CAL Consulting LLC (d.b.a Carbon A List) identified that gaps exist in terms of scale and connectivity between field-level soil health assessments and state or federal-level resilience planning and preparedness for drought, flood, food, energy and other areas. Resilience is more important than ever, with disruptions causing agricultural supply chain shocks. These disruptions and risks are linked and connected to farm-level soil health improvements. Soil health relates to the production and financial aspects of resilience, but does not scale well in resilience metric development, assessments and preparedness. State and federal resilience metrics do not connect with soil health indicators and frameworks at the farm/community level.
The project reviewed the rise of "resilience planning" and the degree to which existing frameworks and programs include and support production agriculture. The study presents a case to resilience planners that they should account for the land management actions of farmers, especially those involving water and soil, and provides recommendations to lower barriers to farmer participation in resilience initiatives and incentives. The results of the literature review and data synthesis was presented at the American Society of Agricultural & Biological Engineers and resulting work will be submitted for peer reviewed publication. The results will raise awareness among academic, industry, and other organizations about the critical ways that sustainablepractices benefit urban and rural communities.
Next, CAL developed and held an interactive webinar entitled “A Dialogue on Agricultural Resilience across Scales” in March. It set the stage for the topic of agriculture resilience, and introduced how attendees could apply the topic to their own profession and/or business and the workshop resulted in many conversations which not only provided attendees with a better understanding of agriculture resilience. Workshop #1 was held in May in Washington, D.C. and aimed to generate preliminary findings and foster collaborative discussions on resilience in the agricultural sector through the lens of incentives in the insurance and lending sectors. This workshop focused on enhancing understanding and addressing gaps in agricultural risk management, particularly in the context of insurance and banking. Discussions revolved around needing farmer input for the gaps and opportunities we identified thus far, further developing the causal loop discussion with a farmer perspective and exploring strategic investments that can improve resilience in agriculture. Workshop #2 was held in June in St. Louis, MO and was focused on gaining the farmer perspective in agriculture resilience. This workshop was designed as an extension of the USB strategic planning process and is directly tied to bringing value to soybean farmers.
This project developed two White Papers. “How to dynamically assess and act on resilience” outlines the state of agricultural resilience and the current challenges and future opportunities for enhancing it by considering the need for improved incentives, robust data management systems, and informed decision-making processes. The paper considers the present state, future state, gaps, and opportunities. It proposes a strategic framework for the United Soybean Board to lead initiatives that standardize resilience metrics, integrate data-driven insights, and incentivize agricultural practices. At the core is a recommendation to stimulate a broader industry community of practice to improve data collection efforts to empower resilience. “The Farmer’s Voice: Strategies for Resilience in a Changing Landscape” showcases the strategies, obstacles and opportunities that farmers like the three interviewed navigate. These accounts reveal that farmers are not only impacted by climate variability but are also leading the charge in implementing solutions that ensure long-term sustainability.