The resilience of the U.S. food supply to disasters has become even more important in the time of climate change.

Nebraska farmers, like others, are seeing different weather extremes, from droughts to flooding, and research suggests more diversified crop rotations offer better resilience against both problems. It's part of a larger approach known as regenerative agriculture.

Josh Ewing, director of the Rural Climate Partnership, knows the realities of climate-induced catastrophe firsthand, as his parents' ranch and home in the Nebraska panhandle was destroyed in a 15,000-acre wildfire this summer. Ewing said his group's continued focus is on making resilience a priority.

"One of our major funding priorities is to support farmers in having better soil," Ewing explained. "Soil that can capture carbon and soil that can make their farms more resilient to disasters. Like floods, for example; if you've got row crops and a flood comes, you're much more likely to lose a lot of that soil than if you are doing some regenerative agriculture."

Diversified crop rotation also help the soil to retain moisture, which minimizes crop loss during droughts. Forty percent of the land in the U.S. is farmland, and at over 900 million acres, experts say farming practices have an outsized impact on soil and climate.

In recent decades, industrial-scale agriculture has become the dominant model of farming, with farmers buying fertilizer and pesticides from large agribusiness corporations. In Ewing's view, the future needs to be more like the past.

"Some of the things that we are working to support, are changing agricultural practices to get back to," Ewing noted. "For example, using animals in concert with crops so that you have natural fertilization processes happening, and we're not so reliant on big chemical inputs, fossil fuels, and inputs from other nations."

The Inflation Reduction Act includes nearly $20 billion to help farmers develop more climate-friendly practices to reduce nitrogen loss and sequester carbon in the soil. While regenerative agriculture was not named in the bill, Ewing sees the techniques as part of the effort to improve the economic viability of farms.

"Farmers are finding it harder and harder making a living on their land without significant subsidies, because a lot of their profits are eaten up going into these large corporate enterprises," Ewing emphasized. "Whereas you talk about folks that are doing regenerative; they have very few costs, other than their own hard work and labor."

On Tuesday, 20 Colorado officials sent a letter to the state's congressional delegation protesting six cuts to public lands management in the new tax and spending bill signed into law by President Donald Trump.

John Clark, mayor of Ridgway, said the elimination of river and climate data programs, which are essential to managing the Colorado River Basin and forecasting drought, will put additional burdens on food producers.

"If our farmers and ranchers don't have accurate data about exactly what the situation is with the snow pack and what's happening with the climate, how can they be prepared for each growing season?" Clark asked.

Five active wildfires have burned more than 22,000 acres on Colorado's Western Slope. The letter urged state representatives to reject any additional cuts to the U.S. Forest Service's Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program or other mitigation efforts. Republicans have argued cutting the size of government is necessary to eliminate waste, fraud and expenditures they claim are unsustainable.

Officials are also calling out a provision in the new law they believe undermines local decision-making by forcing oil and gas leasing on public lands. In addition, the law creates new barriers for clean energy leases on public lands, a move Clark worries will lead to the loss of good-paying jobs.

"If we discourage clean energy on public lands, that's going to severely impact our alternative energy workforce," Clark pointed out. "If we can't do wind and solar on public lands, it disincentivizes clean energy all across the state."

Officials are also asking members of Congress to fully fund the National Park Service to ensure proper staffing and maintenance. Clark argued standing up for lands owned by all Americans is essential to preserving Colorado's iconic natural landscapes and rural economies.

"Our economy is hugely dependent on people coming in to visit us and eat at our restaurants and experience these beautiful outdoor environments," Clark emphasized.


get more stories like this via email

A Wisconsin nonprofit is working with farmers in Southeast Wisconsin to educate communities about the importance of agroforestry, with plans to establish its first urban site in Milwaukee.

The Michael Fields Agricultural Institute has planted more than 400 trees across three sites this year, in partnership with the Savannah Institute. The sites include a community garden and two farms.

Iris Lee, owner of Lee Hemp Farms in Burlington, said agroforestry collaboration is breathing life back into her nearly 50-year-old organic family farm.

"You plant and design things that go together," Lee explained. "That will help not only humans but the animals and nature and bugs."

Agroforestry integrates trees, shrubs and perennial plants into crop and livestock systems. Lee noted one of the project's goals is to raise awareness of the practices and their larger connection to food systems, climate change and communities. The sites will also be used for educational demonstrations.

Community members and project participants helped Lee plant a trail of more than 100 trees in April, from hazelnut and elderberry, to Juneberry and pawpaw trees. They have already grown two to three feet, and she anticipates the berry trees will yield results first. Lee added she even loves talking to her trees and emphasized the physical and mental health benefits of agroforestry.

"Growing something is therapeutic," Lee observed. "To be one with nature -- meaning you know where things come from that you put in your body -- anybody that is concerned about the food and their health, to grow something is to build upon a better human being."

Nolan Burkard, research technician for the nonprofit Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, said diversifying food systems in this way is a growing area of interest for small farmers. Through agroforestry, they can also improve soil health and local climate resilience.

Burkard emphasized it requires long-term investment to get there.

"It takes quite a while for trees to grow up and start fruiting or provide their benefit," Burkard acknowledged. "That's why this project is so important because it is such an investment to plant trees."

Burkard added the institute is accepting applications until July 26 for an urban site in Milwaukee. The selected site will receive $15,000 and planning support to aid in designing it.

Despite the elimination of a handful of alternative energy tax incentives in the new federal budget, Iowa corn farmers will benefit from one that was extended.

Tax breaks and rebates encouraging investment in solar and wind power in Iowa were eliminated in the federal spending plan. However, the Trump administration extended an incentive enabling farmers in Iowa to produce more corn. The Hawkeye State is the nation's top corn producer, much of which is used to produce ethanol.

Chris Bliley, senior vice president of regulatory affairs for the biofuel trade organization Growth Energy, said grain-based fuels burn cleaner and are more environmentally friendly.

"The credit actually goes for production of lower carbon fuels that are used for transportation," Bliley explained. "It includes on-road fuels as well as sustainable aviation fuel. And so, the lower in carbon, the higher the credit."

The Trump administration has made efforts to extract more fossil fuels, which it said will move the U.S. toward energy independence.

Lawmakers in Iowa and neighboring Midwest states have introduced their own tax incentives for biodegradable jet fuel, which Bliley noted will create economic benefits for ag producers.

"To remain competitive, plants in Iowa and Nebraska and throughout the Midwest are investing in some of these key projects to lower their carbon intensity," Bliley observed.

The commercial airline industry is aiming for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, according to the International Air Transport Association, which could continue to benefit Iowa farmers who provide corn for ethanol production.


get more stories like this via email