic with Ben West, Farmers for Soil Health, and Jared Knock, South …
Secretary Vilsack Announces More IRA Funding
USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack stopped briefly at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur, Illinois Wednesday to award $266 million in loans and grants for agriculture producers and rural small businesses to make investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency improvements, made possible in part by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). Vilsack used a white board to talk about funding under …
USDA Under Secretary Discusses Climate Strategies
USDA Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation Robert Bonnie spent an hour with members of the American Coalition for Ethanol last week, answering questions on various climate and conservation topics and stressing the administration’s support for biofuels. “I hope you know this administration has a strong commitment to ethanol,” Bonnie began. “There’s a lot of alignment between things that …
USDA to Invest $1 Billion in Climate Smart Commodities
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack was in Jefferson City, Missouri yesterday to announce $1 billion in partnerships to support America’s climate-smart farmers, ranchers and forest landowners. The new Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities opportunity will finance pilot projects that create market opportunities for U.S. agricultural and forestry products that use climate-smart practices and include innovative, cost-effective ways to measure and verify greenhouse …
USDA Grants Include Climate Smart Ag for Low Carbon Fuel
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest nearly $75 million for 15 partner-led projects to address natural resource concerns on private lands. The projects include a $7.5 million investment in the American Coalition for Ethanol (ACE)-led Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) project to secure farmers premier access to low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) markets based on their adoption of …
Report Shows How U.S. Farmers Can Fight Climate Change
A new report commissioned by Farm Journal Foundation finds U.S. farmers have the potential to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and become part of the global solution to climate change. U.S. agriculture contributes about 10% of the total greenhouse gas emissions of the entire national economy, but farmers could greatly reduce those emissions if they were provided with the …
USDA Expands CRP and Funds Rural Infrastructure
As President Biden opened a two-day virtual climate summit on Earth Day, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack discussed the role USDA and agriculture will play in the administration goal calling for U.S. emissions to be 50% to 52% lower in 2030 compared to 2005. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced USDA will open enrollment in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) …
Happy Earth Day – Take a Virtual Farm Tour
The Global Farmer Network has 5 new virtual farm tours that let you see practices GFN farmers are putting in place to protect and enhance the environment here on this Earth Day 2021. There are tours of farmers from the United States, New Zealand, India, Uruguay and the United Kingdom. Make plans to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, 2021 …
Daugherty Water for Food Podcast – Episode 7
This episode of the Daugherty Water for Food podcast features Nebraska state climatologist Martha Shulski for a discussion on the impact of climate change on society and the environment and how to talk about it. Shulski is also a DWFI Faculty Fellow, associate professor of Applied Climate Science at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, director of the Nebraska State Climate Office …