FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Farmer-led Indiana Smart Agriculture issues call to action with new report
Group outlines five major pathways for
“Building a Resilient Future for Indiana Farms and Forests.”
INDIANAPOLIS, (Nov. 14, 2024) – Hundreds of miles from where Hurricane Helene made landfall in late September, high winds and heavy rains reached all the way into central Indiana, knocking out power, slowing harvest and damaging some farmers’ fields.
“That’s one of the most recent real-world examples of how Indiana agriculture is more and more affected by extreme events, from drought to severe storms and flooding,” says Don Villwock, Edwardsport, Indiana, a farmer and former president of Indiana Farm Bureau.
Villwock and Tom McKinney, from Kempton, Indiana, both farm using sustainable conservation practices to improve soil health while helping their land and operations be more resilient in the face of increasing climate variability. They also co-chair the farmer-led, self-directed Indiana Smart Agriculture (INSA) Work Group formed in February 2022 with support from Solutions from the Land and Purdue University’s College of Agriculture.
The INSA today is releasing its second report, “Indiana Smart Agriculture: Building a Resilient Future for Indiana Farms and Forests.” The report follows through on the commitment in the group’s initial 2023 report, “Indiana Smart Agriculture Report: A Vision and Roadmap for Indiana Climate-Smart Agriculture,” to construct and build support for a science-based, climate-smart action plan that can guide future policies, programs, partnerships, and investments needed for Indiana agriculture to adapt and thrive.
The INSA Work Group met with stakeholders from across the agriculture and forestry value chains in Indiana to collect diverse viewpoints about and potential solutions for a wide range of challenges presented by changing climatic conditions, as well as to identify opportunities that Indiana agriculture, in all its dimensions, can capitalize on.
The report summarizes the group’s assessment of those challenges and opportunities, especially in today’s new world order, and offers a set of action recommendations, or pathways, for discussion, consideration, funding and implementation. The document was produced by numerous leading farmers and agriculture stakeholder organizations, including representatives from Purdue and major farm policy, commodity and conservation groups around the state.
Pathways to Indiana’s Smart Agriculture Future
“We are setting out five major pathways leading to Indiana’s Smart Agriculture Future,” McKinney says. “Each pathway is followed in the report by lists of needs and multiple associated action steps the INSA Work Group proposes for consideration and discussion among the wide range of stakeholders we need to join forces and make them a reality.”
The Pathways:
I. PRACTICE CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE: Scale up the adoption of climate-smart agriculture systems and practices.
II. GATHER AND DISSEMINATE INFORMATION: Expand research and knowledge-sharing to support and enable adaptation strategies.
III. OPTIMIZE HUMAN AND TECHNOLOGICAL CAPITAL: Devise best ways to involve, support, enrich and protect the people who own, farm and work on Indiana’s agricultural lands while also encouraging technological innovations and investment.
IV. WISELY STEWARD SOIL AND WATER: Protect and improve the health, quality and availability of soil and water on agricultural lands while helping producers deliver ecosystem services to the people of Indiana.
V. ALIGN AND INTEGRATE GOALS: Address the issues of often overlapping and competing goals for agriculture, clean energy and water management in Indiana through open communication, cooperation and planning.
“We consider these recommendations to be interconnected and interdependent ways of ensuring that Indiana agriculture and all that it touches and enriches remains vibrant, innovative, resilient and productive for generations to come,” Villwock says.
The next step for INSA will be to share its findings and recommendations with other agricultural stakeholder organizations and build a coalition to secure policymaker and value chain partner support for their adoption. The INSA Work Group invites all stakeholders, and especially young, next-generation farmers and ranchers, from across Indiana’s agriculture and forestry value chains to join the conversation and be part of Indiana’s resilient future.
About Solutions from the Land
Solutions from the Land (SfL) is a 501c3 nonprofit focused on land-based solutions to global challenges. SfL builds and facilitates state, national and global initiatives and alliances through which farmers, ranchers, foresters and collaborating partners showcase examples of innovation and proactively advocate for policies, partnerships, investments and research that will enable agricultural landscapes to deliver near-term, cost-effective, integrated solutions to global mega-challenges: food and energy security; sustainable economic development; and environmental improvement. For more information, visit www.solutionsfromtheland.org.
About Purdue University’s College of Agriculture
Purdue University’s College of Agriculture is one of the world’s leading colleges of agricultural, food, life, and natural resource sciences. As a land-grant institution, we are committed to preparing our students to make a difference, wherever their careers take them; stretching the frontiers of science to find solutions to some of our most pressing global challenges; and, through Purdue Extension and engagement programs, helping the people of Indiana, the nation and the world improve their lives and livelihoods. For more information, visit ag.purdue.edu.
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For more information, please contact:
Indiana Smart Agriculture Co-Chairs:
- Don Villwock, farmerdon72@live.com 812-881-8034
- Tom McKinney, tomckinney@aol.com 765-434-4947
Indiana Smart Agriculture Co-Sponsors:
- Ernie Shea, President, Solutions from the Land
eshea@solutionsfromtheland.org 410-252-7079 (office); 410-952-0123 (cell)
- Bernie Engel, Glenn W. Sample Dean of Agriculture, Purdue University
engelb@purdue.edu 765-494-8391
