More than 80 farmers, academics and members of the agricultural supply chain met in Des Moines Nov. 25 for an Iowa Smart Agriculture Initiative forum. The event was co-sponsored by Solutions from the Land and Iowa State University's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

They met to assess the impacts that extreme weather events and changing climatic conditions are having or will have on the state's No. 1 industry — and how the ag sector can contribute to addressing these issues.

The forum was coordinated by a work group co-chaired by Iowa corn and soybean producer Ray Gaesser, a Solutions from the Land board member and past chairman and president of the American Soybean Association, and Daniel J. Robison, dean of ISU’s College of Agriculture and a co-chair of the Iowa Conservation Infrastructure Initiative. Among the leaders who addressed the forum were representatives of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst, and U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne.

Climate change brings risks                          

The forum’s agenda brought views from diverse aspects of Iowa agriculture, with an “ultimate goal” to explore needs to provide nutritious food, clean energy and ecosystem services, such as water filtration and carbon sequestration, all while maintaining profitability.

As highlighted by members of a science panel that opened the forum, the increasing frequency of erratic, extreme weather events and climate variation pose unprecedented risks to the sustainability of Iowa agriculture, as well as numerous challenges to sustaining and enhancing crop productivity, livestock health and the economic vitality of rural communities.

Epic flooding last spring caused more than $2 billion in damage in Iowa and delayed planting of the 2019 corn and soybean crop. Coupled with a wet and late harvest, this year's weather-related calamities represented the latest real-world example of the "new normal" that is occurring, many forum attendees agreed.

Goals require innovation 

Fred Yoder, chair of the North America Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance and a Solutions from the Land co-chair, said climate challenge goals can’t be met without technology and innovation. He cited three pillars to climate-smart agriculture:

Agriculture and science may not have all the answers today, Yoder said, "but we have some of the answers. We need tools in the toolbox to build resilience and mitigate climate impacts. We need farmer leaders to integrate all of this into the system."

Yoder added that farmers learn from other farmers, and farmers from Iowa will lead the effort to meet the climate challenge. He also encouraged agriculture to assert its leadership position now to take an active role in decisions being made at all policy levels. "If agriculture doesn't lead, others will," Yoder said.

Economic incentives or regulation?

Jerry Hatfield, director of the USDA National Laboratory for Agriculture and the Environment, based on the ISU campus, was among the speakers who urged in-the-field measures from growers, emphasizing that farmers must enhance their soils. The USDA scientist said that to live with climate variation, growers must build resilience to yield variation and plan for both production and ecosystem services.

"The path will be complex," Hatfield said, noting there is debate over whether climate goals can best be accomplished through economic incentives or through regulation. "We know what we need to get this done," he said. "Opportunities exist to build a new ag system to capture environmental value. This is how we need to be thinking about the new economy of agriculture."

Mike Castellano, an ISU soil scientist and agronomy professor, invited farmers to lead on the actions needed. "It is critical that we link this climate-smart science to the people and the operations on the ground," he said.

Mapping out path forward

The Iowa Smart Ag Work Group reconvened Nov. 26, the day after the forum, to discuss its findings and continue the conversation on how to create a path forward. “Solutions from the Land looks forward to helping Iowa producers find win-win outcomes for agriculture and the environment,” said work group co-chair Ray Gaesser.

Out of the work group discussion came three initial action items for follow-up, said Kendall Lamkey, chair of ISU’s department of agronomy. He is serving as the College of Ag and Life Science’s primary liaison with the Iowa Smart Ag Initiative. The three steps to take next are:

“Iowa has been an agricultural powerhouse for decades,” Lamkey said. “Right now, we have a unique opportunity to be a leader. We have the knowledge and experience to help agriculture adapt to the changes we know are coming.”

A more detailed recap of the Monday Iowa Smart Agriculture Initiative forum, which includes a video of the presentations, can be downloaded here.

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