A recent study in the journal, Water Policy, compares the water supply histories of four major cities: San Diego, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Adelaide, Australia. The major conclusion of the report was that urban water conservation, recycling, and desalination can’t nearly come close to the level of water conservation that can be provided by upstream farmers. The authors conclude that the conservation of 5 to 10 percent of agricultural irrigation in upstream watersheds in agricultural areas could satisfy a city’s entire water needs.

There are a couple of issues, however, that make the depleting water situation look rather bleak. As James Workman outlines in his terrific series of essays on water scarcity, urban water saving methods and technologies may be ineffective, and he also questions whether municipalities, from an economic standpoint, truly want their citizens to conserve water. In addition, as the authors point out in the study, farmers and ranchers won’t, typically, implement water conservation measures unless there is financial incentives for them to do so.

So, what can be done? In the interview linked below, Brian Richter, a freshwater scientist with The Nature Conservancy argues for the creation of urban-rural partnerships where farmers and ranchers are rewarded by municipalities for the water they conserve. For instance, Richter mentions water markets that have been established in Australia and the Edwards Aquifer in Texas. In this scenario, farmers and ranchers would “sell any ‘saved’ water to other farmers, cities, or environmental interests as long as it does not harm other water users or the environment.”

A similar, incentives-based approach, is being utilized by Sand County Foundation in the Midwest through its Agricultural Incentives program, which offers Midwestern farmers financial incentives to implement water conservation practices that keep water, and its nitrogen and phosphorous content, on the land and out of waterways. As part of this program, the Foundation has entered into a partnership, called Yahara WINs, with several municipalities, landowners, and other organizations to help reduce phosphorous and nitrogen runoff from agricultural lands into waterways in the Madison, Wisconsin area. Sand County Foundation also launched a program, Water As A Crop™, now operating a pilot program in Texas, which pays financial incentives to landowners who implement water conservation practices.

Water scarcity, obviously, is not something to be taken lightly, but it’s fairly clear that the agricultural community plays an integral role in the issue. So, these incentive-based urban-rural and private-public partnerships are a step in the right direction.

Will cities ever get smart about water use?

By Robert Lalasz, Grist

If the definition of insanity is making the same mistakes over and over, then many cities have taken a certifiable approach to securing their water supplies — and they need some radical therapy before taking the big economic, ecological, and human hits that come with a permanent state of thirst.

That’s the conclusion from a new study in the journal Water Policy, whose authors compared the water supply histories of four cities — San Diego, Phoenix, San Antonio, and Adelaide, Australia. Among the lessons learned? Urban water conservation, recycling, and desalination aren’t silver bullets. In fact, the best solution may lie upstream with farmers — saving just 5-10 percent of agricultural irrigation in upstream watersheds could satisfy a city’s entire water needs.

But the time to act is now, argues Brian Richter, a senior freshwater scientist at The Nature Conservancy and the study’s lead author — he says a global urban water crisis is already here. Below, Richter tells us more about what cities need to do to say on the right side of dry. Read more …

By Jeannette E. Warnert, Conservation Agriculture

The timeworn water tower that stands in front of the Giacomazzi Dairy in Kings County is a hallmark of the farm’s endurance. It proclaims, “Since 1893.”

Dino Giacomazzi, the fourth generation to run the operation, said cows have been producing milk and the land producing feed every single day of the ensuing 120 years.

In order to maintain the family business in times of mounting environmental pressures and tightening economics, Giacomazzi became a leader in developing completely new production paradigms for dairy industry feed production in the San Joaquin Valley.

Last year, he received the prestigious Leopold Conservation Award for California, and last week he hosted a luncheon at his rural Kings County dairy to raise awareness of efforts being made around the San Joaquin Valley to boost agricultural sustainability.

“I want this to be about all the work being done here. I am accepting this award on behalf of a whole industry of people,” Giacomazzi said. “Every farmer I know is a conservation agriculturist. That’s just called doing business.”

In California, the Leopold Conservation Award is presented by the Sand County Foundation, California Farm Bureau Federation, and Sustainable Conservation. The recognition, said Karen Sweet of the Sand County Foundation, “honors ethical and scientifically sound practices that benefit us all, and inspires other landowners as an example.”

Giacomazzi, a founding member of UC’s Conservation Agriculture Systems Innovation (CASI) Center, for years has evaluated equipment, planting configurations and fertilization approaches in silage production. He worked closely with other dairy operators to build a reservoir of knowledge and experience that is accelerating the development and implementation of conservation tillage practices, said Jeff Mitchell, UC Cooperative Extension specialist in the Department of Plant Sciences at UC Davis and chair of CASI.

“Dino’s a person of tremendous vision for seeing a better way and for, as he is fond of quoting Abraham Lincoln, ‘thinking anew and acting anew,’” Mitchell said. “He’s a rather unique example of someone who has had the courage to disenthrall himself of dogma and create something new.”

In the spring of 2005, Giacomazzi initiated a demonstration evaluation of strip-till corn planting in a 28-acre field as part of an Environmental Quality Incentives Program contract he had received from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. In 2006, he hosted a public field day to share what he learned about strip-till implements, planters and configurations, an event Mitchell considers the best public field day of his Extension career. Giacomazzi has traveled to Davis to address agriculture students, accepted speaking engagements -such as the keynote address at the launch of CASI last year – and hosted numerous agricultural tours on his farm.

“Dino is a leader,” Mitchell said. “He has opened a lot of eyes to what can be, to how agricultural systems can be improved, to both make money and to be good for the environment.”

During the celebration, Giacomazzi took to the podium to turn the spotlight on Mitchell. Giacomazzi praised Mitchell’s personal commitment to sharing conservation agriculture practices.

Recognizing Mitchell’s distinct character and energy, Giacomazzi said he could think of no more fitting way to honor him than with a customized “Jeff Mitchell Award,” which he said Mitchell would hold “in perpetuity.”

Another founding member of CASI, Ron Harben, former field officer for the California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, also spoke at the event.

“Jeff’s enthusiasm is contagious,” Harben said, “but it’s solidly backed up with knowledge, experience and the real desire to bring sustainability – both economic and environmental – to agriculture.”

Mitchell travels in the Valley extensively, visits farms from Kern County to as far north as the Intermountain area on the border with Oregon, and takes two or three trips from his Fresno County headquarters to Davis each week for meetings, teaching classes and working with graduate students.

“His Toyota Prius has nearly half a million miles on it,” Harben said.

During his presentation at the celebration, Mitchell also called attention to the Giacomazzi Dairy’s weathered water tower.

“Think about that. There is something quite profound here,” he said. “There is no better example of sustainability. This is where sustainability is happening. This is the real thing.”

Sand County Foundation, its major partners, California Farm Bureau Federation and Sustainable Conservation, and its other sponsors, S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, and The Nature Conservancy are accepting nominations for the 2013 Leopold Conservation Award until July 12. Nominations of agriculturalists and foresters may be submitted at the Leopold Conservation Award website, http://www.leopoldconservationaward.org.

Original blog post can be found on Conservation Agriculture

Photo © Paolo Vescia

As technology continues to play an increasing role in agricultural operations, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) launched the Water Quality Index for Agricultural Runoff (WQIag), which helps producers calculate how much impact their agricultural and conservation practices are having on water quality.

Producers input information about a given field, such as slope and soil characteristics. They can also enter their tillage, nutrient and pest management, and conservation practices. The combination gives them a single number that indicates their water quality level. Producers can also make adjustments to elements, such as conservation variables, to gauge what kind of impact certain practices will have on their operation.

WQIag presents a simplicity and accessibility to this information that wasn’t available before. It’s a 10-point system that’s less expensive and easier to interpret than the data that are collected from in-stream and edge of field water quality monitoring systems.

NRCS continues to improve the system, which is still in a pilot phase, and plans to launch a smartphone app at some point.

Water quality index for ag runoff streamlined

By Spencer Miller, NRCS

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has developed a new web-based tool to help producers easily calculate the quality of water flowing off their fields.

It’s called the Water Quality Index for Agricultural Runoff, or WQIag for short, and this is how it works: Producers input variables about their field, such as slope, soil characteristics, nutrient and pest management, tillage practices, and, finally, conservation practices.

Then, as NRCS National Water Quality and Quantity team leader Shaun McKinney explains, “The WQIag takes the complex scientific information of these variables and synthesizes them into a single number.”

Though some variables – such as slope and soil – won’t change, producers can adjust others for a quick estimate of how conservation impacts water quality. A few clicks calculate the consequences, in terms of water quality, of using less tillage, less fertilizer, natural pest management techniques and other conservation practices.

“Water quality is complex,” says McKinney. In the past, “experts have usually focused on one aspect of water quality – such as temperature, nutrients or pesticide content –instead of thinking about a more complete picture.” Read more …

Next year, the passenger pigeon will have been extinct for 100 years. This is significant for a number of reasons, including recent thoughts of whether or not the species could be brought back through the process of “de-extinction.” The passenger pigeon and the wooly mammoth are top of mind for scientists who are interested in venturing down this road of using DNA to revive a species.

According to the article linked below, there are two ways to go about de-extinction. The first option is cloning, which involves the capture of a living cell from an extinct species, which could be re-programmed into an embryonic cell and implanted in a surrogate mother. An attempt was made to bring back the bucardo, using this method, but it has failed thus far. The second option, because living cells from these species are so difficult to find, is to take remnants of a cell and try to fill in the missing pieces. Researchers are planning to use this method for passenger pigeon recovery.

It’s exciting stuff, to be sure, but a major question in all of this is, if we have the means to bring back extinct species, should we? That’s a question that scientists and policymakers must weigh very carefully before this process moves forward.

As Stan Temple, an emeritus professor of wildlife ecology at UW-Madison and a recent keynote speaker at a National Geographic meeting on de-extinction, says in the article:

“Think very carefully about this before the saber-toothed tiger is out of the bag.”

New science poised to bring back lost species

By Ron Seely, Wisconsin State Journal

In 2014, Wisconsin and the rest of the nation will observe a sad anniversary — the 100th year of a world without passenger pigeons.

Preparations are already under way in the state to properly note the passing of a bird that once turned daylight to darkness with its numbers. From books and conferences to buffing and rededicating the famous memorial monument at Wyalusing State Park, it will be a year spent pondering the meaning of the loss.

But, as opposed to other such anniversaries since the bird’s passing, this one will be marked also by a curious and perhaps momentous new twist.

Why not, some are asking, bring the passenger pigeon back? Read more …

In celebration of Earth Day, Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman announced the Beel family  as the recipient of the 2013 Leopold Conservation Award, the state’s premier award for private lands conservation, during a ceremony at the State Capitol on Friday.

The award, which is presented by Nebraska Cattlemen, Cargill, and Wisconsin-based Sand County Foundation, recognizes outstanding, positive contributions to natural resources by agricultural families.

Third generation ranchers Frank, Henry, and Adam and their wives, Jennifer, Mary, and Jenny operate the nearly 22,000-acre ranch located in north-central Nebraska. Carrying on a tradition of conservation begun by their ancestors, the Beel brothers and their families, among other efforts, implement practices that improve wildlife habitat and water quality and quantity, which has helped them withstand the second driest season on record.

Congratulations to the Beel family!

Photo courtesy of Omaha World-Herald

Johnstown family receives conservation award

By Martha Stoddard, Omaha World-Herald

Nebraska ranch family that has handed down an ethic of conservation from father to son was honored Friday for its stewardship.

Gov. Dave Heineman announced the Beel family of Johnstown as the recipients of the 2013 Leopold Conservation Award.

The award, named in honor of world-renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, is presented to agricultural families in Nebraska who practice responsible land stewardship and management.

“Conservation on private land is something Nebraskans do very well,” the governor said.

The Beel brothers, Frank, Henry and Adam, along with wives Jennifer, Mary and Jenny, operate a nearly 22,000-acre cattle operation along the border between Brown and Cherry Counties. Read more …

A private-public partnership is working to improve rice productivity, as well as enhance waterbird habitat in California. Montna Farms, owned by Al and Gail Montna enrolled in the Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Waterbird Habitat Enhancement Program (WHEP), which pays incentives to landowners who implement pro-wildlife habitat practices on their land. The rice belt, where Montna Farms is located, is an area where birds, including ducks, geese, swans, sandpipers, avocets, herons, egrets, and cranes stop to nest during winter.

Practices that WHEP encourages include the placement of water boards in rice fields post-harvest to collect additional water, intentional flooding and incremental draining of rice fields as birds gradually arrive and leave.

This is not a one-way street, however. The presence of the waterbirds benefits rice production, as well. After harvest, rice straw is is left in the fields, which are flooded to help decompose the straw. After flooding, waterbirds will mix the straw into the soil, improving the soil and increasing its capacity to retain water, which leads to improved rice production.

Al and Gail Montna are not new to natural resources conservation. They are the recipients of the 2010 Leopold Conservation Award, California’s premier recognition of conservation on private lands. The award was the result of many efforts to improve land, water, and wildlife habitat at Montna Farms, including the installation of a solar powered rice dryer and  the establishment of an over 1,000-acre waterbird easement that was the first of its kind in California.

Photo © Paolo Vescia

WHEP program a win-win for California rice, waterbirds

By Cary Blake, Western Farm Press

The Montna farming family of Dingville, Calif., successfully integrates commercial rice production on its 3,000 acres of land with habitat enhancement practices which benefit waterbirds, thanks to a partnership with the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

Montna Farms is in the second year of a three-year contract in the NRCS’ Waterbird Habitat Enhancement Program (WHEP). The voluntary program is designed to help rice production and waterbirds successfully co-exist in California’s Sacramento and northern San Joaquin valleys.

Montna Farms, located in the Sacramento Valley’s Sutter County, is owned and operated by Al and Gail Montna and their two daughters. The vertically-integrated farm grows super premium Japanese short-grain rice with a rice-drying operation onsite on Highway 99, halfway between Sacramento and Yuba City.

“The Waterbird Habitat Enhancement Program is a win-win for rice production and wildlife,” said Jon Munger, Montna Farms’ manager of operations. “The program requires some extra work on the grower end but it is worth the effort.” Read more …

Wildlife habitat across the United States is being adversely affected by climate change, so the federal government has introduced a plan that includes the development of “corridors” to help wildlife migrate to more hospitable habitat.

Called the “National Fish, Wildlife and Plants Climate Adaptation Strategy,” the strategy aims to roll out several tactics, the corridors being one of them, during the next five years to maintain and enhance wildlife populations that are feeling the negative effects of climate change. The plan is expected to be a decades long effort.

It is clear, however, that this plan cannot be successful without the assistance of America’s farmers and ranchers. Many of the corridors will need to be created through the establishment of easements in which farmers and ranchers are paid to remove land from production, helping to improve habitat for certain species.

This process has already begun in regards to the lesser prairie chicken in the western U.S. where farmers and ranchers are paid incentives to return some of their land to native prairie.

Photo courtesy of USDA NRCS

Federal plan aims to help wildlife adapt to climate change

By Neela Banerjee, Los Angeles Times

The Obama administration Tuesday announced a nationwide plan to help wildlife adapt to threats from climate change.

When Ram Trucks aired its “God made a farmer” ad during the Super Bowl last month, it created a sensation inside and outside of the agricultural community. But, it largely missed on one highly important aspect of farming and ranching, the role of women.

In an industry that has, traditionally, been dominated by men, female farmers find themselves battling stereotypes as farmers’ wives, rather than farmers, as their ranks grow in numbers. In fact, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that the number of women involved in farming increased 19% from 2002 to 2007. Upcoming census numbers are expected to demonstrate a much larger increase.

Although, the numbers are growing, active female farmers and ranchers are hoping to speed up the process. Several groups, focused on women in agriculture, exist to help women with farming issues. One of these, Women, Food, and Agriculture (WFAN), teaches women skills, such as problem solving and record keeping, that are beneficial on the farm or ranch. Another program, Annie’s Project, takes a similar approach and is currently offered in 27 states.

The USDA, which, in the past, has been criticized for its lack of support for female farmers, is getting involved, too. It has developed a program to help increase the number of women-owned and/or operated profitable farms.

We have met many strong, highly intelligent female farmers and ranchers across the nation, so it can only be a good thing for agriculture that women are playing more of an active role in the industry.

Breaking the ‘grass ceiling’: More women are farming

By Christopher Doering, Gannett Washington Bureau

he popularity of the “God created a farmer” ad during the Super Bowl last month was widely praised as a fitting tribute to the millions of people working in agriculture.

But of the more than a dozen pictures of hardworking and sensitive farmers and ranchers in the commercial, only a handful of the images shown during the two-minute ad were women.

The slight is being viewed by some as symbolic of the battle women across the country are engaging in as they play an increasing role in a field that has been traditionally dominated by men.

“That image of (a man) is so embedded in all of us that it’s hard to imagine that women are part of farming when they show an ad like that. On one hand, it’s a really nice tribute to agriculture, but on the other hand, they’re missing more than half the population that’s involved with it,” said Denise O’Brien who has been farming with her husband for almost 40 years in Atlantic, Iowa. Read more …

Wisconsin-based Sand County Foundation and the Kentucky Agricultural Council have announced the launch of the Leopold Conservation Award in Kentucky. Kentucky is the ninth state to offer the $10,000 award, which honors farmers, ranchers, and foresters who do outstanding work to enhance natural resources as part of their agricultural operations. 

Applications are being accepted until July 31, 2013 and the award will be presented at the Kentucky Ag Summit in November. Read the full press release below.

New Leopold Conservation Award program seeks nominees in Kentucky

PRWeb

Sand County Foundation and Kentucky Agricultural Councilhave announced the launch of the Leopold Conservation Award program in Kentucky, and are accepting applications for the award.

The $10,000 Leopold Conservation Award will honor Kentucky farmers, ranchers and other private landowners who voluntarily demonstrate responsible stewardship and management of natural resources.

“Private landowners across the State of Kentucky are doing exceptional land conservation work,” said Brent Haglund, Ph.D., Sand County Foundation President. “We look forward to honoring these good stewards of the land who are committed to the enhancement of Kentucky’s rich and diverse agricultural landscape.”

Given in honor of renowned conservationist Aldo Leopold, the Leopold Conservation Award recognizes extraordinary achievement in voluntary conservation. It inspires other landowners through these examples and provides a visible forum where farmers, ranchers and other private landowners are recognized as conservation leaders. In his influential 1949 book, “A Sand County Almanac,” Leopold called for an ethical relationship between people and the land they own and manage, which he called “an evolutionary possibility and an ecological necessity.”

“The Kentucky Agricultural Council is proud to be part of the Leopold Conservation Award program,” said Kentucky Agricultural Council Chairman, Tony Brannon. “From the beginnings of pioneering no-till farming in the 1960’s through today’s many and varied farm sustainability efforts to leave this place better than they found it, Kentucky farmers have a proud tradition of feeding, clothing, sheltering and fueling our nation and our world. This award will allow us to celebrate and learn from the examples of Kentucky farmers who have taken a thoughtful approach to conservation and stewardship of our land.”

The Kentucky Agricultural Council will be seeking sponsorships to host the award and will present a celebration of the award recipients at the Kentucky Ag Summit, to be held in November 2013.

Nominations must be postmarked by July 31, 2013, and mailed to Leopold Conservation Award c/o Kentucky Agricultural Council, P.O. Box 5478 Louisville, Kentucky 40255-0478.

For application information, please visit www.leopoldconservationaward.org or www.kyagcouncil.net

A recent article, by William R. Wootton, linked below, argues that too many American colleges, especially liberal arts institutions, which typically advocate for issues like sustainability, environmentalism, and social justice, often turn to large corporate agribusiness to handle their food service. In fact 50-60% of college food service is handled by large corporations and three – Aramark, Sodexo, and the Compass Group – dominate the market.

Colleges and universities have the ability to positively contribute to American agriculture by directly supporting local and regional producers. Not surprisingly, students and faculty at some institutions are working to do just that. First, they are pushing to develop independent, college operated food services, that primarily utilize locally-sourced food. Second, they’re demanding more agriculture-focused degree programs.

In terms of independent, locally sourced food service, a national, student-led organization called Real Food Challenge advocates for colleges and universities to source 20% of their food options locally by 2020. Thus far, they’ve gotten 9 colleges to commit to this effort and 31 others are in the process of making the commitment. This is an effort that can only benefit these educational institutions and the farmers and ranchers that are nearby.

The other piece of this puzzle is the lack of agricultural education at liberal arts colleges and universities, which is very surprising given the size of the agricultural industry in the United States. In fact, according to Mr. Wootton, only a handful of liberal arts colleges across the nation have degree programs devoted to or related to agriculture and food systems. Available agricultural programs will have to increase significantly to meet the USDA’s goal of 100,000 new farmers and ranchers.

Given academic institutions’ presence and influence in the United States, they have the opportunity to, in Mr. Wootton’s words, “harness the wealth of talent and energy that will be needed to build and fill the food basket for tomorrow’s world.”

Fire your food service and grow your own

By William R. Wootton, The Chronicle of Higher Education

American colleges, especially undergraduate liberal-arts institutions that profess a deep commitment to sustainability, environmentalism, and social justice—which, of course, they all do—cannot continue to turn a blind eye to the unsustainable and environmentally harmful practices of corporate agribusiness and its on-campus partners, college food services.

Instead, colleges can and should be playing a significant part in reshaping American agriculture, first by figuring out the exciting, complex, and potentially daunting process of developing an independent, college-operated food service, reliant upon locally and regionally sourced food, and firing their corporate food services. And second by building new, baccalaureate-level programs in agriculture.

Those two steps will allow colleges to get themselves out of an ethical pickle that’s been sitting in brine for a decade or more. In the same way that many colleges crow about their LEED-certified buildings, their low carbon footprints, the importance of their communities, and their commitments to everything green, sustainable, and just, they talk about their food. They show beautiful pictures of salads, fruits, and plated meals on their Web sites. They show gardens at harvest and chefs in white hats. The impression is that all this good stuff is somehow directly reflective of the institution itself; that it is part of the ethos and practice of the place.

It is anything but. Read more …