Farmers are embracing sustainable farming practices. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
People today are interested in their investments as it relates to environmental, social, and governance issues, including sustainability.
Farmland Partners CEO, Paul Pittman, says investing in farmland, with consideration of those issues, is a natural fit.
“The track record of American farmers and American agriculture generally is very, very positive on all those issues. You know, the farmer gets up every day and says to himself, how do I produce the maximum amount of food with the least negative environmental footprint? And they’re doing it and we’re supportive of that,” Pittman said. “And you know, we try to drive incremental change in the farmers that farm the farms we own, but we fundamentally respect the progress they’ve already made, and we just want them to continue it and keep it moving forward.”
Farmland Partners recently compiled a sustainability survey from those who farm the land the company owns. The survey asked questions about topics including the use of variable rate fertilizer, no-till operations, soil health practices, and technology use.
The survey found 97 found of respondents invest in soil health, 94 percent practice conservation tillage, and 87 percent use variable rate application technology to apply crop inputs.
Pittman says it’s important to recognize that farmers are feeding the world in a sustainable way.
Farmland Partners is a publicly-traded company that buys and manages high-quality farmland across the country.
The NAFB contributed to this report.
Listen to Sabrina Halvorson’s This Land of Ours program here.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.