For generations, farmers have taken steps to sustain the soil and protect the environment, but many of those actions went relatively unnoticed. That is, until terms like sustainability became buzzwords in agriculture and beyond. Suddenly, consumers and corporate companies were very interested in the environmental impact of agriculture.
To bring farmers and industry leaders together to discuss this somewhat nebulous topic, the first Sustainable Agriculture Summit was held in Minneapolis, Minn., in 2014. Around 350 attendees met to wrap their heads around the topic of sustainability.
A decade later, the 10th annual Sustainable Agriculture Summit was held once again in Minneapolis. At this event last November, more than 1,000 attendees took part in keynote presentations, breakout sessions, and valuable networking opportunities. No one has all the answers, but it is important to keep the conversation moving forward, and it is vital that farmers have a seat at the table when decisions about sustainability are made. Farmers, after all, are at the very core of sustainable agriculture.
A dirty word
Corporate leaders and policymakers have their thoughts and opinions on sustainability and what actions farms need to take to help meet our nation’s environmental goals. But at the end of the day, farmers are the ones who need to implement the changes and, in some cases, make investments to reach these goals. During the Sustainable Agriculture Summit, several farmers from across the country were part of panel discussions to share their insight and experiences on farming in an era focused on sustainability.
Rancher Mike Williams admitted that there was a time where he could hardly utter the word sustainable without having a bad taste in his mouth. Williams runs a cow-calf operation in California’s Los Angeles County, which at one time was one of the country’s largest agricultural counties. Today, Williams said concrete replaces many of the grazing acres cows used to roam.
His formal involvement with the sustainable agriculture movement happened somewhat by accident. Williams said when he learned that the California Cattlemen’s Association was involved in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (USRSB), he had some concerns about their state association, as well as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, being involved in a group with sustainable in its name.
His questions about the association’s participation in USRSB led him to, in a roundabout way, volunteer to become a member of that group. While he may not have been eager to get involved, he said he was comforted at his first meeting to see other producers there, engaged in the discussion.
He was impressed at how the USRSB brought together producers and people all the way up the supply chain. “This was a really good opportunity to see some of the pressures and issues other segments of the supply chain are facing that I would not have otherwise been aware of,” he explained.
Williams served on the board of directors and today leads the work of the USRSB as the chairman of the organization.
Partners in trust
When the panel was asked how to get farmer buy-in to adopt sustainable practices, Williams said the words used to describe opportunities and requirements should be chosen carefully. He said, “Terms like standardization make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.”
He doesn’t believe one-size-fits-all regulation is the best approach to use with producers. Instead, finding ways to help farmers want to learn new practices that improve sustainability, without having to make big changes, will be most fruitful.
“If you want to make change, you have to start from a place of trust,” he said. “Work with people who producers trust. Work with organizations they trust. Then you start to see change happen.”
Williams shared an example of when there was a push in the cattle industry to give injections subcutaneously rather than in the muscle. This change did not happen overnight, but the advisers who beef producers trusted were making that recommendation, and over a period of about five years, there was a cultural shift toward subcutaneous injections.
He recommended that advisers give the farmers they work with respect and understanding. Recognize that they are already working hard, and help them identify one practice they can implement on their ranch. “It’s a process, but it builds a level of comfort,” Williams said.
“Sometimes people get into a comfort zone. They find something that is working for them, and they are slow to make big changes because it seems like a lot of risk,” he noted. “Small changes get the ball rolling.”
He also pointed out that producers are already doing a lot of environmentally-friendly practices that are not always quantifiable. “They are doing good things. I think we need to recognize that,” he said.
A clear definition
Williams said it has been a process for the industry to determine what sustainability means for agriculture. Today, there are some key indicators in terms of environmental impact and animal welfare, and most of these expectations simply make good sense.
“Sustainability is also how a ranch stays in business, and you don’t stay in business by raising cattle the same way or breeding them the same way. When new technology comes, we need to adapt,” he said.
He added that there are half the number of cow-calf ranchers today as there were when he graduated from high school a few decades ago.
“Sustainable ranching is just good ranching,” he stated. Ranchers are not ranching the same way they were 50 years ago, or 50 years before that, and ranchers will be improving 100 years from now, said Williams.
Sustainability in practice
Williams is right; many times, sustainable practices make good business sense. But not every solution is the right fit for every farm. During another Sustainable Agriculture Summit panel, producers shared their experiences with various practices.
For panel member Lynn Boadwine from Baltic, S.D., environmentally friendly goals have touched many aspects of his family’s 5,000-cow dairy farm. They utilize manure management plans, cover crops, and different feed products to reduce enteric methane emissions from their dairy cows. They also run anaerobic digesters at four of their dairy sites. Work continues to reduce water usage and refine their manure separation systems.
The first year he attended the Sustainable Agriculture Summit, “I didn’t know anything about sustainability,” he admitted.
“It’s changed a lot over the years,” he continued. Many of the sustainable practices they are doing on their farm sites are practices they knew they needed to do. When it comes to new opportunities, they study them carefully to be sure it’s right for their situation.
“I have a rule, and it’s do no harm,” he said.
For example, Boadwine explained that they looked into investing in a digester on their own, but the return on investment just wasn’t there. Instead, by working with outside investors, they take away that risk. “If you don’t have the investment, anything you receive is a pretty good return,” Boadwine noted.
Digester research has also taken place at Cooper Farms, where Bill Knapke is the environmental manager. He has worked for the company for nearly three decades and also operates his own farm, producing pullets, nursery pigs, dairy-beef cattle, and crops. Headquartered in Oakwood, Ohio, Cooper Farms is fully integrated in the turkey business with breeders, two hatcheries, contract growers, and processing plants. In the chicken egg business, Cooper Farms has contract growers, in-line production, and a breaking plant for liquid egg and pasteurized products. Swine production includes farrowing facilities as well as contract growers for nursery, finishing, and wean/finish production.
Knapke said there are three generations working together at Cooper Farms. Each generation has different ideas, with different thought processes and different areas where they focus their energy.
When asked what they have tried but hasn’t worked, Knapke said they have been optimistic about a digester, and they have started down that road many times, but the right fit has not been found yet.
While they have not met with the right scenario for incorporating anaerobic digesters, they are working toward other sustainability benchmarks. For instance, the company is working to recycle, reuse, and repurpose resources, with a goal to become landfill free.
As for the minimum return on investment needed to adopt a practice or technology, Knapke said it varies from year to year. On the farm, they need to prioritize their projects and upgrades annually.
When asked the same question about a return on investment, Bob Walker of Walker Farms had a more straightforward answer. “When it comes to new practices,” Walker said, “if it’s not economically viable, we cannot do it. Period.”
“All of us had projects we were hopeful in,” he continued. “But at the end of the day, if we can’t make it positive for us on the farm, we cannot keep doing it. That’s the bottom line. We have to keep that in mind. We have to make it work for each farm.”
Walker is the co-owner and operator of Walker Farms in Yum Yum, Tenn. With his brother, he raises cattle and grows cotton, corn, soybeans, wheat, and hay, most of which is grown on land that has been in the family since the 1830s.
Walker said they do “a little bit of everything” in terms of sustainability. Most of their land is highly erodible, so they have been utilizing cover crops for years. They also do variable rate nutrient application to cut fertilizer costs and prevent over applying nutrients.
“Every year we are trying to improve on what we are doing,” he said.
A broader view
Boadwine reminded the audience that sustainability is more than what happens in the field or what greenhouse gases are produced. He shared the example of when they moved their dairy cattle barns from natural ventilation to mechanical ventilation.
They made this change to keep the manure flowing through their waste management system. This also allowed them to put in a high-pressure fogging system for heat abatement, replacing their previously used sprinkler system. Less water in the manure is better for the anaerobic digester, and as an added benefit, they cut water usage by 60%.
“Those are hidden benefits no one sold us on or told us about, but they fall into the sustainability bucket,” he said. “Changes like this are the unsung heroes of what we do in farming.”
While the general sustainability movement may focus on a few areas of agriculture, Boadwine said there are a lot of pillars of sustainability. For instance, he said he has close to 200 employees. “When I wake up in the morning, I worry about my workforce. That should be part of sustainability, too.”
As an industry, Boadwine noted the transition to more private research, but he said, “Producers still need independent research. There is a struggle to get that. It’s a piece I miss.”
Like Williams mentioned about the overall acceptance of subcutaneous injections in cattle, Knapke said a cultural shift will be beneficial for adoption and adaptation to changes. “Only a handful of people want to be the first to do something,” he said. The majority move forward when they reach a greater comfort level.
“Change is slow, but I think that ground level support and a cultural shift toward sustainability is moving forward and will make it easier,” Knapke said.
Walker reemphasized the need for trusted advisers. “We are looking for companies to work with us. We can’t continue to feed the world as cheaply as we do without trusted resources beside us,” he said.
“We know our land, so don’t take for granted what we are doing. Listen to us,” he continued.
“If we are still in business today, we have to be sustainable,” Walker emphasized. “I encourage you, as advisers, to work with farmers, not just drop things on them.”
“We want to do better. We want to be more sustainable,” Walker said. “We have families, we have generations we built into the land. We want this to be a better place for everyone. Work with us. We are willing to give you a chance.”
With more eyes on agriculture, it will take improvements all along the supply chain to meet the goals placed upon the industry. These farmers highlighted the trust they need in advisers, research, practices, and technology.
They also noted the need for producers to think proactively and look to the future of agriculture to be more sustainable in all interpretations of the word. As Walker concluded, “If we are not looking forward, we are slipping backward.”
This article appeared in the February 2025 issue of Journal of Nutrient Management on pages 12-15. Not a subscriber? Click to get the print magazine.
