Press
Aug 16, 2010 - UN News Center
UN launches decade-long drive to combat desertification
The United Nations today unveiled a decade-long push to raise awareness and mobilize action to fight desertification, which threatens the livelihoods of more than 1 billion people in 100 countries.
“Continued land degradation – whether from climate change, unsustainable agriculture or poor management of water resources – is a threat to food security, leading to starvation among the most acutely affected communities and robbing the world of productive land,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message to the launch of the Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification in Fortaleza, Brazil.
Some 12 million hectares of land – an area the size of Benin and which could produce 20 million tons of grain annually – are lost every year to degradation, resulting in an annual loss of $42 billion. Read full article
Aug 2, 2010 - Stock Journal
Sustainable farming improving SA soils
South Australia’s farmers now have hard evidence to show that the adoption of sustainable farming practices is leading to improved land condition.
An innovative program of the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation (DWLBC) has revealed that farmers who adopt sustainable management practices will be rewarded by long-term improvements in land condition and greater protection from soil erosion. Read full article
June 18, 2010 - CleanSeed Capital News
No-till farming offers a quick fix to help ward off host of global problems
Increase no-till farming practices across the planet or face serious climate, soil quality and food production problems in the next 20 to 50 years. That warning from scientists appeared in the journal Science this week.
“If every farmer who grows crops in the United States would use no-till and adopt management practices such as crop rotation and planting cover crops, we could sequester about 300 million tons of soil carbon each year,” said Rattan Lal, a professor of soil science at Ohio State. Read full article
May 18, 2010 - United Press International
No-till farming makes soil more stable
Department of Agriculture-university study suggests no-till farming can make soil much more stable than plowed soil.
The team discovered no-till stores more soil carbon, which helps bind or glue soil particles together, making the first inch of topsoil two to seven times less vulnerable to the destructive force of raindrops than is plowed soil. Read full article
April 8, 2010 - Southeast Farm Press
Carbon credits offer opportunities for farmers
No-till fields store carbon in the form of soil organic matter, which can be sold by farmers, providing them with an additional source of income. As the United States looks to become more green, a program to trade carbon credits from farmland could play a role.
Carbon offset credits are sold through the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), which operates like a stock exchange. Offsets typically come from agriculture methane capture, no-till farming, grasslands and planting trees. Read full article
Feb 17, 2010 - The Daily Reckoning
The Topsoil Crisis
The UN estimates that the world will need to boost investment in agriculture by $83 billion a year – a 50% annual increase – to feed a growing population.
If the UN is half right – others have done similar work with similar conclusions – then we’re talking about a healthy bull market in all things green. The question is where does the boost in production largely come from? Read full article
Jan 13, 2010 - KXnet.com
Eye on Agriculture - No Till Farming
In the technology driven world of Agriculture, Zero-till or No-till farming has been the direction many producers have been heading.
"Zero Till used to be a practice that you'd do on an annual basis. Now zero till has really turned into a system." (Alan Ness, Manitoba-North Dakota Zero Tillage Association). A system that started as a way to conserve top soil and help guard against run-off and groundwater contamination.
Now it's a viable, economically driven system that pairs technology with science to help farmers produce better crops while sustaining the viability of their land. Read full article
Dec 8, 2009 - Forbes
EPA Paves Way For Cap And Trade
Carbon trading executive sees doors opening in the United States.
The Environmental Protection Agency's findings earlier this week could be a green light for cap and trade as the government agency has declared carbon dioxide emissions can pose a threat to human health.
The statement by Lisa Jackson, head of the EPA, could start a wave of carbon trading as the agency moves to further regulate businesses that release the compound into the air. Read full article
Nov 6, 2009 - Reuters
Low-carbon farms can raise food output - FAO
Low-carbon farming can both curb climate change and boost food output in developing nations and must be rewarded under a global climate deal due in December, the U.N.'s food agency said on Thursday.
Steps to cut carbon emissions on farms in developing countries could also boost yields where food is shortest, the Food and Agriculture Organisation said in a report published on Thursday. Read full article
Oct 16, 2009 - Calgary Herald
Carbon trading market pays off for Alberta farmers
For a growing number of Alberta farmers, less carbon is quickly becoming more money in the province's fledgling carbon trading market.
Edward Waldner from the Wild Rose Hutterite colony west of Vulcan says the 6,100-hectare farming operation he oversees is earning tens of thousands of dollars in unexpected income through the Alberta carbon trading market for continuing the no-till farming practices. Read full article
Sept 22, 2009 - Reuters
Agriculture co's see business opportunity in food aid
U.S. agricultural business giants said on Tuesday that working to create sustainable production around the world will not only bring food to millions of starving people, but it's ultimately a lucrative source of revenue for their companies.
"I wouldn't want to hide that at all. Definitely (it's a business opportunity)," Sam Allen, chief executive of Deere & Co (DE.N), said in an interview. "If we don't create a sustainable solution then the health of the farmer down the road deteriorates ... and that's not good for us." Read full article
Aug 28, 2009 - businessGreen.com
China's legislature backs climate change resolution
Laws to be drafted to provide legal basis for emissions reduction strategy
In a what promises to be a landmark move in the global fight to tackle global warming, China's legislators yesterday approved a formal resolution on climate change designed to accelerate the nation's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The resolution, which comes in the same week as India unveiled wide-ranging energy efficiency plans including proposals for a nationwide cap-and-trade scheme, will further increase pressure on rich nations to commit to deeper carbon emission cuts ahead of the UN's crucial climate change meeting in Copenhagen in December. Read full article
July 21, 2009 - Scientific American
The Future of Farming
Intensive farming not only degrades our soils, but it also contributes to climate change.
The intensive farming of recorded history, accelerated by the last several decades of industrial agriculture, now strips the soil of some 20 tons of dark, rich organic matter per hectare per year.
The future of farming is, in large part, a future of fighting climate change—and battling to preserve soils. Fortunately, there are several promising methods. No-till farming, in which soil is left undisturbed by plows, can help restore some 600 to 900 megatonnes of carbon to the earth over several decades. Read full article
July 10, 2009 - Reuters
G8 summit pledges $20 billion to boost food output
Leaders from rich nations at the G8 summit committed $20 billion over three years to boost agricultural investment in poorer countries and fight hunger, $5 billion more than expected.
"The most important thing is the shift in policy and focus on the need to help hungry and poor people to produce their own food. That's the biggest shift in strategy I have seen over the past two decades," Jacques Diouf, head of the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization, told Reuters. Read full article
June 27, 2009 - The Globe and Mail
U.S. House passes landmark climate bill
U.S. President Barack Obama scored a major victory yesterday when the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to slash industrial pollution that is blamed for global warming.
The bill requires that large U.S. companies, including utilities, oil refiners and manufacturers, reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other gases associated with global warming by 17 per cent by 2020 and 83 per cent by 2050, from 2005 levels. Read full article
June 16, 2009 - The New York Times
Government Study Warns of Climate Change Effects
The impact of a changing climate is already being felt across the United States, like shifting migration patterns of butterflies in the West and heavier downpours in the Midwest and East, according to a government study to be released on Tuesday.
But the speed and severity of these effects in the future are expressed with less certainty in the report and will depend to some extent on how quickly the United States and other nations move to reduce emissions. Read full article
May 27, 2009 - USDA-Agricultural Research Service
No-till Shows Benefits when Switching from Grasses to Corn
The national push for biofuels may encourage farmers to plant corn where environmentally friendly grasses are now grown. But those making the switch can still sequester soil carbon and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by not tilling the soil, according to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists.
Ron Follett, a senior supervisory scientist at the ARS Soil Plant Nutrient Research Unit in Fort Collins, Colo., spent six years monitoring levels of soil organic carbon in a Nebraska field where bromegrass was grown for 13 years and the field then was converted to no-till corn. Read full article
Apr 27, 2009 - The Capital Press
How will agriculture fit into climate change policy?
A new administration and Congress have come to town, bringing a push to deal with climate change. The question is, what will that push mean for agriculture?
While the scientific community has agreed that there is a climate change problem, the question is, what do we do next? Signals have been that if Congress doesn't take action, the administration will do so through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To address the problem, Congress is looking at a cap and trade program. Both farm groups are advocating that the program include a "robust" offset program for agriculture. Read full article
Apr 18, 2009 - The Emporia Gazette
Carbon credits mean cash
There's a relatively new income potential available for Kansas farmers, ranchers and landowners. It's called carbon credits and can be earned primarily through conservation practices implemented on farms and ranches.
Farmers and ranchers can be paid for storing carbon in the soil through continuous no-till or strip-till farming, planting of new grasses, specific rangeland management practices, forestry management and methane capture utilizing ag methane digesters. Read full article
Apr 14, 2009 - Southwest Farm Press
No-till production offers economic and environmental benefits to farmers
No-till production practices, even with a small yield reduction, offer an economic advantage in most cases over conventional cropping systems. Read full article
Mar 24, 2009 - The New York Times
The Fight Plan for Clean Air
The Environmental Protection Agency, about to declare heat-trapping gases to be dangerous pollutants, has embarked on one of the most ambitious regulatory challenges in history.
It may help the Obama administration’s efforts to push through a federal law to curb carbon dioxide emissions and lay a basis for the United States in the negotiations leading up to a global climate treaty to be signed in Copenhagen in December. Read full article
Feb 27, 2009 - Reuters
U.S. gives cap and trade boost for climate treaty
President Barack Obama's support on Thursday for a U.S. cap and trade scheme boosted expectations of a global carbon market under a new climate treaty, to be agreed this year to replace the Kyoto Protocol.
Trading approaches penalize carbon emissions and fight climate change by forcing energy companies to buy an allowance or permit for every ton of carbon emissions. Read full article
Feb 5, 2009 - Rodale Institute
Agriculture and climate change
Distinguished panel tells packed room of environmental journalists that the way we grow our food matters to a heating planet.
How we reward farmers to produce our food across the planet will have great bearing on our ability to dial down the mercury and deal with other coming consequences of global warming. Read full article
Jan. 29, 2009 - AlterNet.com
Is America on the Brink of a Food Crisis?
For the past 50 or 60 years, we have followed industrialized agricultural policies that have increased the rate of destruction of productive farmland.
A plan for sustainable agriculture capable of producing healthful food has to come to solve the twin problems of soil erosion and contamination. Read full article
Jan. 22, 2009 - SustainableBusiness.com
Stimulus Bill Includes $100B for Cleantech
President Obama’s $825 billion economic stimulus bill includes more than $100 billion for Cleantech, according to a tabulation by analysts. Read full article
Jan. 05, 2009 - Frederick News-Post
New cash crop for farmers could be carbon trade
Carbon emissions are increasingly at the forefront of policy issues, and experts say agricultural practices could play a role in decreasing emissions while providing farmers with a new cash crop. Read full article
Jan. 05, 2009 - AGWEEK
Organic farming will do the most good
To best feed the world a growing number of researchers, development experts, farming groups and environmentalists are calling for new emphasis on sustainable agricultural practices that make a sharp break from current policies. Read full article
Jan. 04, 2009 - The New York Times
A 50-Year Farm Bill
The extraordinary rainstorms last June caused catastrophic soil erosion in the grain lands of Iowa, where there were gullies 200 feet wide. Agriculture has too often involved an insupportable abuse and waste of soil, ever since the first farmers took away the soil-saving cover and roots of perennial plants.
We must restore ecological health to our agricultural landscapes, as well as economic and cultural stability to our rural communities. Read full article
Dec. 31, 2008 - Capital Press
New USDA office to assess carbon credit values
A new U.S. Department of Agriculture office to assess environmental benefits of agriculture and determine their value for carbon credit trading has been announced by Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer. Read full article
Dec. 20, 2008 - Reuters
Obama picks climate specialist as science adviser
President-elect Barack Obama underscored on Saturday his intent to push initiatives on climate change by naming John Holdren, an energy and climate specialist, as the new White House science adviser. Read full article
Nov. 10, 2008 - Barron's
Feed the World -- and Boost Returns
AN INTERVIEW WITH DONALD COXE: He's convinced that we are in the midst of the greatest commodities bull market of all time. His hunger: food. Read full article
Oct. 22, 2008 - The Independent
Organic farming 'could feed Africa'
Organic farming offers Africa the best chance of breaking the cycle of poverty and malnutrition it has been locked in for decades, according to a major study from the United Nations to be presented today. Read full article
Oct. 20, 2008 - BusinessWeek
Investors are pouring billions into agribusiness
Across Russia's traditional grain belt, new investors are pouring billions of dollars into land, then revamping management and technology in operations that span thousands of acres.
"There's huge potential here," says Robert Coleman, a South African who oversees farms in the region for Agro-Invest. "We've invested in big machines, are applying Western ideas, and are getting great results." Read full article
Oct. 13, 2008 - Forbes
Deere shares rise as analyst reports higher demand
Shares of Deere & Co., the world's largest of maker of farm machinery, ticked higher Monday as an analyst reported surging sales of large agricultural equipment in September. Read full article
Sept. 29, 2008 - Hot Springs Star
Conservation practices that save: crop residue management
A producer can save at least 3.5 gallons of fuel per acre by going from conventional tillage methods to no-till. At November 2005 diesel prices, this amounts to $7.70 per acre in production cost savings. Read full article
Aug. 4, 2008 - Dunn County News
Carbon Credit Program generates $8 million for farmers, ranchers
More than 2,300 farmers and ranchers will receive checks in the mail this week for capturing and storing carbon dioxide in their soil through the National Farmers Union Carbon Credit Program. Read full article
July 24, 2008 - Industry Week
Global Demand for Agricultural Equipment Will Hit $112 Billion by 2012
World demand for agricultural equipment is forecast to rise 3.8% per year through 2012 to $112 billion, according to a report by The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry market research firm. Read full article
July 16, 2008 - Financial Times
Soil under strain
"The world's cropland is losing topsoil through erosion faster than new soil is forming, thereby reducing the land's inherent productivity," warns Lester Brown, founder of the Earth Policy Institute Read full article
June, 2008 - Scientific American
No-Till: How Farmers Are Saving the Soil by Parking Their Plows
The age-old practice of turning the soil before planting a new crop is a leading cause of farmland degradation. Many farmers are thus looking to make plowing a thing of the past. Read full article
May 14, 2008 - Globe and Mail
Deere harvests higher profit
Deere & Co. reported higher quarterly earnings Wednesday as soaring crop prices boosted global demand for its agricultural equipment. Read full article
Feb 26, 2008 - Globe and Mail
Alberta Farmers Have a New Source of Cash - Selling Carbon Credits to Their Neighbours in the Oil Sands
Several years ago, after seeing neighbouring farmers adopt a seeding method called no-till, Gord Weitz spent $250,000 on new equipment to switch to the technique. It was a success. Read full article
Nov. 26, 2007 - Forbes
Deere Reaps Profit From Agricultural Boom
Deere announced better-than-expected quarterly earnings earlier this month and similar announcements could follow in 2008 as the equipment maker benefits from a global agricultural boom. Read full article
June 6, 2007 - Southeast Farm Press
Improved soil quality major no-till benefit
When Randolph Aigner started growing grain crops in a no-tillage system in Virginia's Middle Peninsula his farm neighbors thought he was crazy. That was more than 20 years ago, and now farmers throughout the region want to know how he does it. Read full article
Feb 28, 2006 - Farm Equipment
Growing Use of Conservation Tillage Opens Doors for Willing Dealers
Along with the rapid and continuous price increases in petroleum-based inputs in the last year, particularly diesel fuel, more row-crop producers are taking a longer look at conservation tillage practices. Read full article
