Partnerships important to help farmers adopt sustainable practice

CHICAGO — Resiliency is important for farmers to leverage resources and technology to make their operations sustainable for future generations.

“As we look to all the changes happening in climate, farmers have to be resilient to adapt to these changes,” said Tim Rendall, domestic markets manager for the Illinois Soybean Association.

“Farming has always been about sustainability — it’s at the heart of everything a farmer does,” said Tim Brennan, vice president for external relations at Farm Foundation.

“One of the most exciting and biggest opportunities in innovation is the CRISPR technology which applies to organic and conventional crops,” said Brennan during a panel discussion at the Tomorrow’s Harvest Food and Agriculture Sustainability Forum, hosted by the Chicagoland Food and Beverage Network.

“CRISPR provides the ability to use genes that exist in a plant to use less nitrogen, less water, to require less sunlight or prevent itself from becoming susceptible to disease or insect infestation,” Brennan said.

“We’re growing plants in an indoor facility in Ohio with no light,” he said. “One of the biggest problems with indoor growing is the light bill and these plants are producing fruits and vegetables because of CRISPR technology.”

This technology is not only for plant science, but also animal science.

“We lose $2.8 billion a year in piglet death because of scours,” Brennan said. “Now using CRISPR technology we can eradicate scours and save those piglets and a huge amount of resources in the industry.”

Farmers are innovators. However, changing production practices could be costly for their operations.

“It’s a risky proposition if you’re asking them to add production costs without adding premiums or guarantees it will help their bottom line,” Rendall said.

“One of the greatest opportunities we have for sustainable agriculture is growing Illinois native crops and hazelnuts are a great example,” Brennan said. “Hazelnuts grow easily, they don’t have natural enemies and they’re easy to harvest because the bushes don’t get taller than 7 feet.”

Plus, Illinois is one of the biggest candy-making states in America that uses a large amount of hazelnuts, the Farm Foundation spokesman said.

“Hazelnuts are brought from Turkey and they are not grown under sustainable circumstances,” Brennan said. “I can grow all the hazelnuts I can fit on my farm, but have no one to sell them to because there’s no marketplace for them, no storage and no processing facilities.”

“If the economics say producing this way is better, farmers will adapt and respond to the market incentives,” Rendall said. “If we’re talking about regenerative agriculture programs, farmers need a voice in how it can be done because it looks very different for each producer — you cannot create a program for one size fits all and expect it to work.”

A lot of corn and soybean production today is driven by global markets.

“Sixty percent of soybeans grown in Illinois is for export markets,” Rendall said. “For those buyers, price is the main consideration, so if you can’t sell it at a cheaper price, they’re going to your competitors, so finding ways to differentiate your product is very important.”

“The dairy industry has a variety of opportunities to invest in practices and technologies to reduce carbon, improve soil health and water quality,” said Eric Hassel, vice president of sustainability standards, measurement and reporting for the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.

“Dairy is a low-margin business, so the costs can’t be on the farmer alone,” he said. “We need financial models that incentivize the adoption of these practices and having farmers at the table driving the design of the program is critical.”

Hassel would like to see a one-stop shop for each agricultural commodity for carbon credits.

“There is confusion on how to get involved, who to talk to and if I should take this deal or that deal,” he said. “A sector-wide environmental attribute marketplace with transparent standards and safeguards would alleviate confusion and pressure for dairy farmers to get started.”

“I tell farmers don’t sign anything until you understand the contracts and who pays for it,” said Ying Wang, science director for U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action. “You need to understand the carbon credits, how they are measured, reported and the verification.”

“It is very challenging in countries where there’s not a strong regulatory framework,” said Emily Heaton, professor of regenerative agriculture in the Department of Crop Sciences at the University of Illinois.

“One of the best things we can do is advocate for science-based regulations to have confidence in our system,” she said. “Most farmers who are following practices for the right way to store carbon in the soil and protect the water don’t have money for marketing.”

In addition, Heaton said, consumers should not have to determine if a food company has done the right thing.

“It is very difficult to find good information if you don’t know your farmer,” she said.

Rendall highlighted the importance of starting to make changes in the near future.

“We are six harvests away from 2030 and 26 harvests away from 2050, so that’s not a lot of time for farmers to make huge production changes,” Rendall said.

“If you want them to make changes, we need to start paying incentives to make those changes,” he said. “We can’t just snap our fingers and next year they are 100% sustainable — it takes time to change how they operate.”