The Fight for American Food & Farmer Independence
Reducing Input Costs & Improving Farmer Profitability & Resilience, while Securing the US Food Supply
The war in Ukraine and rising energy prices have highlighted the extent to which our current food production system is trapping farmers in a cycle of dependency. Record high input costs1, especially for fertilizers, are being driven both by rising energy prices (fertilizers and other inputs rely heavily on cheap fuel to be produced2) and by global supply chain shortages (we import a significant percentage of those fertilizers and other inputs, many from Russia and Belarus3).
This globalized system has been supported by US government policy for decades4, and has disastrous consequences that can no longer be ignored. It not only limits the independence of our farmers and ranchers, but also compromises America's ability to produce food, which is fundamentally a national security issue.
The current responses, to increase subsidies5 (shifting the burden on to taxpayers) and increase access to US-made fertilizers6 (still directly tied to the cost of energy), are band-aid solutions at best, and fail to lessen our dependence on those inputs (and therefore global energy markets). Additionally, these chemically intensive systems can severely degrade our soils, reducing long term soil fertility, further perpetuating a cycle of dependency.7 8 9
Regenerative agriculture is the long-term solution to this crisis.
When farmers adopt regenerative soil health practices like no-till, cover crops, diverse rotations, and management-intensive rotational grazing, they can significantly reduce fertilizer use10 11 12 (and in some cases eliminate its use altogether13) by building on-farm soil fertility. These changes can also increase yields14, improve farm profitability15, revive rural economies, and build resilience to the impacts of a changing climate (such as flood and drought).16 17
Our government needs to establish a path forward to give our farmers and ranchers the tools to transition away from the current dependency system it has been supporting, and towards an independent and resilient American agriculture, centered on soil health and on-farm fertility.
Fighting for regenerative agriculture is fighting for the freedom of American farmers & ranchers.
US producers across the country are calling for our government to support a swift, nationwide transition to regenerative, soil health centered agriculture in the upcoming Farm Bill.18 Producers are asking policymakers to remove prohibitive regulations and perverse incentives in the crop insurance program, significantly increase the funding for conservation programs and technical assistance, invest in and deregulate regional processing infrastructure, along with other key improvements.19
Our farmers and ranchers can free the American food system from the endless sway of global markets and impacts of geopolitical tensions, while saving taxpayer dollars, producing healthier, more affordable food for our communities, and increasing producer profitability...but they will need appropriate support to do it.
Citations:
1. Elizabeth Elkin, “Fertilizer Price Surges 43% to Fresh Record as Supplies Tighten,” Bloomberg, March 28, 2022, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-03-28/fertilizer-price-surges-43-to-fresh-record-as-supplies-tighten.
2. Madelyn Ostendorf, “What is going on with fertilizer prices?” Successful Farming, December 16, 2021, https://www.agriculture.com/news/crops/skyrocketing-fertilizer-market-has-farmers-analysts-and-companies-weighing-in.
3. Joana Colussi, Gary Schnitkey and Carl Zulauf, “War in Ukraine and its Effect on Fertilizer Exports to Brazil and the U.S.,” farmdoc daily, University of Illinois, March 17, 2022, https://farmdocdaily.illinois.edu/2022/03/war-in-ukraine-and-its-effect-on-fertilizer-exports-to-brazil-and-the-us.html.
4. U.S. Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (ERS), “The 20th Century Transformation of U.S. Agriculture and Farm Policy,” June 2005, https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/44197/13566_eib3_1_.pdf.
5. Jim Wiesemeyer, “White House Asks Congress to Significantly Boost Some Commodity Loan Rates for Two Years,” AgWeb, April 28, 2022, https://www.agweb.com/news/policy/politics/white-house-asks-congress-significantly-boost-some-commodity-loan-rates-two.
6. U.S. Department of Agriculture, “USDA Announces Plans for $250 Million Investment to Support Innovative American-made Fertilizer to give US Farmers more choices in the Marketplace,” March 11, 2022, https://www.usda.gov/media/press-releases/2022/03/11/usda-announces-plans-250-million-investment-support-innovative.
7. David R. Montgomery and Anne Biklé, “Soil Health and Nutrient Density: Beyond Organic vs. Conventional Farming,” Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, November 4, 2021, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fsufs.2021.699147/full.
8. The Heritage Foundation, “Farms and Free Enterprise: A Blueprint for Agricultural Policy,” 2016, p. 41, https://thf-reports.s3.amazonaws.com/2016/Farms_and_Free_Enterprise.pdf.
9. Heena Nisar Pahalvi et al, “Chemical Fertilizers and Their Impact on Soil Health,” Microbiota and Biofertilizers, April 1, 2021, https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-61010-4_1.
10. No-Till Farmer, “Regenerative Practices Yield Benefits Early, Increase with Time,” March 10, 2021, https://www.no-tillfarmer.com/articles/10448-regenerative-practices-yield-benefits-early-increase-with-time.
11. American Farmland Trust, “Quantifying Economic and Environmental Benefits of Soil Health,” https://farmland.org/project/quantifying-economic-and-environmental-benefits-of-soil-health/.
12. Richard Schiffman, “Why It’s Time to Stop Punishing Our Soils with Fertilizers,” Yale Environmental 360, May 3, 2017, https://e360.yale.edu/features/why-its-time-to-stop-punishing-our-soils-with-fertilizers-and-chemicals.
13. California State University Chico, “Gabe Grown: Brown’s Ranch, Bismarck, ND,” https://www.csuchico.edu/regenerativeagriculture/demos/gabe-brown.shtml.
14. Soil Health Institute, “Economics of Soil Health Systems,” 2021, https://soilhealthinstitute.org/economics/.
15. National Association of Conservation Districts, “Case studies show big economic benefits of soil health practices,” August 29, 2017, https://www.nacdnet.org/newsroom/case-studies-show-big-economic-benefits-soil-health-practices/.
16. Union of Concerned Scientists, “Turning Soils into Sponges: How Farmers Can Fight Floods and Droughts”, August 2017, https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/turning-soils-sponges.
17. Elizabeth Creech, “Soil Health Practices for Mitigating Natural Disasters”, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service - Newsroom - Features, 2018, https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/national/newsroom/features/?cid=nrcseprd1384891.
18. Regenerate America, https://regenerateamerica.com/.
19. Land Core, “Land Core Publishes Soil Health & Agriculture Policy Recommendations for Biden-Harris Administration,” November 11, 2020, https://landcore.org/news-post/biden-policy-recommendations.
About Land Core:
Land Core is an independent 501(c)3 organization with a mission to advance soil health policies and programs that create value for farmers, businesses and communities. The organization is building the missing infrastructure and market-based incentives that will make the rapid adoption and scalability of soil health possible. Land Core is known for its efficacy in US federal policy and its ability to build broad coalitions of support for soil health.