Remember the Oldsmobile
commercials that promoted new vehicles with the slogan, “Not your father’s
Oldsmobile”? The car manufacturer wanted
customers to buy into an updated product line suited for today’s lifestyles.
Just like car manufacturers who
emphasize that they have changed with the times, we need to look at new
products and new strategies for conservation as well. I believe we’re no longer operating under the
same rules for protecting the environment that our fathers and mothers
did. New times and new challenges demand
new solutions and new leadership.
To meet the changes and
challenges we face, I think it’s time to create a leadership development
program for a new generation of conservation leaders. We
need to foster a new paradigm and a forward-thinking mindset to tackle the
problems and the opportunities ahead.
The old mindset of idling land to
achieve conservation objectives is in direct conflict with the new
reality: the need to feed nine billion
souls in a few short years. We’ve got to
increase production in responsible ways that safeguard the environment. I’ve been calling this approach sustainable
intensification. Idling land must become
a last resort, used only for highly fragile land and valuable wetlands.
I’ve mentioned the need to invest
in 21st Century tools and strategies, such as implementing precision
agriculture, doublecropping, boosting soil health with cover crops and using
improved seeds and fertilizer. For
sustainable intensification to work, we’ve also got to invest in people. We need to get farmers and ranchers, agri-business,
rural banks and environmentalists committed to conservation of the future,
working together cooperatively and collaboratively and speaking the same
language.
One of the challenges we face in
conservation is that conservation duties in many agricultural organizations are
handed off to the “new guy.” And then to
the next “new guy.” Conservation needs
to be a priority and a go-to job, not “other duties as assigned” for the
greenest (pardon the pun!) member of the staff.
It’s kind of like churches that hire one youth pastor after another
because that position is seen as a starting point or stepping stone, when our
kids need continuity and the commitment of someone who really wants to serve
and mentor them. Conservation deserves
the same level of respect.
I think one way to change
mindsets and strengthen our conservation efforts is to develop a conservation
leadership program similar to what the Kellogg Foundation has done for general
leadership in rural America. We need a
regional or national conservation leadership development program that will draw
together folks from farm organizations, agri-businesses, conservation NGO’s and
others in rural communities. Such a
program could raise the profile of conservation, strengthen the next generation
of leaders and begin to alter mindsets that have become as dated as your
father’s Oldsmobile.
It’s disappointing how polarized
our nation has become in recent years.
But farm people have always been able to work together. Yet the difficulties with the farm bill have brought
even that into question.
I would love to see an
organization rise to the challenge to create a leadership development program
in conservation—one that can bring different interests to the table to forge
common bonds and achieve mutual goals.
We in the farm community know the importance of respecting and valuing
one another and hammering through tough issues to find solutions that address
everyone’s needs and concerns. This is the
time for new coalitions, new strategies and new leaders.
Who is willing to step up and take
this on?
About
the author: Bruce I. Knight, Principal, Strategic Conservation Solutions, was
the Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) from 2006 to 2009. From 2002 to 2006, Knight
served as Chief of Natural Resources Conservation Service. The South Dakota
native worked on Capitol Hill for Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, Rep. Fred
Grandy, Iowa, and Sen. James Abdnor, South Dakota. In addition, Knight served
as vice president for public policy for the National Corn Growers Association
and also worked for the National Association of Wheat Growers. A
third-generation rancher and farmer and lifelong conservationist, Knight
operates a diversified grain and cattle operation using no-till and rest
rotation grazing systems.
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