WASHINGTON — Farmers and scientists at Wednesday’s hearing emphasized the need for members of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture to support regenerative agriculture practices in the upcoming farm bill to protect topsoil.
U.S. House Agriculture Committee Chairman David Scott said he organized the hearing to discuss how policymakers and the Department of Agriculture can aid farmers implement regenerative agriculture practices. This investment in soil health will reduce climate change and prevent food shortages, the Georgia Democrat said.
Regenerative agriculture includes farming and grazing practices that focus on rebuilding organic matter in topsoil, restoring degraded soil biodiversity, and improving the water cycle. They all mitigate climate change by growing plants that capture carbon dioxide and transfer it to the soil.
“Conventional farming models are degrading America’s soil,” said Jeff Moyer, chief executive of the Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. Rodale was a pioneer of organic farming.
About 95% of food is grown from topsoil, which is the most essential component of food systems. If soil is unable to filter water and adsorb carbon, it will make it harder for farmers to grow the food they need to feed people, creating a food crisis. Soil is eroding all over the world 10 up to 40 times faster than it can be replaced.
Moyer said that one-third of the world’s soil has already been degraded and that if “current rates of land degradation continue, all of the world’s topsoil could be destroyed within 60 years.”
https://www.penncapital-star.com/blog/us-house-ag-panel-mulls-safety-net-changes-in-farm-bill-amid-soaring-costs/
“The beginning of our food supply chain is the Earth, and we are losing a real carbon component,” Scott said, adding that it is essential to get the carbon back into the soil. Coal is the main source of energy for plants.
Test conducted in February by the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that “the Midwest has lost approximately 57.6 billion tons of topsoil since farmers began farming 160 years ago.”
“Historical erosion rates exceed predictions of today’s erosion rates based on national soil erosion assessments and levels considered tolerable by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” the report said.
USDA project financing
The Biden administration has committed as much as $3 billion to projects that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon dioxide in agriculture. on Wednesday, USDA announced expanding the Climate Smart Goods Partnership to finance environmental programs.
Scott said the documentary titled “Kiss the ground”, helped open his eyes to the need to invest in regenerative agriculture.
“This is how we will make sure we have food security,” he said.
Republicans on the committee emphasized that USDA programs based on regenerative agriculture should not become mandatory, and the top GOP lawmaker, U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-15, argued that “tying food policy to climate policy is harmful.” .
“Small farmers can’t always take the same risks as large farms when adopting new practices, and I certainly don’t want to be the person who comes to one of their farms and tells them that the federal government mandates compliance with the economic viability of their operations and sources maintenance due to climate change,” Thompson said.
He added that inflation is also a bigger problem for farmers and many farmers in his state are already practicing regenerative agriculture such as cover crops that aid prevent soil erosion and retain nutrients in the soil.
Rep. Jim Baird, an Indiana Republican, also questioned whether organic foods are more nutritious than those produced by standard agricultural practices.
Rebecca Larson, vice president of Western Sugar Cooperative in Denver, Colorado, said there is no solid research to prove that organic foods are more nutritious and that much of the rhetoric is “fear-based marketing.”
2019 study found that organic production can augment the content of some key nutrients in food, but most of the augment is moderate.
Rebuilding soil health
Rick Clark, a farmer in Williamsport, Indiana, said he has adopted regenerative agriculture practices on his 7,000-acre cattle operation over the past decade to rebuild soil health.
“We need to protect our soil because this will be the future of our agriculture,” he said.
Rep. Shontel Brown, an Ohio Democrat, asked Clark how Congress could support regenerative agriculture efforts.
Clark, the Regenerate America representative, urged lawmakers to consider increasing education and technical assistance for farmers looking to start using these practices, such as through the USDA’s Environmental Quality Incentives program. Regenerate America is a coalition of farmers and business partners lobbying for regenerative agriculture practices in the upcoming farm bill.
“The teaching and support group are extremely important here,” he said.
Clark said he believes these programs should remain voluntary, but the government should consider giving farmers who implement these practices the largest share of federal fringe benefits. He also called on lawmakers to strengthen crop insurance to aid reduce the risks faced by farmers implementing regenerative agriculture practices.
“This means strengthening crop insurance by removing outdated barriers and creating incentives that recognize the risk reduction benefits of soil health and conservation practices and reward farmers who implement these practices, such as a good driver discount on car insurance,” he said.
Moyer also urged lawmakers to reform crop insurance because current policies “discourage American farmers wanting to transition to and operate in a regenerative organic model.”
Clark added that the USDA should consider defining what regenerative agriculture means and these practices should be included on consumer labels. Clark added that many of the practices used in regenerative agriculture come from Indigenous farming practices, and said the commission should listen to those voices.
Economic benefits
Rep. North Carolina Democrat Alma Adams asked one of the witnesses, Steve Nygren of Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia, how regenerative agriculture could aid build the local economy.
Nygren is the founder and CEO of Serenbe, an urban village within the Chattahoochee Hills city limits that he and his wife created with a vision of a sustainable community.
“Soil health leads to economic vitality,” he said.
He stated that the shrinking of family farms has an economic impact on the local community. He said industrial agriculture would not support the local economy in the same way local farmers do.
“Think of soil health as a way to bring life back to small towns,” Nygren said.
He gave his condition as an example. In 1950, almost half of Georgian food came from the state, today it is almost a quarter. In Serenbe, 70 percent of the 40,000 acres are reserved for agriculture, and each week 75 families pay $34 for their weekly produce.
“If we bring small farms back to rural communities across the United States, not only will we have a local food system that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels to get it to the shelf, but it can go directly from farms to the consumer…that’s really it will stimulate the local economy,” he said.
