Milling & Baking News - March 10, 2020 - 30

Washington

U.S.D.A. unveils initiative with
ambitious goals for agriculture
ARLINGTON, VA. - Increase American agricultural production by 40%.
Halve the environmental impact of
U.S. agriculture's footprint.
Together, those goals for the year
2050 comprise the key targets of the
U.S. Department of Agriculture's
Agricultural Innovation Agenda announced the morning of Feb. 20 during Secretary of Agriculture Sonny
Perdue's keynote address at the
U.S.D.A. Agricultural Outlook Forum
at the Crystal Gateway Marriott Hotel
in Arlington.
Mr. Perdue first outlined the "increased productivity with fewer resources" witnessed over the past century that led to such prosperity that
increased exports became a necessity
as agriculture's influence in the U.S.
trade balance increased. He noted successful efforts to keep "food prices low
for American families in an amazing

milking, no-till, satellite-precision
agriculture, biotech issues, droughttolerance research," he said. "All these
kinds of technology-driven innovation have contributed to 400%
improvement in agricultural
productivity over the years. We
want to continue to do that; we
want to focus more on aligning
those things as we go forward.
Embracing innovative technology allows farmers to become Perdue
more efficient, ultimately improving their bottom lines and keeping cost low and productivity high."
Challenge of excessive productivity
It remains so even in the stressed
dairy sector, which boasts higher production compared with 90 years earlier despite 60% fewer cows. Dairy has
been "so productive, we overproduce,
really, to keep these costs low for our

The U.S.D.A. four-pronged approach to attain goals
1. FOOD LOSS AND WASTE:
Reduce U.S. food loss and waste by 50% in
the United States by the year 2030.
2. CARBON SEQUESTRATION AND
GREENHOUSE GAS:
Enhance carbon sequestration through
soil health and forestry, leverage the
agricultural sector's renewable energy
benefits for the economy, and capitalize
on innovative technologies and practices
to achieve net reduction of the agricultural
sector's current carbon footprint by 2050

way, spending less of their paycheck."
"Over the past 70 years, U.S. output almost tripled while inputs only
increased by a tenth of a per cent annually," he said. "American farmers
have innovated their way to success,
but they aren't always the biggest advocates of telling their success stories.
"They tend to stay behind the
farmgate and do what they need to
do in order to become better at what
they're doing. So, it's important for us
to illustrate the truth about American
agriculture."
Embracing new technology
The U.S. model of private sector
innovation and science-based regulatory approach encourages farmers to
adopt the latest technologies, Mr. Perdue said.
"All the way back to 1929 with rubber-tired tractors, irrigation robotic
30 / March 10, 2020

Milling & Baking News

without regulatory overreach.
3. WATER QUALITY:
Reduce nutrient loss by 30%
nationally by 2050.
4. RENEWABLE ENERGY:
Increase the production of renewable
energy feedstocks, and set a goal to
increase biofuel production efficiency and
competitiveness to achieve market-driven
blend rates of 15% of transportation fuels
in 2030 and 30% of transportation fuels
by 2050.

consumers while the livelihood of
dairy has been under stress," Mr. Perdue said.
The keynote highlighted conservation efforts as well.
"At the same time, we hear a lot
about methane emission from cattle,
dairy cows, per gallon of milk," he
said. "It's dropped over 50% as we've
gone forward."
The adoption of precision agriculture technologies has enabled farmers
to improve productivity.
"That's because they live on the
land and they're smart enough to
know they don't want to poison that
land to the next generations," Mr.
Perdue said. "Any farmer you talk to,
their goal is to pass that land along to
future generations. I remember very
clearly my father telling me, 'Son,
our responsibility whether we own it
or rent it, is to leave it better than we

found it.' That is what farmers are doing today."
The address noted since 1980 farmer land has decreased over 49 million
acres while forest land has increased
more than 3 million acres. A 45% decline in soil erosion was recorded from
1982-2012.
"That's a real conservation
effort, and I think with modern
technology we can do even better, knowing what no-till, cover
crops and other conservation
efforts used widely can do," he
said. "But they're still not universally adopted."
The U.S.D.A.'s innovation
initiative is based on world population estimates of 9.7 billion to 10 billion people by 2050.
"That's a lot of hungry mouths to
feed," Mr. Perdue said. "The motto of
the U.S.D.A. is do right and feed everyone. That's a challenge."
The U.S.D.A. plans a four-pronged
approach to meeting what Mr. Perdue
admits are "stretch goals":
* Food loss and waste: Reduce U.S.
food loss and waste by 50% in the
United States by the year 2030.
* Carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas: Enhance carbon sequestration through soil health and forestry,
leverage the agricultural sector's renewable energy benefits for the economy, and capitalize on innovative technologies and practices to achieve net
reduction of the agricultural sector's
current carbon footprint by 2050 without regulatory overreach.
*Water quality: Reduce nutrient
loss by 30% nationally by 2050.
*Renewable energy: Increase the
production of renewable energy feedstocks, and set a goal to increase biofuel production efficiency and competitiveness to achieve market-driven
blend rates of 15% of transportation
fuels in 2030 and 30% of transportation fuels by 2050.
Importance of benchmarks stressed
Mr. Perdue emphasized the initiative would have clear benchmarks.
"I'm from the old school of Vince
Lombardi - If you don't keep score,
you're just practicing," he said. "We
cannot afford to just practice in this
going forward. If we're going to do
right and feed everyone, we better
keep score in that area."
He then flashed a scoreboard on the
screen.
"We're looking pretty good here by
2050: U.S.D.A. 99, hunger 0, so that's
where we want to be," he said. MBN
bakingbusiness.com / world-grain.com

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