U.S. Ag Secretary Calls for Systemic Changes in Agriculture at Rodale Field Day

KUTZTOWN, Pa. — Instead of farmers needing an outside job to make a living as is often the case, Tom Vilsack wants to see more farms branch out into a variety of income sources.

Figuring out ways for farms to be able to do that needs to be a priority, the U.S. ag secretary told a gathering of more than 500 people at the Rodale Institute’s annual field day on July 19.

Turning agricultural waste into new products is one key way, according to Vilsack.

“That’s the future,” he said.

Converting farm waste into low-carbon energy sources that reduce dependence on fossil fuels is a big focus of USDA’s Partnerships for Climate Smart Commodities that farmers can benefit from, he said.

Digesters that generate energy from manure are an example.

In U.S. agriculture, too little profit often gets into the hands of all but the large players in the ag industry, according to Vilsack.

“Why isn’t the farmer getting a better share?” he said. “Well, you do if you sell (your products) directly.”

As an attorney in the 1980s, Vilsack said he represented farmers who were hit by the farm crisis.

It led him to challenge the “get big or get out” mantra that was taking hold at the time.

“There’s got to be another option,” he said.

Vilsack is pushing for systemic changes in the agriculture system and Farm Bill, including moving away from its reference pricing that mostly rewards large commodity growers.

“My hope and prayer is that the next Farm Bill (in several years) is different from the one we’re talking about now,” he said.

Of the hundreds of crops grown in the U.S., only 22 are covered by Agriculture Risk Coverage and Price Loss Coverage, and of those crops, just a few get most of the payments.

The average rice farmer, Vilsack said, gets about $292,000 in Farm Bill payments and the average soybean producer receives about $54,000.

Most of the crop money goes to farms in high income brackets, he said, with $450,000 being the average income of those receiving payments.

Meanwhile, he said, the Farm Bill being considered now proposes cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which mostly serves retirees, people with disabilities and working parents.

“Wouldn’t it be better to have a conversation about this?” Vilsack said.

Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., has said SNAP benefits will increase under the Republican plan because it maintains a cost-of-living adjustment.

Labels, Labels, Labels

USDA Climate Smart initiatives include funding for farmers transitioning to organic and for certification.

While the USDA certified organic label established in 2002 provides assurance to consumers, Vilsack said, other labels such as sustainable, regenerative, and natural give food buyers little reason for confidence.

“It’s like the wild, wild west out there,” Vilsack said. “Just about anybody can slap on a label saying (their product) is sustainable or whatever. We have to be able to tell consumers what labels actually mean.”

Gary Hirshberg, an early adopter of organic tenets and co-founder of Stonyfield Farm, the organic yogurt company, agreed that consumers need to be wary of labeling claims on food.

“I’ve lived through the term ‘natural,’” he said. “I’ve had ice cream that holds its shape when it melts, and it was labeled natural.”

He’s also heard of products like Cheetos making regenerative claims.

Some food companies define regenerative as mainly referring to no-till farming, without considering the chemicals used in many no-till systems.

“I don’t see how you can regenerate if you’re using toxic chemicals that kill soil organisms,” he said.

Glyphosate, to name one popular herbicide, does not drastically disrupt the soil ecosystem, especially compared to tillage, according to Andrew McGuire, an agronomist at Washington State University Extension.

Hirshberg and his New Hampshire-based Hirshberg Entrepreneurship Institute are at work developing a regenerative organic certification, or ROC, that is verifiable.

“ROC should be the highest level (of certification),” he said. “Until that time, buyer beware.”

Food marketers should be taking their inspiration from Generation Z, according to Hirshberg.

“They really are maniacal about what they eat,” he said of the group that roughly ranges in age from early teens to mid-20s.

“They’ve grown up knowing climate change is an existential threat, they’ve seen the rise in cancer, and they don’t trust the government.”

Growing Organic

Rodale recently increased its number of consultants to 22, proof that organic farming is “a vibrant economic enterprise” in the state, said Pennsylvania ag secretary Russell Redding.

He pointed to the new PA Preferred Organic branding program and Pennsylvania Center for Organic Excellence launched last year by the Shapiro administration.

“It’s important to know how food is produced,” Redding said. “It’s also important to know where it was produced.”

Christa Barfield, founder of Farmer Jawn, perhaps the largest Black woman-owned regenerative organic produce farm in the U.S., said networking among local farmers is crucial.

Urban farming, Barfield said, is just a smaller subset of agriculture as a whole, and faces the same kind of challenges in bringing food to where most people live.

“Without farming we lose on so many levels,” she said.

Barfield believes entrepreneurship and collaborating across traditional boundaries are keys to success.

“We have to work together to break down all of these silos,” she said.

Vilsack agreed on the need to reach across cultural divides as the country becomes more diverse.

“We will be a nation in the not-so-distant future where there won’t be a majority,” he said.

Rodale reported attendance at this year’s field day was the largest in its history.

This story has been updated since it was posted.