Secretary Vilsack Shares Climate Smart Agriculture Creates Enormous Opportunity for Dairy

On World Food Day, Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, joined the stage at the 2023 International Dairy Federation World Dairy Summit in Chicago, Ill.

Secretary Vilsack told the crowd that there are four areas impacting dairy – and agriculture in general – that keep him up at night.

“Obviously at the top of the list is the impact of climate,” he said in front of an international crowd from more than 50 countries. “The impact it is having on our ability to produce more, and the challenges climate presents in making sure we remain productive as our world population increases. I’m also concerned about the conversion and consolidation that’s taking place in American agriculture.”

Vilsack shared that since 1981, the U.S. has lost more than 438,000 farms and, a decline in 230,000 dairy operations in that same period.

The third area that concerns Vilsack regarding agriculture is the concentration of income that is taking place within agriculture.

“We had a record year in farm income last year in the United States, which is oftentimes good news for a Secretary of Agriculture to deliver,” he says. However, he shared that only 7.5% of farmers received 89% of that income. “This explains why so many farmers continue to struggle,” he adds.

Vilsack also pointed out that the international crisis has caused much disruption to our supply chain.

Collaborative Togetherness 

“I think climate-smart agriculture creates an enormous opportunity,” he said, sharing that U.S.  farmers want a system that is both voluntary and incentive-based. We want a system that understands the market and encourages the market to recognize the contribution we’re making.”

Vilsack outlined that all in the dairy industry need to work collaboratively—from the farmers, environmental groups and conservations groups, to major food companies, retailers and universities. The effort starts with a $3 billion commitment from the USDA with funding extended to 141 projects across 87 commodities. For dairy, this totals 18 projects, like:

• The California Dairy Research Foundation, $85 million to work with farmers in California dairy farmers in California to look at methane reduction technologies.
• Edge Dairy Cooperative, $50 million across 18 states to look at feedstock sustainability.
• Dairy Farmers of America in 14 states working to figure out a circular economy opportunity through climate-smart agriculture.

“The theory, and I believe it’s a good one, is that there are consumers in the U.S. who are interested and are willing to invest in sustainably produced products,” he said. “It’s critically important that we do the measuring, monitoring, verification and reporting of these results.”

Efforts are focused on helping farm operations regardless of their size.

“This is an exciting future for dairy and for U.S. agriculture and I think providing leadership globally,” Vilsack says.

Understanding the true volatility of the dairy economy, Vilsack underscores that nobody works harder than dairy farmers.

“And nobody cares more deeply about their farming operation, about the environment, about their community than farmers,” he said. “We’re going to continue to need for strong production from American agriculture to feed the world. But we’re also going to make sure that we create that opportunity for small and mid-sized producers so that we can remain vibrant in our rural communities.”

Source : Dairy Herd management Oct 17th 2023