What does the commitment to sustainable development in the agricultural industry mean for farmers?

According to successful agricultural media reports in the United States, Steve Reinhard, a farmer from Bicelles, Ohio, has been committed to improving his agricultural production and farming practices for over a decade.

He shifted from comprehensive fertilization to more precise fertilization methods, changed the timing of fertilization, and switched to a no till sowing system.

Sustainability has always influenced our daily decisions, "Reinhard said. When we talk about sustainable development, we always focus on three different forms of sustainable development. We not only have an environmental impact, but also affect financial sustainability and how we pass on the farm to the next generation

With Reinhard's independent change in his operational approach, discussions on sustainable development have become mainstream. Criticism of greenhouse gas emissions and resource use has prompted many companies to reflect on their environmental policies.

Agriculture is no exception. The entire agricultural commodity group in the industry has fulfilled its commitment to sustainable development, but the ways to achieve these goals and their impact on farmers are still unclear.

Agricultural greenhouse gas emissions have increased by 14% in 20 years

What commitments have been made?

Although the commitments of agricultural commodity groups vary greatly, many focus on improving efficiency.

Context Network partner Matt Sutton Vermeulen said, "There are over 500 different definitions of sustainability, but many of them can be attributed to doing more with less in different ways

In the entire industry, commitments to reduce soil erosion, land use impacts, and greenhouse gas emissions are common.

Some groups echo the goals of broader industry organizations. For groups focused on crops, the Sustainable Agriculture Alliance Field to Market established in 2006 paved the way, while many animal husbandry focused groups have turned their attention to meat research institutes.

As the goals develop, the group also collaborates with university researchers and farmer representatives to determine reasonable and achievable objectives.

Why make a commitment?

Although sustainable change is a natural thing for many farmers, formal commitments and goals within the agricultural industry are quite fresh. As sustainable development became well-known in the early 2000s, corporate investors also took note of it.

These investor groups are studying the supply chain and identifying the risks associated with their investments, "Sutton Vermulan said. Since then, the discipline of thinking about the supply chain footprint has become even more important

With the increasingly serious environmental problems, agriculture is often easily scapegoated. Formal commitments help provide industry groups with armor to resist attacks from environmental groups and related consumers.

Overall, agriculture has been truly demonized in this field, "said Jacqui Fatka, Chief Analyst at CoBank

I think [industry groups] realize that this is an opportunity to showcase what we are doing. Sitting at a table is better than sitting at a table

Nowadays, continuous improvement has also driven market sales. Consumer demand for sustainable food and transparent supply chains continues to grow, paving the way for value-added opportunities.

For organizations such as the United Soybean Council (USB), dedicated commitments can expand the market for farmers.

We are still in the development stage, but this is actually about creating a market where farmers can openly negotiate with business organizations that want sustainable indicators, "said Jack Cornell, Director of Sustainable Supply at USB.

Compulsory improvement and voluntary improvement

Domestic agriculture in the United States is not the only market facing new demands for sustainable development. Although the United States focuses on voluntary improvement methods, regulatory organizations such as the European Union have established more mandatory requirements.

Although these may be easier to implement and track, they often do not leave room for the flexibility required for agriculture.

Sean Arians, Vice President of Sustainable Production at the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA), said, "Voluntary change enables farmers to make the right business decisions based on their logistics, environment, geographic location, and equipment." "Linking to regulations that are not truly feasible may bring more headaches than ideal outcomes or environmental impacts

How to fulfill commitments?

Although agricultural commodity groups operate for farmers, they do not own land or produce crops. This raises a question, how are their commitments and goals achieved?

In most cases, this depends on strategic investments in farmer research and projects. Farmers promoting soil health is an example. The collaboration between USB, NCGA, and the National Pork Council is committed to promoting farmers' adoption of soil health practices through education and financial support.

Reinhard stated that formal plans such as farmer soil health will reduce obstacles to implementing changes.

When you shift from traditional agricultural thinking to adopting protective measures, there is a learning curve, "Reinhard said. If you can offset some of the learning curve in terms of economy or information, I think it will help to involve more people in the adoption phase, thereby bringing change to their farms

Reinhard said that these plans also reward adaptation to new practices, keeping farmers' interest and enthusiasm for sustainable development.

Tracking Change

Evaluating and quantifying improvements on thousands of farms requires collecting a large amount of data. To achieve this goal, NCGA utilized industry partners and existing programs.

Arians from NCGA stated, "We are using indicators from the field to the market to help us assess progress by 2025." "We also plan to update our sustainability report to include other projects beyond field to market and farmer soil health." Although the increase in demand for quantifiable progress may leave farmers feeling behind, looking back, we can see how far the industry has come.

Emily Ellis, Communication and Content Manager of the Animal Agriculture Alliance, said, "The American animal agriculture community has been paying attention to sustainable development and environmental management long before it became a major topic for media, policy makers, and global leaders

An example is the beef industry. According to a white paper produced by several meat industry groups, from 1961 to 2019, the production of each head of beef increased by 66%, while the emissions per pound of beef decreased by 40%.

Livestock producers are not the only ones fulfilling their responsibilities. According to the US Department of Agriculture, conservation efforts have reduced farmland erosion by 34%.

The formal commitment of the commodity group makes new and existing efforts in agriculture a part of better solutions to climate issues.

Ellis said, "These commitments are actually meant to show the public that despite the significant progress (in the industry) has made so far, it is still committed to continuing this progress in the future." "Sustainable development is not the end; it is the end." This is the goal that farmers and ranchers continue to strive for

What's next?

As the deadline for the first group approaches, the bulk agricultural commodity group is confident in achieving its goals. If they don't do this, the risk of not meeting the requirements is very small.

We know we are moving in the right direction, "said Arians. If the output does not fully reach the level we want, but is better than when we made our first commitment, we need to celebrate the victory of agriculture and consumers.

Author: Li Shechao

Source: Agricultural Machinery News Network