by Clint Rainey, Fast Company magazine
America’s largest ag publication says that “one of the more intractable challenges of our time” is convincing farmers to adopt regenerative agriculture, a lesson it attests to firsthand. Billions have now been invested to achieve that goal in America, yet just 5% of U.S. farmland uses even basic cover crops.
For 2023, Farm Journal’s initiative Trust in Food tapped into its grower database–the country’s largest–to study the links between farmers’ attitudes, behaviors, interests, and values and their willingness to voluntarily switch to climate-smart growing practices. A team of data scientists and ecologists analyzed how growers think and feel about the changes being asked of them, what barriers stand in their way, and which strategies would be the most effective in “vastly accelerating” their rate of adoption.
Industry leaders such as General Mills and conservation groups like Ducks Unlimited and American Farmland Trust helped with outreach, and the USDA tossed in $40 million to advance sustainable farming through technology.
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