Farm Here to Eternity

 

We know for sure that climate change will continue to wreak havoc on agriculture. Flooding in some places, unbearable drought/desertification in others. Some crops will not work in re-climatized fields. Others will have to have increasingly targeted water supplies where waste is reduced to inconsequential. Water will need to be preserved and extracted from novel sources: from saltwater, severely recycled rain and sewage water or simply pulled out of the air. New varieties of climate-appropriate plants will need to replace crops that cannot tolerate the change. We must also counter new breeds of insects and plant disease also migrating to survive. 

Most of the equipment used by farmers to grow, nurture and harvest their crops and raise their livestock is both specialized and very, very expensive. A shortage of farmworkers, exacerbated by immigration realities and rapidly increasing labor costs, makes a bad situation a lot worse. Prices on supermarket shelves are soaring, some temporary, most permanent: “Americans — especially those on tight budgets – are feeling the pinch from rapidly rising grocery prices not seen in years, according to one expert, who offered a few tips to counter food inflation at the supermarket.

“‘We're seeing 5-6% food inflation in the U.S., three [times] what we’re used to in the last decade,’ Wells Fargo Chief Agricultural Economist Michael Swanson recently told Yahoo Finance Live. ‘It's having a bigger impact on fixed income and also people that are used to using some governmental supplement income.’

“The food supply chain breakdown and labor market shortage are to blame, Swanson said. To retain workforces, food manufacturers and producers are paying higher wages and shoppers are footing the bill in the form of heftier prices… ‘We're seeing a permanent move up in labor costs,’ he said. ‘With higher labor costs at restaurants and in the food manufacturing world, it makes your labor in the kitchen more valuable.’” Yahoo Money, November 4th. See also, my September 4th $$ - Shortages, Supply Chain Disruption and Climate Change - $$ blog.

So, what challenges does agtech face and what do our choices look like? The federal government, through the US Department of Agriculture, has heavily subsidized the farming sector, but most of those supports have gone to the biggest and most corporate agriculture farms. That system needs a ground-up overhaul: “While the federal government has implemented some cost-sharing programs for farms seeking to grow more sustainably, the vast majority of federal farm support goes to the largest farms. In 2016, 60% of farm subsidies went to the richest 10% of farmers, many of whom work the land in ways that are fossil fuel intensive, exhaust soils, emit carbon, and contribute to the climate crisis.

“Additionally, government support of regenerative practices is just beginning. Whereas conventional practices are often supported through tax breaks and subsidies, funding and research programs for soil improvement techniques do not yet enjoy the same level of support. In fact, a recent study found that the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)—a federal program designed to deliver improved water quality and increase soil health—has strayed from its goals in recent years. In 2018, for example, soil boosting funding represented less than 1% of the United States Department of Agriculture’s total annual expenditures.” Artem Milinchuk, CEO of the agriculture investment firm, FarmTogether, writing for FastCompany.com, November 5th. 

But agricultural technology (“agtech”) has accelerated with specialized research at prominent American universities. We have also learned much about water conservation and desert farming from the decades of experience of Israeli farmers. American Agtech investments have increased 370% just over the last six years according to Milinchuk. He describes the challenges facing farmers in this rapidly changing new world: “While the use of sustainable agricultural practices has a multitude of environmental and production benefits, farmers face many barriers to adoption, including increased uncertainty of yields, a lack of expert technical assistance, a lack of the right equipment or technology, and most notably, the high cost of implementation.

“The transition to sustainable farming requires conventional farmers to learn about new equipment, practices, and regulations. The largest source of farmer knowledge and technical assistance, county extension services, are geared toward conventional growers and woefully understaffed with organic and regenerative specialists needed for farmers to successfully transition.

“Even with the right equipment, a farm cannot function without the workers to operate it. Tight profit margins in today’s economic environment make hiring farm workers a challenge, and the ability to hire foreign workers through the federal government’s H2-A program requires hefty upfront expenses for transportation, attorneys, and housing that some farmers simply cannot afford… For farmers weighing the risks and benefits of transitioning to more climate-smart agricultural practices, the high costs associated with transitioning remain one of the biggest obstacles.” 

Replacing workers with automation is accelerating, but the equipment is exceptionally costly. Autonomous vehicles, planting and harvesting exist. GPS and self-driving capacity are making this improvement possible. An example is pictured above.

Milinchuk also posits where the agtech solutions can come from: “Some of the new innovators of agriculture are looking at the small—microscopically small—to innovate the sector toward a sustainable future. Indigo Ag, for example, is betting big on microbe-coated commodity seeds that can better resist pest pressure and severe weather challenges, while allowing farmers to decrease their use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. Since inception, IndigoAg has built many more products on the same premise to advance regenerative agriculture, including an online grain marketplace and its voluntary carbon credit program.

“Other agtech innovations look to increase farm efficiency and decrease input waste through precision farming techniques. Precision farming utilizes satellite technology, information systems, and remote sensing in order to maximize yield while minimizing environmental footprint. Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, for example, can be used to track soil moisture, changes in the microclimate of a field, soil carbon and micronutrient levels, and rates of plant growth throughout harvest cycles. GPS technology makes planting and input application far more accurate than manual tractor methods, meaning that farmers can decrease waste and excess fertilizer use.”

The infrastructure bills that have dominated the news of late have significant government capital to help farmers in this transition. The technology and the funding to implement these capacities must reach the farmers who need that support the most. We export about $150 billion annually in agricultural exports, including to our three biggest markets: China, Canada and Mexico. But that Chinese component is shifting rapidly as the People’s Republic has declared the United States an overly politicized (read: trade wars) and unreliable source of foodstuffs.  Nevertheless, food production is now a necessary global focus as climate change reshuffles the global agriculture deck. Parts of the world are facing starvation, and all of us face shortages and higher prices. The federal government must up its support of this most vital American industry… for this nation to survive and prosper.

I’m Peter Dekom, and it is just too easy to take the source of our grocery supplies for granted.