Climate-smart commodities recommendations from Young Farmers
On Tuesday, February 8, USDA announced its new Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities pilot program. This program will aid in the fight against climate change by investing $1 billion, via USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation, to provide incentives to agricultural producers and landowners to: Implement climate-smart production practices, activities, and systems on working lands (such as low- […]
Federal policy must support young and BIPOC farmers and ranchers leading the future of sustainable livestock management
On February 3rd, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture held a hearing on sustainability in the livestock sector. In a letter we sent to the Committee, we discussed the role the livestock industry can play in mitigating the impacts of climate change. Practices that sequester carbon in the soil and provide other ecosystem […]
Farm bill conservation programs need to be more accessible to young and BIPOC farmers
Today, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Agriculture held a hearing to review current farm bill conservation programs in anticipation of the 2023 Farm Bill. We sent a letter to the Committee emphasizing the critical role conservation programs can play in addressing climate change and improving land access. Young and BIPOC farmers and ranchers […]
Young Farmers Joins the Young Farmers G20 Summit
As young farmer organizations, we want to take the opportunity of the G20 to share with Ministers and Secretaries of Agriculture our needs, concerns, and potential suggestions to improve the livelihood of rural communities. We need to act in order to ensure the competitiveness of young farmers across the world and effective generational renewal policies, […]
2021 Climate Policy Recommendations
The following is an excerpt from the policy recommendations submitted to the USDA on April 29th, 2021 on tackling the climate crisis. In our 2020 survey of policy issues, our members identified climate action as their number one priority and selected climate change as one of five pillars in our federal policy platform. Young farmers […]
Young Farmers and Climate Change: Katie Funk and Jeff Hake at Funks Grove, Illinois
Farmers who produce maple syrup depend on cycles of above-freezing days and freezing nights to keep tree sap flowing. These ideal conditions typically occur during late winter or early spring in New England and the Midwest, allowing tappers to collect sweet sap to boil down to maple syrup. But for farmers Katie Funk and Jeff […]
Young Farmers and Climate Change: Reflections on Winter Storm Uri with Carolina Mueller
“Climate change isn’t anything new for farmers who have been working here for the past ten years,” says Carolina Mueller, a farmer who supports her partner and farm owner, Lorig Hawkins, with running Middle Ground Farm, a 30-acre certified organic vegetable and livestock farm in Utley, Texas. Carolina Mueller (left) and Lorig Hawkins (right) stand […]
House Committee Releases Climate Report that Values the Next Generation of Farmers and Ranchers
Young farmers and ranchers are at a climate crossroads: they work every day on the front lines of the climate crisis, while their stewardship of natural resources is key to combating climate change. It is imperative that Congress take steps to address the climate crisis that puts their operations at risk by empowering them to […]
Young Farmers Climate Statement
Young farmers and ranchers across the country are working to solve the climate crisis. Join us. The thousands of young farmers and ranchers in our 45 chapters across the country began careers in agriculture for manifold reasons: to grow healthier food for their communities; to steward the land, water, and natural resources for future generations; […]
Farming in a New Climate Reality with Mark Howden of the IPCC
In October, the The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a stunning Special Report on Climate Change. The study found that if greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate, we will face devastating consequences across all sectors by 2040, much earlier than previously thought. The IPCC is “the single largest science-policy experiment in […]