When: October 26th 2014
How: Via email
What: Conservation Scientist;American Farmland Trust
- What would you say is one of the
biggest issues that farmers are dealing with right now?
I would say Climate
Change. Even if some farmer’s
political or religious beliefs make it difficult to accept the causes, I do
think most recognize the challenges of “climate uncertainty” and “climatic
extreme events”. Our success as a
species has been based on a level of predictability about climate and
agriculture - when to plant, harvest, and when to expect rain. Different parts of the world will be
affected differently but will affect all of us and the health of the planet,
for example farmers in California don’t have enough water and projections are
for continued drought- who/where will these fruits and vegetables be grown? We can develop adaptation strategies,
which will require research, education and outreach, new and adapted
technology, and increased technical assistance. Time is of the essence because impacts of climate change are
already here, and we are behind on this.
- Is there a lot of land right now
that is available for farming? If so, how much? What can people do to
develop this or gain land rights?
Land suitable for farming
is different than land availability. We continue to lose our best farmland to
sprawl development patterns around the world, especially in parts of the US. near
urban areas. Not all farmland is suitable for the same crops or kind of
agriculture. The best soils (Prime
and Important Farmland Soils) are the most resilient to climate change and can
be farmed with the least environmental risk. For example, there is lots of good
farmland available in northern Maine but it’s not close to urban areas and has
a short growing season; there is a lack of farmland in Southern New England
close to 30 million consumers.
There is land that can be cleared from trees and shrubs and brought back
into production (because the underlying soils are good) if we want to and can
live with the consequences. In urban areas Brownfields could be used for
greenhouse production. In agricultural communities there can be great
competition for farmland between farmers, and in peri-urban areas there is
competition with developers and other land uses. Land availability is
challenging since it relates to estate planning/succession planning of
farm/landowner families, cost of land for new, beginning, and established
farmers, and finding land to buy or lease (who owns it and are they motivated
to make it available to farm?).
There are a number of efforts to address these challenges including: the purchase/acquisition of
conservation easements by Governments and non-profits, outreach on estate
planning, land linking/listing/matching services. We need funding for easements, educating citizens and
landowners about why they should support agriculture in their communities, and
create affordable mechanisms to make farmland affordable/leasable. Ag profitability and good stewardship
are essential to keeping land in production, they are businesses after all. We need better and holistic land use
planning at a variety of scales.
- Have you seen any serious changes involving
farming, land, weather etc that worry you for the years to come?
See #1 on climate change. In addition, we are at a critical point
in trying to change the food system.
In many parts of the US and world we lost the infrastructure to grow and
eat locally and seasonally. We
lost our infrastructure and distribution systems and need to reestablish
them. Are we willing to pay the
true cost of our food choices and subsidize this for those who can’t pay? Are we willing to limit our food
choices? Can we find the right
balance of big ag, medium, and small agriculture? Can we farm sustainably at a variety of scales and protect
human rights, ecosystem health, and cultural diversity?
- How have local communities gotten
involved regarding farming? If any at all?
Yes, there are some
exciting things going on that are making an impact. Support for Farmers
markets, community farms, CSAs, farm-to-school, farm-to-institution are a
result of Federal and State initiatives that communities have built upon to make
successful. In Massachusetts for
example, there are many Towns with Agricultural Commissions that serve as
advocates for agriculture.
Connecticut has the Working Lands Alliance, a grassroots organization
working to protect farmland and farmland availability and farm viability. In VT the Farm to Plate initiative has
a very strong community component.
Many Towns in New England have made their regulations more farm
friendly, and supplied funds to protect farmland. The northeast and west coastal states are doing the most,
some strong efforts in the upper Midwest.
Less going on in the Midwest and parts of the South with some
exceptions. I was just in Kentucky
and they have done some great stuff. We need support at both levels; top down
from government and grassroots bottom up from communities.
- Stores?
This has been a challenging
area. Grocery stores talk a good
game about locally grown but most are not delivering. Small chains and
independents are more likely to make an effort to buy local farm products. Whole Foods has that authority at the
local store level; with mixed results.
To be fair, its complex-will consumers pay more? Can small farms supply
the amount they need? Will consumers buy a less than perfect looking
product? Are there the regulations
and processing to get them the products they want? Are the regulations barriers
to local and small scale farmers? How committed are their produce wholesalers
and distributors to supporting local ag and can they give farms a fair price
rather than sucking up the profit?
- Colleges
Definitely lots going on at
the college level with college farms, an interest by the students in supporting
local and organic foods. Similar
challenges to the stores, since many of the food distributors and catering
services are done through large corporations where there is often not a
commitment by them to use local foods, again with some of the same challenges
as relates to quantity, quality.
There are also antiquated State, local, and university purchasing
requirements that need to be changed to allow different pricing to get local
products. Seems like smaller
colleges and private colleges may have an easier time with getting local foods
into their food service.
