Corn Growers and Soil Health Partnership Represented at Recent Sustainable Agriculture Event

NCGA attended the Coalition for Agricultural Greenhouse Gases (C-AGG) Spring 2019 meeting last week in Sacramento, California. The multi-stakeholder coalition sees agricultural lands as playing a key role in building sustainable agriculture and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. The event was sponsored in part by the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), The Fertilizer Institute (TFI), the Soil Health Partnership (SHP), Vivayic, Almond Board of California, Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), Dagan, Newtrient, Nutrien Ag Solutions and The Nature Conservancy (TNC).

C-AGG believes that by effectively incentivizing and creating value through tools and opportunities, farmers and ranchers can help the environment while increasing efficiency and profits.  Catalyzing new and improved solutions across regions, sectors, etc., to sequester carbon and reduce GHG emissions. Through creating voluntary, market-based incentive programs, cross-sector solutions will benefit society by improving soil and water quality to enhancing wildlife habitat and regional biodiversity.

The meeting reviewed ongoing progress on agricultural GHG and ecosystem market issues with sessions focused on the U.S. Climate Alliance.

Shefali Mehta, executive vice president, Soil Health Partnership, provided an update on potentials for soil health within the context of current efforts underway with Soil Health Partnership.

Travis Deppe, nutrient loss reduction manager, Illinois Corn Growers Association, overviewed state sustainability initiatives in including the nutrient loss reduction strategy.

Jim Ristau, director of sustainability, South Dakota Corn Growers Association, presented alongside a representative from South Dakota Pheasants Forever as the two described their current partnership preserving the state’s wildlife habitats. Researchers from South Dakota State University (SDSU) and Argonne National Labs presented on progress assessing soil organic carbon (SOC) levels in South Dakota based on rotation/tillage and other factors; this is part of a larger, ongoing SOC meta-analysis effort within state and national corn organizations.