The increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events like droughts and floods have taken a toll on the midwestern U.S. in recent years, putting a major strain on the region’s farmers. From 2001 to 2010, the Federal Crop Insurance Program, a government program created to protect farmers from crop loss, covered $4.1 billion in damages; in 2011 alone, the program paid out $10.8 billion.

With the largest U.S. crop — corn — conservatively estimated to drop in yield anywhere from 20 to 80 percent due to extreme weather exacerbated by climate change, insurance claims may skyrocket to levels that may not be sustainable. But researchers from the Yale School of the Environment found that by considering soil properties when determining insurance premiums could be beneficial to both farmers and insurers.

A study published in Environmental Research Letters uses years of data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to outline how higher levels of soil organic matter improve water retention, which can mitigate crop yield losses from drought. If insurers were to include oft-omitted data on soil health when determining premiums, the researchers say, insurance liabilities could drop considerably, while food security increases.

“It’s been commonly thought for a while that if you have more soil organic matter, you are more drought resilient,” says Dan Kane, a Ph.D. student at YSE and lead author of the study. “What we’re able to show is data backing this — and how much more resilient the crops can be in more severe weather conditions.”

Using USDA data on county-wide corn yields, the researchers determined that increasing soil organic matter by one percent would reduce the average proportion of liabilities under severe drought conditions by 36 percent. It would also increase corn yields by roughly 35 bushels per acre, they estimate — roughly one ton.

Additional co-authors include Mark Bradford, professor of soils and ecosystem ecology at YSE; Emily Oldfield, a postdoctoral fellow at the Environmental Defense Fund; Stephen Wood, a research scientist at YSE and The Nature Conservancy; and Emma Fuller, director of sustainability science at the farming software company Granular.

The current system for providing crop insurance is complex. The Federal Crop Insurance Program, which is partially subsidized by federal dollars, very strictly controls insurance premiums and which local insurers can sell and service insurance policies. Kane explains that these premiums are typically determined by historical yield data, which may prove ineffective when faced with increasingly variable and extreme weather.

“There need to be other factors added to the equation, and the soil itself seems an obvious one for land-based agriculture” Bradford says, adding that the USDA data also identifies counties where corn has not been a successful crop.

Bradford, Kane, Oldfield and Wood were also authors of a quarterly research review published by the Aspen Global Change Institute this month, titled “Understanding Soil Carbon Science To Identify Strategies for Climate Mitigation and Adaptation.” The review focuses on a November 2019 study published in Nature Sustainability, led by Bradford, which raised concern over the public debate on the potential for soil carbon to mitigate climate change.

“Given the momentum in the soil carbon space, the need for clear communication is more important than ever and will help ensure policy, markets, and management actions are well-informed and successful,” the authors wrote in the review, offering suggestions for moving forward.

A letter was sent today, by over 25 national agriculture organization, to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai regarding the U.S.-Mexico trade relationship. In it, the groups discuss their leading concerns in the U.S.-Mexico food and agriculture trade relationship.

The letters stated, “Mexico is one of America’s most important food and agriculture trade partners. NAFTA has yielded strong benefits to both countries and the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) promises to build upon those gains. Yet, the food and agriculture trade relationship with Mexico has declined markedly, a trend USMCA’s implementation has not reversed. We respectfully urge your attention to this important but quickly deteriorating trade relationship.”

The agriculture groups brought up multiple points of concern in the letter, including: 

• Glyphosate/GM Corn Ban
• Increasing Obstacles to Dairy Trade
• Organic Export Certification Requirement
• Corn Product Disparagement
• Biotechnology Approvals
• Meat Industry Market Access and Geographical Indications
• Potato Import Ban
• Front-of-Pack Labeling (NOM-051)

American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said, “AFBF is extremely concerned with the rapidly deteriorating relationship between the U.S. and our neighbors to the south. We built strong trade ties with Mexico through NAFTA and improved upon them with USMCA, but recent moves by Mexico to limit American imports and to undercut prices in the U.S. puts America’s farmers and ranchers at a competitive disadvantage.

“We urge Secretary Vilsack and Ambassador Tai to engage with Mexico and enforce the agreements between our two countries to ensure farmers have a level playing field and continue to lead the world in producing safe, affordable food.”

The agriculture groups reiterated the importance of foreign markets by saying, “Our associations represent much of the food and agriculture sector that is responsible for roughly one-fifth of the country’s economic activity, directly supporting more than 23 million jobs — constituting nearly 15 percent of total U.S. employment. As a net producing nation of food and agriculture products, foreign markets are critical to the economic vitality of the food and agriculture sector.”

Read the full letter here.

Though the COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, some light seems to be appearing at what may be the end of a very long tunnel. Vaccinations are moving ahead, caseloads have fallen from winter, and even if a better “new normal” isn’t quite here yet, “more normal” seems achievable, perhaps in just a few months.

Dairy farms are doing their part to serve, and to lead. It’s part of the cooperative spirit that defines the sector, one that, for all the talk of consolidation, remains dominated by family farms. Today, 95 percent of U.S. dairy farms are family-owned and operated. Many of them of multigenerational — all are critical contributors to rural economies.

Dairy farmers and the cooperatives they own have contributed to those communities throughout the pandemic. In 2020, farmers and dairy companies partnered with local food banks to deliver 469 million pounds of dairy — including milk, cheese and yogurt — to families in need through Feeding America alone. This doesn’t count the thousands of acts that go unrecorded, but not unnoticed, by those affected. Dairy farmers and their co-ops also have helped keep food supply chains operating while supporting an industry that, in total, supports roughly three million jobs, one million directly and two million indirectly.

As challenges have evolved, so has dairy’s ability to respond. Federal coronavirus legislation includes a dairy donation program that should make dairy-related food assistance even more readily available to those who need it. And dairy cooperatives are lead in new challenges, such as vaccinations. The National Milk Producers Federation has published a “Dairy Farmers Guide to the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout,” with links to every state’s efforts as well as advice on vaccine programs for farmers and farm workers that’s tailored to their needs. These efforts supplement other NMPF-led materials created to navigate the crisis, ensuring that the U.S. dairy sector remains an example of positive, proactive response in domestic and international agriculture.

Traveling through the tunnel sometimes means leading the way. Doing its part on agriculture’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, from local acts to global impacts, has been dairy’s mission throughout the crisis. It’s consistent with its other areas of leadership — from sustainability to nutrition to support for science-based rigor. And that focus will continue, until the brighter days return.

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