Republican state agriculture officials are warning U.S. banks their emphasis on policies to reduce climate change threatens the U.S. food supply because of the massive changes it would force on agriculture. In essence, they feel banks are going overboard in pushing an ESG agenda.
The Washington Times recently reported that, in a letter to Wells Fargo, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, officials from a dozen states warned membership in the Net-Zero Banking Alliance “would have a catastrophic impact.”
The alliance requires net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
“Implementing these commitments would have severe consequences for American farmers — including cutting America’s beef and livestock consumption in half. …,” the ag officials said.
The state ag officials also feel that such initiatives would result in farmers switching to inefficient electric farm equipment and moving away from the nitrogen fertilizer necessary for American agriculture to thrive.
Meanwhile, in other agriculture news:
New Land Rules for EU Farmers:
The European Commission has sent member states a proposal to delay implementation of fallow land rules for larger farms in the European Union and recommended restricting some Ukrainian imports, JustFood recently reported.
But the Copa-Cogeca farmers union called the concessions inadequate. Farmers have been blocking access routes to the port of Zeebrugge in Belgium and staging protests in Italy and Spain.
The EC asked member states to approve a proposal that would exempt farms of more than 10 hectares from obligations to keep certain lands fallow this year. Copa-Cogeca said, however, it’s rather late in the agriculture calendar for that decision.
Regarding Ukraine, the EC said it would reimpose tariffs on poultry, eggs and sugar if imports top 2022-23 averages; Copa-Cogeca said cereals and oilseeds should have been included. The EC also proposed renewing the suspension of import duties and quotas on other Ukrainian goods.
“The EU must continue to show solidarity with Ukraine and Moldova in the face of Russia’s continuing aggression,” said Valdis Dombrovskis, the EU’s commissioner for trade.
Meat prices:
The renewable fuel industry using vast amounts of soybeans for jet fuel and diesel has a valuable by-product: soymeal that can then be used for animal feed, ultimately leading to a drop in meat prices, Bloomberg reported.
“Meal is going to be priced to disappear and go away,” Gordon Denny, an agricultural consultant, told Bloomberg. “[So], protein in all forms will get a little less expensive.”
Saltwater:
Rising sea levels threatening to send saltwater inland, damaging growing areas along the Mid-Atlantic coast, prompted John Zander to apply for a grant to plant a test plot of various tidal grasses, which, during storms, could help keep floodwaters at bay, Zander recently told Civil Eats. If it works, the grasses could be sold elsewhere for replanting to help rebuild wetlands to protect valuable farmland.
Sea levels could rise about a foot in the next three decades.
