Navigating Climate-Smart Opportunity; Trust In Food Symposium; Syngenta and the Need for Bold Action

As I think about what to expect from this year’s Sustainable Ag Summit, I imagine there will be great celebration and excitement around the growth of conservation agriculture and investment programs--from the Climate-Smart Commodities Partnership program to new announcements from corporate giants like Walmart, General Mills and PepsiCo.

Of course, all these programs ultimately depend on the producer on the ground to undertake a change. So I’ll be spending time with the many producers attending the Summit, gauging how they are viewing these newest developments. Or if they’re even aware of these opportunities.

Early adopters, of course, are on board. But Field To Market’s National Indicators Reports highlighted the slow trajectory of change across U.S. ag landscapes. In the conservation community, there’s much talk about improved science and innovative financial incentives – both of which are necessary to underpin sustainability transformations. But what seems to be missing right now is purposeful engagement with producers in the middle – those that may be open to change, but are not inherent risk takers and don’t have the time or energy to navigate the confusing array of programs. In fact, our conversations with producers at Farm Journal tell us that most producers don’t know what a Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program is--let alone how to engage with one.

That’s why we are trialing a new solution with our Climate-Smart Opportunity Navigator, a simple and streamlined app that allows producers to quicky ascertain which Climate-Smart Commodities projects fit their geography, operation type and conservation goals. Producers can filter by crop, livestock and conservation practice or resource concern they wish to address to access a comprehensive list of matching projects.

The app is available free, to producers via Farm Journal’s AgWeb platform, where more than 650,000 monthly users are already seeking information, and can now be connected to the Climate-Smart Commodity project that meets their needs.

At the end of the day, it is that perspective – starting from a deep understanding of what a producer wants and needs – that we at Trust In Food believe must underpin the climate-smart agriculture economy if we are to see it scale, and endure at the rate that our planetary health requires. We’re centering this perspective with our own grant, and we’re helping dozens of partners do the same. We hope this new trial helps drive even faster acceleration.

This app is a test, and I am sure we will improve along the way. To that end, we’d be grateful for your feedback. Please take a minute to test drive our Beta version, and let me know what you think by reaching out at acole@farmjournal.com.

Yours in regenerative ag,
Amy Skoczlas Cole
President, Trust In Food™

By Jamie Sears Rawlings, manager of climate smart communications, Trust In Food: With more than two decades of experience spanning agricultural policy and agribusiness, Val Dolcini has seen, first-hand, the industry shifts that have placed us here at a time of greater understanding of climate and agricultural impacts and at a historic funding opportunity to accelerate the change needed to turn real action into measurable consequence.

While growers continue to rise to meet those demands every day, Dolcini says it is just the beginning.

By Kristin Leigh Lore, manager of climate smart content, Trust In Food: Making sense of evolving carbon markets and understanding their on-farm implications is not for the faint of heart. Mitchell Hora, CEO of Continuum Ag, seventh generation Iowa farmer and advocate for regenerative agriculture, has made it his mission to help producers navigate the carbon conversation.

Most recently, Hora and Trust In Food President, Amy Skoczlas Cole, talked shop about soil health and carbon label standards in Hora’s TopSoil series webinar, “Carbon Intensity, Taming the Wild West of Carbon.”

“The thing that you and I have gelled over is not just soil health—there’s lots of folks who are thinking about soil health. What drives me and I think drives you is, ‘How do we find really pragmatic solutions that help farmers on the journey to continuing to improve soil health, continuing to be stewards of the land, water and air?’” Skoczlas Cole said. “Where does the rubber hit the road and how do we actually figure out how we support producers along the way?”