Hill Heat

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Witnesses:

• Scott Marlow, Deputy Administrator for Farm Programs, Farm Service Agency, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Dana Coale, Deputy Administrator, Agriculture Marketing Service Dairy Program, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Lolly Lesher, Owner/Operator, Way-Har Farms, Bernville, PA, on behalf of National Milk Producers Federation
• Mike Durkin, President and Chief Executive Officer, Leprino Foods Company, Denver, CO, on behalf of International Dairy Foods Association
• Travis Forgues, Vice President of Membership, Organic Valley/CROPP Cooperative, LaFarge, WI
• Dr. Marin Bozic, Assistant Professor of Applied Economics, University of Minnesota

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) invite you to a briefing on regenerative agriculture. Regenerative agriculture, or farming in sync with the local environment and climate, produces multiple economic, climate, and societal benefits. Examples of these practices include reducing or eliminating synthetic pesticide and fertilizer use and soil tillage. The briefing will feature findings from NRDC’s new report, Regenerative Agriculture: Farm Policy for the 21st Century, which was informed by conversations with farmers and ranchers from 47 states and Washington, D.C.

As Congress begins to craft the 2023 Farm Bill, the briefing will cover how federal policies can incentivize and invest in regenerative agriculture, including by making reforms to scale up regenerative agriculture stewardship, supporting the next generation of farmers and ranchers, and funding regenerative agriculture research and education programs. Panelists will describe how these steps can lead to a more resilient and productive agricultural system.

Speakers

• Arohi Sharma, Deputy Director, Regenerative Agriculture, Natural Resources Defense Council
• Kris Reynolds, Midwest Regional Director, American Farmland Trust; Farmer
• Dr. Michael Kotutwa Johnson, Assistant Specialist-Indigenous Resilience Center, School of Natural Resources and the Environment, University of Arizona
• Brittany Masters, Founder, Roam Free Ranch

To learn more about NRDC’s report directly from the farmers involved, view the short video “What is Regenerative Agriculture?” and read the blog post “NRDC Report: Pathways to Regenerative Agriculture.” EESI’s current article series on climate and agriculture also dives into key sustainable agriculture practices, including cover crops, agroforestry, no-till farming, and rotational livestock grazing.

Please RSVP

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Witnesses:

• Dr. Thelma Velez, Research and Education Program Manager, Organic Farming Research Foundation, Sunrise, FL
• Dr. Sylvie Brouder, Professor and Wickersham Chair of Excellence in Agricultural Research, Agronomy Department, Purdue University, on behalf of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America, West Lafayette, IN
• Dr. Ali Fares, Endowed Professor of Water Security and Water Energy Food Nexus, Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, TX
• Dr. Benjamin Houlton, Ronald P. Lynch Dean and Professor of Ecology and Global Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
• Michael Vance, Managing Partner, Southern Reds, LLC, on behalf of the Noble Research Institute, Gainesville, TX

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Witnesses:

• Dr. Gopinath “Gopi” Munisamy, Distinguished Professor, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia
• Karla Thompson, Vice President, JET Farms Georgia and Integrity Farms
• Sheryl Meshke, Co-President and CEO, Associated Milk Producers Inc., New Ulm, MN
• Neal Fisher, Administrator, North Dakota Wheat Commission, Mandan, ND

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Witnesses:

• Dr. Joseph Janzen, Assistant Professor, Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Robert Craven, Extension Economist and Associate Director, Center for Farm Financial Management, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
• Dr. Ronald L. Rainey, Assistant Vice President and Professor / Director, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture / Southern Risk Management Education Center, University of Arkansas
• Dr. Joe Outlaw, Professor and Extension Economist and Co-Director, Agricultural and Food Policy Center, Texas A&M University

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Full Committee on Agriculture – Business Meeting to consider:

• The Budget Views and Estimates Letter of the Committee on Agriculture for the agencies and programs under the jurisdiction of the Committee for Fiscal Year 2023;
• H.R. 7764, A bill to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide additional payments under the environmental quality incentives program for implementation of a nutrient management practice, and for other purposes. ;
• H.R. 2518, “Producing Responsible Energy and Conservation Incentives and Solutions for the Environment Act or the PRECISE Act”;
• H.R. 2606, “Sponsoring USDA Sustainability Targets in Agriculture to Incentivize Natural Solutions Act of 2021, or the ‘SUSTAINS’ Act”;
• H.R. 4140, “Butcher Block Act”;
• H.R. 7675, To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish an Agricultural and Food System Supply Chain Resilience and Crisis Response Task Force, and for other purposes.;
• H.R. 7606, “Meat and Poultry Special Investigator Act of 2022”;
• H.R. 7763, To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to support and incentivize domestic activities to address fertilizer shortages and deficiencies, diversity fertilizer sources, and reduce depending on foreign sources for fertilizer, and other purposes;
• H.R. 7765, “American Food Supply Chain Resiliency Act of 2022”

Food systems account for 31 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. These emissions arise along the whole food supply chain, from production, processing, and packaging to transport, consumption and disposal. Power and transport systems receive the lion share of attention in the global dialogue and response to climate change, while the nexus between food and climate has been largely absent from the climate conversations. To date, very few countries take a comprehensive view of the food system in their climate action plans.

The United States and China, the two largest contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, both face similar climate change threats to agriculture—from extreme weather patterns, stronger floods, extended droughts to greater pests and diseases. Climate impacts threaten economic and food security. As food market superpowers, the United States and China are well positioned to lead efforts in green agriculture to address climate change. Notably, green and climate resilient agriculture were priorities highlighted in the U.S.-China Climate Crisis Statement and the U.S.-China Glasgow Declaration in 2021.

At this May 10th CEF meeting, panelists will give an overview of the global food-climate challenge and delve into opportunities for China and the United States to target the food system to help reach their carbon neutral and short-lived climate pollutant reduction goals.

David Sandalow, (Center for Global Energy at Columbia University and co-founder of the Food Climate Partnership) will set the stage, discussing the food system and climate change. Next, Sally Qiu and Hörn Halldórudóttir Heiðarsdóttir will share insights on China’s food-related greenhouse gas emissions.

The next two speakers will turn the conversation to the farms with Zhenzhong Si (Waterloo University) offering some insights into the government’s policies and bottom-up agroecological initiatives in China that respond to the social and environmental challenges facing the food system while creating new problems for sustainability. And Karen Mancl (Ohio State University) will examine success in sustainable agriculture in the United States and China and explore policies needed to incentivize farmers.

Patty Fong (Global Alliance for the Future of Food), whose CEF Green Tea Chat laid out the urgency for global food system transformation to address climate change, will be the commentator at this session.

RSVP

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Witnesses

PANEL 1

• Jennifer Lester Moffitt, Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.
• Terry Cosby, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Washington, D.C.

PANEL 2

• Laura Batcha, Chief Executive Officer, Organic Trade Association, Washington, D.C.
• Brie Reiter Smith, Vice President of Product Leadership, Driscoll’s, Inc., on behalf of the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, Watsonville, CA
• Marc Oshima, Co-Founder and Chief Marketing Officer, AeroFarms, Newark, NJ
• Nate Olive, Owner, Ridge to Reef Farm, and President, Virgin Islands Farmers Alliance, Inc., St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands
• Bruce Kettler, Director, Indiana State Department of Agriculture, on behalf of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, Indianapolis, Indiana

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Witness:

• Xochitl Torres Small, Under Secretary for Rural Development, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.