2018 Farm bill - Sustainability
Bruce I. Knight, Principal, Strategic Conservation Solutions
There’s no sustainability title in the 2014 Farm Bill, and there
probably shouldn’t be one in the 2018 bill either. But as the next farm bill
develops, we need to keep sustainability in the forefront of our thinking as we
envision agriculture in the 21st Century.
Sustainability—making effective use of resources today while preserving
those resources for those who come behind us—is a key concern along the supply
chain from farmers through transporters, wholesalers, processors and retailers
to consumers. Consumers want safe, wholesome food and fiber products. Retailers
want to emphasize that they care about how the products they sell are produced,
and family farmers and ranchers care about leaving a productive operation to
their children and grandchildren.
I have long argued for sustainable intensification—maximizing
production on the most productive land and discouraging the use of
environmentally fragile, marginal land to produce food and fiber. This is an
approach that makes good sense for individual farmers and for agricultural
policy as a whole. As we look at commodities, conservation, crop insurance and
research, we need to bear in mind the impacts of these programs on the three
pillars of sustainability—environmental, economic and social impacts.
Should agricultural producers want a general seal of approval on
sustainability, they could petition the Agricultural Marketing Service to
develop a label, but I don’t really think that’s necessary. As the
sustainability movement has matured, I think there’s less of a need for a
provision in the farm bill that would support sustainability certification
programs. However, it does make sense for USDA agencies such as the Natural
Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the National Agricultural Statistics
Service (NASS) to provide independent, nonbiased tools and data that can be
used to provide sustainability measures for private sector initiatives.
I do think that as part of the development of the next farm bill, we
probably should look beyond traditional environmental measures to some other issues
related to sustainability—like food waste. We need the Economic Research
Service to provide additional data on the extent of this challenge at the farm,
grocer and consumer levels.
Perhaps we should revisit our traditional surveys and USDA reports. We
are now using NASS data in ways never envisioned 40-50 years ago. Are we
collecting the data we need for the 2030’s or still relying on stats that made
sense in the 1930’s? NASS data could help protect anonymity, increase
reliability and hold down the cost of providing information on sustainability.
As NRCS outcome measures on the Environmental Quality Incentives
Program and the Conservation Stewardship Program improve, they could be useful
to producers participating in sustainability efforts that give them a
marketplace premium. We need to find ways to manage data and information to
respond to today’s consumer and customer needs without overburdening individual
farmers and ranchers with overlapping recordkeeping or jeopardizing data confidentiality.
On the research side, we need to take a systems approach to sustainability.
The Agricultural Research Service can help here. We need to consider ways to better
use blue, green and gray water. Using water to create food and fiber is a vital
and appropriate use of resources, and we need to remind everyone of that. While
at the same time we want to encourage and help farmers maximize the use of
every drop and do what they can to improve water quality and quantity. In the
same way, we need to focus on manure and fertilizer use efficiency so that we
can maximize nutrient cycling while minimizing environmental loss.
In short, there is probably no need for legislation on sustainability, but
the next farm bill offers an excellent opportunity to have a conversation on
these issues, especially in light of the food needs of the 9 billion souls who
will soon be inhabiting our planet. Let’s be thinking now what issues, concerns
and innovations we want to bring to the table for consideration in that
discussion. We don’t need a sustainable title in the farm bill, but we do need
a sustainable farm bill, a bill that will help agriculture do better by society
and provide for our families.
About the author: Bruce I. Knight, Principal, Strategic Conservation
Solutions, was the Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at the
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from 2006 to 2009. From 2002 to 2006,
Knight served as Chief of Natural Resources Conservation Service. The South
Dakota native worked on Capitol Hill for Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, Rep.
Fred Grandy, Iowa, and Sen. James Abdnor, South Dakota. In addition, Knight
served as vice president for public policy for the National Corn Growers
Association and also worked for the National Association of Wheat Growers. A
third-generation rancher and farmer and lifelong conservationist, Knight
operates a diversified grain and cattle operation using no-till and rest
rotation grazing systems
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