Climate change has been a politically fraught topic in farm country for decades
Food and agriculture companies are scrambling to meet consumer demands for more sustainably grown food. A slew of major food-makers including Danone, General Mills and PepsiCo have made major commitments to slash their greenhouse gas emissions and work on soil-health initiatives. Corporate giants including McDonald’s and Walmart remain committed to meeting the goals of the Paris Climate accord even as the Trump administration formally withdraws from the pact.
Bowling thinks the tug-of-war over water quality has made Maryland farmers more open to talking about climate issues. After all the stress about state mandates, farmers are now being paid to help solve the problem and they’re getting credit for all the environmental practices they’ve voluntarily adopted.
The mighty American Farm Bureau Federation, which boasts nearly 6 million members, even promoted the video, with a guest post from Erin Fitzgerald, CEO of the U.S. Farmers and Ranchers Alliance: “U.S. farmers and ranchers are signaling a change – we have to stop talking and start taking action, because time is of the essence,” she wrote.
In Iowa, for example, the state farm bureau is not diving headlong into the climate change discussion, but dipping its toes in it. As Gaesser explained it: “It’s a slow process there. That big ship takes a long time to turn.” Still, climate change is a politically toxic issue in the Cornhusker State. The Nebraska Legislature has repeatedlyWhen she arrived to give her talk to farm leaders in early August, Shulski immediately noticed that there was no flooring in the conference center where they were meeting in Kearney, Neb. — it had been ripped out after being damaged under several feet of water.
Kearney was at a fitting place to talk about how these extreme weather events fit into a broader pattern of change. The area had already flooded twice in the last few months. When the city The use of cover crops has grown considerably in the U.S. over the past several years. The number of acres utilizing cover crops jumped nearly
Agriculture may actually be offering Nebraska a politically palatable way to promote adaptation to climate change without using any such terms. The legislature appears to have little interest in adopting a climate plan, but lawmakers did pass a bill earlier this year to establish a Healthy Soils Task Force, which will make recommendations on how to improve soil health across the state. Nebraska currently lags far behind most other farm states in terms of cover crop adoption, for example.
Down in Florida, ag leaders have been shocked at how quickly the conversation on climate change and agriculture has turned around in the state just in the past year. But agriculture has recently been under fire in Florida in a way that it hasn’t been in years. Red tide and other toxic algae blooms have plagued the states waters, with devastating consequences for marine life, recreational fishermen and coastal residents. With many pointing the finger at farmers across the state for contributing to an overload of nutrients in the state’s waters, it’s created a bit of an opening to get farmers and ranchers to be more proactive on environmental issues.
sharing their experiences with extreme weather events and also featured some presentations from University of Florida scientists about weather patterns and the consequences of sea-level rise and rapid change in Florida. For many in the room, it was the first time they’d ever discussed climate change in a professional setting. It simply wasn’t something you’d find at a farm bureau or run of the mill commodity group meeting.
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