Should You Market Your Farm as Climate Smart? Part II of the Especially for Farmers Series

The newsletter for professionals cautiously approaching the discussion about climate, but pretty sure they should.

Issue Number : 12

This week we’ll pick up where we left off on May 11th about using the term ‘climate smart’, what that term means, and how it might benefit your farming operation. While some may cringe at the thought discussing the word climate, especially when it comes to agriculture and especially when it comes to talking about our own farming operations, with this article, I’m asking you consider challenging that notion. Why? Because you’re likely already doing a lot of things that are ‘climate smart’ just because they are right for your business, your land, and your family. The difference today is that talking about these practices, updates, and continuous

improvements has become more important than ever. It may be time to market your operation as climate smart, though how you do that depends on a few factors. Let’s review:

Should you market your farm as Climate Smart?
Three thoughts for you to consider

DEPENDS ON YOUR MARKETING STRATEGY

How do you market your operation today -not just to the end customer - but to your next land owner? Are you already discussing sustainability as part of your messaging on the website or in social media? Are you already using this as an edge when meeting with potential new land owners to farm their acreage? Are you already serving on boards or committees where talking about sustainability is at the forefront of your message or how you communicate? If so, you might already be marketing your farm as climate smart.

DEPENDS ON YOUR END CONSUMER’S PREFERENCES ON PRIORITIES

What does you end customer expect of your operation in terms of sustainable practices? If you are in some segments of agriculture, your customer has been challenging you for decades about production practices. However, there are other parts of the industry where customers have just begun to crack the door on what will likely be rapid scale expectations and adoption of new verification and practice adjustments. What today may be considered opportunities or provide a premium may in the near future become the simple base line for doing business without a reduction in value.

DEPENDS ON IF YOU ALREADY HAVE THE DATA TO BACK IT UP

The Scope 3 Emissions disclosures being discussed and debated now could change the way we do business and our reporting and data structure forever. For companies desiring or required to track and report their Scope 3 Emissions, they seek to verify the environmental cost of doing business in their entire supply chain. That means if they buy or use a a raw (or processed) agricultural product at some point, they will seek to know the emissions that occurred in the production of that ag product. Follow me yet? In other words, your end customer may what to know the carbon impact score of your farming operation. Now, much work is being done by trade and lobbying groups to avoid this level of reporting in the near term, however, these expectations will come around to your door again. What can you do? Start tracking. For those already using a lot of data, begin to talk about how you track and evaluate your emissions based on practice change or other means. At this point, its a marketing tool for some customers.

Feel overwhelmed-don’t yet. Next time we’ll get into ways your operation may already be climate smart and you just hadn’t realized it.