Illinois Farm Bureau will participate in “Feeding a Heating Planet” — the third and final edition of the PBS NewsHour series “Tipping Point: Agriculture on the Brink” — at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the University of Illinois.
During the 90-minute livestreamed event, Miles O’Brien will interview industry leaders alongside experts from the U of I’s College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES). Audience questions submitted through social media and an online form will also be addressed. Watch online, pbs.org/newshour.
The program will delve into possible solutions to make farming more climate-resilient; the role remote sensing, data analysis, modeling and artificial intelligence can play in planting smarter; crop diversification as a strategy for making agriculture carbon negative; erosion and water quality issues that can be addressed by relatively simple techniques like reduced or no-tillage and cover cropping; and the role the federal government could play in creating incentives for change in the 2023 farm bill.
During the livestreamed portion of the event, Andrew Margenot, professor in the Department of Crop Sciences, will discuss how soil is an important factor to secure our food supply. Pre-recorded interviews featuring faculty from the College of ACES will be played.
The program will also feature Michael Ganschow, ACES alumnus and sixth-generation farmer, and Lauren Lurkins, IFB director of environmental policy. Ganschow and his family were featured in IFB’s documentary, “Sustaining Our Future: A Farm Family Story,” which highlighted the farmer spirit and collaboration required to achieve the goals of the Nutrient Loss Reduction Strategy.
Other participants include Cynthia Rosenzweig, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies and 2022 World Food Prize winner; Sarah Garland, founder and executive director of the Triple Helix Institute; and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich.
The “Tipping Point” series is sustained by a grant from the principal funder, the Walton Family Foundation, which also supports Margenot’s research. Additional funding is provided by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and John F. Swift.
This story was provided by FarmWeekNow.com.