Land Use Change Initiative Needs to Include Ag

A new land use change initiative is leading efforts to resolve inconsistencies in definitions, metrics, and methodologies for quantifying land use change funded by The United Soybean Board in partnership with Carbon A list this multi-stakeholder initiative seeks to unite every step of the value chain in developing a unified solution to these challenges. Land use change has various definitions, often set by parties without farmer involvement. Therefore, Steve Reinert, chairman of the United Soybean Board, says that they recently took part in a summit to keep agriculture in the conversation when it comes to land use changes.

“What we did is we decided to have a land use Summit, and we had a lot of the environmental groups participating, and then we also had farmers in the room, both crop and livestock farmers, and then also some of our big companies that we all contribute to help them make a sustainable product. And so that may have been Mars. It may have been McDonald's who actually hosted the meeting in Chicago for us, and just a host of other big-name household companies.”

With many companies focusing on becoming more sustainable and environmentally friendly. There is a strong reliance on farmers to implement these practices and preserve the land for future generations, according to Reinert.