Ag Alert March 17, 2021

Farmers anticipate damage fromMarch hailstorm ByKevinHecteman

matoes about aweek ago. “We think we may have, at most, lost 5% of that field to plant damage,” Cameron said. “Everything else was OK, but I thought for sure we’d have more damage.” Cameron, who’s also president of the StateBoardofFoodandAgriculture, added that “every time you get a cold front blow- ing through this time of year, it’s always hail, hail, and then cold, cold air behind it that you always have toworry about.” He saidacoldsnap thisweek,withover- night temperatures expected to be near freezing, was giving himmore cause for worry than the hail. “Everybody’sworriedabout it,”Hartwig said, “but we just don’t knowyet.” (Kevin Hecteman i s an ass i stant editor of Ag Alert. He may be contacted at khecteman@cfbf.com.)

A March hailstorm made its mark on Fresno County farms, although it will be impossible to tally the damage for a fewmonths. Daniel Hartwig, who farms near Huron and serves as president of the Fresno CountyFarmBureau, saidlastweek’sstorm knocked some smaller almonds off trees. “A lot of crop on the ground,” Hartwig said, noting he’s “not 100% sure what the long term looks like.” Other crops took a hit as well. “There were some grapes that had pushed out where they got hailed on,” Hartwig said. “Anything that was already out got shredded pretty good. That could have some bearing on the crop.” Howmuchof abearing, he can’t say yet. “Until everything’s in the barn, so to

Hail litters the floor of a Fresno County vineyard. Farmers say it may be months before they know the storm’s impact on their crops.

speak, you’re not going to know for sure what that impact was,”Hartwig said. Some tree-fruit growers used hail can- nons—designed tobreakup thehail using sonic waves—to defend their crops, and neighboring nut growers “didn’t see any impact fromthe hail,” he said.

“Other than that, really, there’s not a whole lot you can do when Mother Nature decides to rain on your parade,” Hartwig added. Diversified grower Don Cameron of Terra Nova Ranch in Helmnoticed dam- age to one field planted to processing to-

Bank analyzes options for dairy methane reductions Reducing methane emissions on dairy farms in a meaningful way is with- in reach, according to a new report from RaboAgriFinance,whichsays that inmost cases, the reductionswill be awin-win for dairy farmers, dairy brands, consumers and the environment. pansionandprofitabilityof theseprojects, Laine reported. and scalability, the report said. The active ingredients in these feed additives range from synthetics to seaweed, garlic and lemongrass. The additives are currently in various stages of development and do nothaveaclear revenuestreamassociated with them, Laine noted.

Even when not calling out specific ef- forts such as methane reductions, the re- port pointed out that food brands are still making commitments to reach specific greenhousegasgoals.Theserelyonacom- binationof findingopportunities internal- ly and buying carbon offsets on voluntary carbon offsetmarkets, Laine said.

The value of the fuel on its own is not enough to justify theexpenseof theequip- ment to clean and transport it, he said, adding that the primary economic incen- tive for theseprojects is the lowcarbon fuel standard credits associatedwith them. California is the primary market in the U.S. for low carbon fuel standard credits, Laine noted, and sales of the credits can provide 70% to 90% of revenue generat- ed from renewable natural gas projects. Markets for the credits are expected to ex- pand,withdemand for thecredits risingas fuel companies rely on them tomeet car- bonintensityrequirements, thereport said. Manyof theseprojectsarealsoeligible to generate renewable identificationnumber credits as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Renewable Fuel Standard Program, because they gener- ate renewable fuel used to displace fossil fuel, Laine said. These credits can repre- sent around25%of the revenue fromthese projects, he added. Meanwhile, feed additives to reduce enteric emissions are quickly developing and working toward regulatory approval

The report looks at opportunities for the dairy supply chain to adopt rapidly advancing technology that reduces green- house gas emissions from dairy farms. It also discusses the economics of various methane-reducing projects. “It’s important for dairy farms to be aware of the advancements and look for opportunities tobeearlyadopters, as early adopters will likely be the ones to see the most economic benefit,” saidBen Laine, a dairy analyst with Rabo AgriFinance who authored the report. There are twoprimary sources ofmeth- ane emissions. Manure is one source; the other is entericemissions fromcowburps. Methane digester technology is well established and continues to evolve and improve, the report said. The relatively recent ability to further clean the biogas captured by anaerobic digesters into re- newablenatural gas isdriving the rapidex-

“Thevalueof loweringentericemissions through feedadditiveswill come inmone- tizingmethaneemissions reductions inthe industry, as several companies strive for net-zerocarbonemissions targets,”hesaid. Dairy companieswith foodbrandsmay leverage sustainabilityclaims in theirmar- keting, Laine said, including specific ref- erences to reduced methane emissions. Henoted that shoppers increasingly value sustainability claims, but that value varies andmust be relevant to the product. During a U.S. Senate Agriculture com- mitteehearingonclimatechange,witness- es representing the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance described how farmers, ranchersandforestownerscandeliverand benefit fromclimate solutions. The alliance consists of agricultural groups, food and industry organizations, state governments, environmental advo- cates and others. In testimony to the Senate committee last week, one alliance representative, Arizona FarmBureau President Stefanie Smallhouse, described the alliance as “a very broad and diverse group of people.” She said its recommendations are based on threeprincipals: “supportingvoluntary markets and incentive-based policies; we want to advance science-based out- comes, andwewant topromote resilience and help rural economies better adapt to changes in the climate.” Smallhouse saidmany farmers already use climate-smart practices. “Anybody that has implemented renew- able energy practices on their farms, preci-

As regulatory hurdles are cleared and as feed additives and supplements for reduc- ing enteric emissions becomemorewidely available, the report saidmethane reduc- tions from these additives could be quan- tified and used to generate carbon offset permitsonvoluntarycarbonoffsetmarkets. Laine said he thinks dairy brands are in agoodpositiontoreduceemissionswithin their supplychains through feedadditives, methane digesters or both. Hearing looks at climate, agriculture

sionfarmingthat limitstheamountofnitro- gen, cover crops, mulching practices, crop rotations for fixing nitrogen, no-till, we’ve got conservation tillage, rotational grazing for ranchers in theWest, so lots of different thingsarehappeningrightnow,”shesaid.“It just depends onwhere you are andwhat’s applicableandwhat youcanafford, really.” Smallhouse said foundingmembers of theFoodandAgricultureClimateAlliance include the American Farm Bureau Federation, EnvironmentalDefenseFund, National Council of Farmer Cooperatives andNational Farmers Union. “The fact that we’re lending a voice to this effort andwe’reworkingalongside the Environmental Defense Fund and several different cooperatives and different trade associations in agriculture shows that there’s a common thread in this effort that farmers can be part of the solution,” she said, adding that solutions “shouldbe vol- untaryand incentive-based, not punitive.” The California Farm Bureau is among members of the alliance. For more infor- mation, see agclimatealliance.com.

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10 Ag Alert March 17, 2021