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SEPTEMBER 2020
USDA seeking input on Agriculture Innovation Agenda
waste: Advance our work toward the goal of reducing food loss and waste by 50% in the United States by the year 2030. » Carbon Sequestration and Greenhouse Gas: Enhance carbon se- questration through soil health and forestry, leverage the agricultur- al sector’s renewable energy benefits for the economy and capitalize on innovative tech- nologies and practices to achieve net reduc- tion of the agricultural sector’s current car- bon footprint by 2050 without regulatory overreach. » Water Quality: Reduce nutrient loss by 30% nationally by 2050. » Renewable Energy: Increase the produc- tion of renewable energy feedstocks and set a goal to increase biofuel production efficiency and compet- itiveness to achieve market-driven blend rates of 15% of trans- portation fuels in 2030 and 30% of transporta- tion fuels by 2050. For more infor- mation about the Agriculture Innovation Agenda, go to usda.gov/ aia.
private-sector re- search. The second component is to align the work of our cus- tomer-facing agencies and integrate innova- tive technologies and practices into USDA programs. The third component is to con- duct a review of USDA productivity and con- servation data. USDA already closely tracks data on yield, but on the environmen- tal side, there’s some catching up to do. Finally, USDA has set benchmarks to im- prove accountability. These targets will help measure progress to- ward meeting future food, fiber, fuel, feed and climate demands. Some of the bench- marks include: » Agricultural Productivity: Increase agricultural produc- tion by 40% by 2050 to do our part to meet es- timated future demand. » Forest Management: Build landscape resiliency by investing in active forest management and forest restora- tion through increased Shared Stewardship Agreements with states. » Food loss and
Telegraph staff reports WASHINGTON — To further the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s work on the Agriculture Innovation Agenda, the agency is seeking public- and private-sec- tor input on the most innovative technol- ogies and practices that can be readily
approaches or technol- ogies. A ready-to-go prac- tice, technology or management approach includes those that are fully developed, have been field test- ed and have completed independent research trials. Based on stakehold- er input from the RFI, USDA will develop a comprehensive U.S. ag- riculture innovation technology strategy for our customer-facing programs. USDA has launched a new AIA website where visitors can ac- cess information on the latest research and data, innovative conservation tech- nologies offered via USDA programs, and other conservation re- sources. Visitors can also stay up to date on USDA’s accountabili- ty metrics and learn about the experiences of producers who share similar paths to suc- cess. The AIA is com- prised of four main components. The first component is to devel- op a U.S. agriculture innovation strategy that aligns and syn- chronizes public- and
deployed across U.S. agriculture, according to a press release USDA is looking for ready-to-go technolo- gies and practices to achieve its goal of in- creasing agricultural production by 40% to meet global population needs in 2050 while cutting U.S. agricul- ture’s environmental
footprint in half, the release said. “Across America, we have seen significant advances in agri- cultural production efficiency and conser- vation performance during the past two decades,” said Under Secretary Bill Northey, who leads USDA’s Farm Production and Conservation mission area. “We want to keep the momentum. As part of our Agriculture Innovation Agenda, USDA wants to con- tinue helping farmers access new approach- es.” To help identify and accelerate adop- tion of ready-to-go innovations, USDA is currently accepting public comments and written stakeholder in- put through its request for information offsite link image through Nov. 9 which is pub- lished on the Federal Register. Input is welcome from the private sector, not for profits, farm- ers, forest sector, trade associations, commod- ity boards and others involved in the supply chain or development of widely applicable practices, management
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Nebraska farmers expected to harvest 1.78 billion bushels of corn this year
Telegraph staff reports LINCOLN—Nebraska farmers are expected to harvest 1.78 billion bushels of corn and 297 million bushels of soybeans this fall, ac- cording to newU.S. Department of Agriculture forecasts. The estimates from the National Agricultural Statistics Service are
than in 2019 and the 4.95 million acres are up 2%. The estimated average yield of 60 bushels per acre would be up 1.5 bushels. Sorghum for grain production is forecast at 11.2 million bush- el, down 8%, from 120,000 acres, down 8%. The average yield is expected to be the same as in 2019 at 93 bushels per acre.
based on Sept. 1 conditions. The corn total is from 9.45 million acres, down 4% from a year ago, and would be slightly less than the 2019 harvest. The projected 2020 average yield of 188 bushels per acre would be up six bushels. The estimated 297 million bushels of soybeans is 5% more
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