Daybreak Nov. 9: Survey: Changing ag to address climate change not a priority for many

Consumers in 10 countries, including the United States, France, Germany, the UK, New Zealand and Singapore, don’t see it as a priority to make major changes to agriculture or their diets to address climate change, according to a new survey.
 
The poll, conducted by Kantar Public, was aimed at assessing the public’s attitudes on ways to address climate change. 
 
Only 18% of those polled rated reducing meat consumption as very important. “Radically changing our agricultural model” was rated as very important by only 24% of those polled. 
 
On the other hand, 57% of those surveyed said that reducing waste and increasing recycling was very important, followed by stopping deforestation at 54%. 
 
Keep in mind: The international climate conference in Glasgow is in its second and final week. 
 
Buttigieg says safety a concern with trucking age
 
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says an apprenticeship program in the just-passed infrastructure bill could help move some younger people into the trucking industry. However, he stopped short of backing a proposal to lower the minimum driving age to 18, as some GOP lawmakers have asked the administration to do.
 
A shortage of drivers has contributed to the supply chain disruptions that have posed a problem for agriculture and other industry sectors. 
 
“We want as many people to be qualified drivers as possible but never at the expense of safety,” Buttigieg said at a White House news conference Monday. 
 
Buttigieg went on to say that the ultimate solution is to make driving a truck more attractive financially. He noted that drivers often don’t get compensated for time they spend waiting at a port. “We need to respect and compensate them better than we have,” Buttigieg said. 
 
By the way: Buttigieg wouldn’t say when President Biden will sign the infrastructure bill into law. But when the bill signing does take place, “I’ll be there with bells on,” he said. 
 
New effort looks to get bankers involved in climate-smart ag
 
A new initiative is aiming to make it possible for banks to support farmers’ efforts to employ climate-smart practices.
The World Business Council for Sustainable Development announced the Banking for Impact on Climate in Agriculture (B4ICA) initiative in partnership with the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, the Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials, and the Environmental Defense Fund.

Rabobank, Santander and Barclays have signed on, as well as the Wells Fargo Foundation.

Banks seeking to decarbonize their portfolios need more information on the climate benefits of specific ag practices, a press release announcing the initiative said, citing “data gaps, accounting complexity, and low digitalization of GHG emissions across different regions and agriculture products and practices.”

“This is really focused on getting [banks] better information about sources of emissions, and allowing them to figure out how to work with farmers and communities to reduce those emissions,” said Maggie Monast, EDF’s senior director of climate-smart agriculture, finance and markets.

Good weather spurs Brazil soy planting

Brazilian farmers are sowing this year’s soybean crop at an accelerated pace thanks to ideal weather throughout much of the country’s top growing regions, according to AgRural, a consulting firm based in the state of Parana.

Planting in the country is already 67% complete as of last Thursday, says AgRural. That’s up from 52% a week earlier. Last year at this time, farmers had only planted 56% of the crop.

“In general, crops are developing well across the country, benefiting from favorable weather conditions,” the firm said, but noted that there is some apprehension about the lack of rain over the past couple weeks in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul. Analysts are also watching northern regions out of concerns for potentially too much precipitation.

FAO: Food supply chain surpassing farming in GHG emissions

Environmentalists generally point to farmers and ranchers as the most significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions in the ag and food sectors, but that’s likely to change soon, according to a new study released by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.

The rapidly expanding food supply chain and input manufacturing industries are “on course to overtake farming and land use” as the largest sources of GHG emissions, the FAO says.

“This has important repercussions for food-relevant national mitigation strategies, considering that until recently these have focused mainly on reductions of non-CO₂ within the farm gate and on CO₂ from land use change,” said FAO Chief Economist Maximo Torero in a statement.

Most federal employees not on board with vaccination mandate, survey finds
 
A survey of federal government workers found 53% “strongly or somewhat disagreed with the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for federal employees, while 44% strongly or somewhat agreed with it,” Government Executive reported Monday.
 
The publication said its research arm, the Government Business Council, received 3,186 survey responses, “the vast majority” from current federal workers but some from retirees and congressional and private sector employees.
 
The deadline for federal workers to be fully vaccinated is Nov. 22. Employees may request an exemption on religious or medical grounds. Republican members of Congress are pressing the administration for information on the number of vaccinated employees by agency and on religious or medical exemptions.
 
He said it: “You can never be too careful.” That was a warning from Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association Special Ranger Marvin Wills after securing an indictment for a Texas man accused of swindling a rancher out of $20,700 worth of cattle. Copper Hatley is accused of writing a bad check for the cattle and then selling them at auction three days later.

“Anytime you’re selling something, I encourage you to verify the funds with the bank or have the money wired into your bank before you relinquish the livestock or property,” Wills said.

Questions? Tips? Comments? Email Bill Tomson at bill@agri-pulse.com