Articles Tagged with ''cover crops''

USDA is far from the only part of the federal government with authority in areas affecting the ag and food industries. Farmers and agribusiness in general need to keep a close eye on what comes out of the Environmental Protection Agency, Labor Department, Interior Department and Food and Drug Administration.

Conservation groups and the Biden administration  are betting big that the promise of direct payments to farmers will supercharge their interest in cover crops, a practice relatively few have tried despite documented benefits to soil health, greenhouse emissions and water quality.

Some $80 billion in climate-related agriculture funding hangs in the balance as President Joe Biden and congressional Democrats try to save at least part of his $1.7 trillion Build Back Better spending package.

In this opinion piece, Britt Lundgren with Stonyfield Organic and Nathaniel Powell-Palm of Cold Springs Organics discuss how agriculture is uniquely positioned to help tackle climate change and that Build Back Better can help make that happen while delivering economic benefits to U.S. food businesses, farmers and rural communities across the country.

This is the third part of a four-part series examining the promise of cover crops, the potential for them to meet the nation’s environmental goals that rest on their success, and the possible pitfalls facing policymakers.

A new report examining adoption of conservation practices on U.S. farmland shows the steep challenge faced in implementing climate-smart programs to reduce greenhouse gases.

This is the second part of our four-part series looking at the promise of cover crops and the challenges that farmers face.

Producers will have additional crop insurance flexibilities at their disposal next year after a handful of changes from the Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency.

Multinational food companies raced to set pledges to slash the carbon emissions in their supply chains, and now those firms are scrambling to recruit the farmers needed to meet those targets, even as it remains unclear who’s going to foot the bill.

This is the first part of a four-part series examining the promise of cover crops, the potential for them to meet the nation’s environmental goals that rest on their success, and the potential pitfalls and unintended consequences of trying to make cover crops work in parts of the country where they currently don’t.