USDA Establishes Bold Environmental and Production Initiatives

WASHINGTON, DC – Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the Agriculture Innovation Agenda, a department-wide initiative to align resources, programs, and research to position American agriculture to better meet future global demands. Specifically, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will stimulate innovation so that American agriculture can achieve the goal of increasing production by 40 percent while cutting the environmental footprint of U.S. agriculture in half by 2050. The first component, Perdue explained, is to develop an ag-innovation strategy that aligns and synchronizes public and private sector research. The second component is to align the work of USDA and integrate innovative technologies and practices into department programs. The third component is to conduct a review of USDA productivity and conservation data. USDA already closely tracks data on yield, but on the environmental side, there’s some catching up to do. Finally, USDA has set benchmarks of accountability which will help measure progress toward meeting the food, fiber, fuel, feed, and climate demands of the future. Some of the benchmarks include reducing food loss and waste by 50 percent in the U.S. by 2030. Achieving a net reduction of the agricultural sector’s current carbon footprint by 2050 without regulatory overreach. Reducing nutrient loss by 30 percent nationally by 2050. Finally, achieving market-driven blend rates of 15 percent of transportation fuels in 2030 and 30 percent by 2050.