Especially for Farmers Should You Market Your Farm as Climate Smart? Maybe you Already Are...
The newsletter for professionals cautiously approaching the discussion about climate, but pretty sure they should.
Issue Number : 11
The term climate-smart has entered the vernacular of American agriculture faster than even the most modern planter can cover a field. If it’s not already in Webster’s Dictionary its surely a candidate for addition soon. Yet, does this term have a real meaning or is it just hype? And, if it does, how should producers use this term to describe what they do?
What is Climate-Smart?
The simplest definition of climate smart focuses on the practices being done in the agricultural operation. Here are three unique definitions that all describe that a little differently:
According to USDA: Climate Smart is ‘ a production system that utilizes practices that make your farm more resilient to events effecting your climate’
According to World Bank: ‘CSA (Climate smart agriculture) is an integrated approach to managing your pasture land, forest, fisheries, and more. This integrated approach allows you to manage climate events.’
According to Dr. Hans Schmidt, Purdue University Agricultural Meteorologist: “Hey, folks, it’s all just about soil health and the practices that you can adopt on your farm.”
Benefits of Climate Smart Farming
When I went hunting for definitions and found these, honestly, I was a little surprised. These are very basic, very ‘doable’. I guess I thought that there would be language in the definitions that might be provocative or concerning. But, that’s not really the case! In fact, most definitions discussed the benefits of practices, such as:
Increased productivity - better soil equals better yields
Enhanced resilience - reduced vulnerability to drought, pests, diseases and other unpredictable weather-related risks
Reduced emissions - fewer passes over fields and enhanced technologies along with energy efficiency improvements reduce emissions as well as store and absorb carbon from the atmosphere.
With these definitions in mind, it’s hard to think that most farmers aren’t already climate-smart (and have been for a long time). Though the term climate-smart agriculture itself is fairly new, in many aspects what we’re really talking about are basic conservation practices.
Next newsletter we’ll talk more about climate smart agriculture and address the question ‘Should you market your farm as climate-smart?’ The answer might surprise you-so stay tuned and keep reading. Best wishes for a safe and productive planting season underway!