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Farming feeds all of us — yet in rural communities, farmers are under pressure from mounting climate volatility and limited access to modern tools like the internet. How can agriculture stay resilient and grow with the times? Beth Ford, CEO of the farming co-op Land O’Lakes, shares her plan to establish broadband as a basic right nationwide and talks through an exciting range of climate-friendly innovations aimed at making farmers more sustainable and profitable. (This virtual conversation, hosted by TED business curator Corey Hajim, was recorded March 2, 2020.)
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Transcriber:
Corey Hajim: Here with me today
is Beth Ford, the CEO of Land O’Lakes,
a farming cooperative that works
across the United States
and in dozens of countries
around the world.
And she’s going to share with us
her vision about how to create
a better future for farmers
that’s both environmentally
and economically sustainable.
Hi, Beth, thank you so much
for being here.
Beth Ford: Thanks for the invitation,
I’m looking forward to the conversation.
CH: Let’s first talk
about the broadband issue.
How big of a problem is this
and how does it affect
the farming community,
both as you said,
as families and as businesses?
BF: So the estimates have been
that 18 million Americans
lack broadband access,
14 million are in rural America.
Now, having said that, the broadband —
I’m trying to remember
what the name of the organization is,
did a study and they actually say
the number is more like 42 million.
And the reason is
the mapping is inaccurate.
So what could happen is,
let’s say you have a 7-Eleven in a town
and that has Wi-Fi or broadband access
because they laid a line.
It would show up on the map
as though that community
largely has broadband
and it does not.
And so it’s a significant issue.
Think about the education
of your children.
I know you have three, I have three.
And many of them
were doing remote schooling.
Well, what’s happening on the farm,
this is legitimately what’s occurring,
is that the teacher from the town
is driving paper homework out to the farms
to give them the homework
so that they can continue to go to school.
And that’s just one example of many.
And so this is a major challenge,
because if we don’t have basic wiring,
I can say we need like a 1930s’
rural electric initiative
where we go across the country
and we make this, this should be a right,
this should be something that is a basic,
like mail delivery and electricity.
This should not be just
for those who have.
And the scale of it is,
the estimate is to be 80
to 100 billion dollars
to close this gap.
But the challenge of that
is that you get the funding
and then how is it implemented?
We all know you can’t just say —
I say, well, I don’t go in
as CEO, go to the board,
say I need 100 million dollars
for this tech platform
and then, “Approved. Here’s the return.”
And then I go in and I throw it
to the business unit heads and I’m like,
“You guys decide
who’s in charge of that,” right?
And there’s a little bit about it,
it becomes a jump ball
between the FCC and the USDA
and then the governors,
and suddenly we don’t have enough
and we’re on the couches
looking for quarters and nickels
to pay the pizza guy
so that we can finish this off,
as though it’s not a priority,
as though it’s not a priority.
As though it’s somebody else’s problem.
And it is all of our problem.
This is a national security issue.
I cannot say it more directly.
So it’s a major issue
because I’m concerned about speed here
in addition to the funding.
And the good news is
this has been bipartisan support.
Whenever I speak, I speak
for the National Governors Association,
the State Department of AG,
I mean, name it.
Name the administration
official, I’ve done it.
This isn’t a bipartisan issue.
It has to be a prioritization issue.
It has to be something that we decide
as a country is a priority.
And it means in every state.
CH: I’ve heard stories about,
“Well, you’ve put Wi-Fi”
or in some of these communities,
they’ve put Wi-Fi on the buses
and then, you know,
kids are sitting outside
the local library or the local McDonald’s
to do their homework.
And it’s just so unfair.
BF: It’s unacceptable.
CH: Unacceptable.
Unacceptable is the right word.
It also affects the businesses, right?
Farming as a business
because there’s so much
technology being used.
BF: Well, there is.
So oftentimes I’m at an event
and they’re talking
about all this cool new tech.
And listen, I just say
we use satellite technology,
we have big data, data and analytics,
John Deere’s tractors are auto-steer.
And I’m like, “Are you using that?”
“No.” “Why?”
“Well, because I lose connection.
And so I can’t I can’t utilize it.”
You know, there’s so many
exciting investments and innovation
occurring in the sector
that will make farmers more efficient,
will be better for climate
and the environment,
I’ll talk a little bit
about that in a minute,
but none of that can be used
if we don’t have the appropriate
technology access,
if we don’t have broadband.
These are data-intensive models
and they require bandwidth to do so
and to utilize them effectively.
So it’s a major issue
so that from a business perspective,
it’s an efficiency,
it’s a sustainable production issue.
And then back to the community,
again, stable operating environment.
You know, I constantly have
my mother in my ear,
like, “You’re only as happy
as your least happy child,” right?
And why is that?
Because, you know,
if you can’t feel confident
your child has the best education,
has access to a doctor,
pretty hard to be focused
on your business.
And farming is a business.
And so we have to recognize
if there’s a number of hospitals,
local hospitals have shut down,
there’s no banking,
no housing.
It doesn’t work to have a stable
operating environment
in these farming communities.
And yes, directly, you cannot use
the new innovation and technology
that hide the data utilization
if you do not have broadband.
CH: So the technology is a challenge,
and as you said, it’s so important
for the business,
and you mentioned climate.
So I’d love to dive into that
because in addition to, sort of,
challenging market dynamics,
you also have climate volatility
and an increasing weather volatility
and technology’s helping to address that.
Can you talk a little bit
about the technology
that’s being used by farmers
to manage that volatility?
BH: Well, first of all,
what you’re helping them do
is make improved decisions
that make their farms more resilient
and that they can make
more sustainable business practices.
So what we’ve started,
we have a business called Truterra,
it’s run by Jason Weller,
who used to run in our CS
under the Obama administration.
And what this business does,
it works in multiple ways.
We work through our local
retailer, the agronomists.
They get insights from
our Truterra insights engine.
It literally is at the farm level,
acre by acre,
where they can understand
what the soil type is,
what the water situation is,
all of those things,
what kind of tractor do you use,
how many passes at the field do you make.
So, we can make improved,
sustainable production decisions.
More recently, probably just last week,
we announced our Trucarbon platform,
which is a systemic way
that we can work with farmers, databased.
This is partnered with
the Soil Health Institute,
with many environmental groups,
to create a carbon credit.
So where the farmer is making a decision
that is improving carbon capture
and at the same time is improving
their own profitability,
and then is able to monetize that.
Our first customer was Microsoft,
and they’re using this for carbon credit.
So why is this so important?
In addition to the fact
that we have validation
and this is an evolving marketplace,
carbon and carbon credits,
carbon offsets,
it’s an unstructured pricing environment.
And I think all the studies would show
that agriculture is a great way
for us to address this issue
using basic photosynthesis.
So if we if we agree that,
then we have to say,
what is that pricing environment?
One of the fundamental things
we started with is the farmer.
In fact, Secretary Vilsack more recently
said in his confirmation hearing,
we’ve got to start with the farmer
and that farmer has to be profitable
when making that decision.
It’s a virtuous circle.
So we want the farmer to take action.
But you can’t just say,
“Everybody put on cover crops.
That’s the best.”
Because then that farmer isn’t profitable,
and then how do we make sure
that we can sustain our food production
and the farm?
So we’re working with this inside engine,
with our agronomic advice,
with soil health and soil testing,
with any number of pieces of data
and process and expertise.
And that’s what differentiates,
I think, our approach,
that it goes right back to the farm level
but leverages technology.
We have a partnership with Microsoft,
their FarmBeats program, their airband.
They’re working with us
on closing this digital divide
in different communities
so we can take advantage
of these opportunities.
And at the same time, as I said,
they were our first customer
for our carbon credits.
And one of the reasons
I’m so focused on this,
not just because this is
an evolving marketplace,
and because climate change
is something we have to address
and we want to address,
and I believe farmers
are part of the solution.
They are a major part
and a major opportunity for solution.
It also is another
revenue source for farmers.
And go back to that statistic I gave you
about the “hobby” farmer,
about the fact that they’re working
off the farm to retain their farms.
And the reality is, there’s going to be
even more disruption
in the coming years in this sector.
It will be in some ways driven
by the electrification
of the transportation sector.
That means biofuel utilization
and a significant portion of the corn crop
goes into biofuels, ethanol.
And if that is no longer needed,
because we’ve gone to electric vehicles
over the next 10 years,
what happens to corn price,
to land values?
And at the same time soybeans,
some of that is used for biodiesel.
So that will be a major disruptor
to row crop farming.
So we’ve got to point farmers,
they’re pretty smart,
to the right levels
of investment they can make
for other sources of potential
revenue for their farms.
And I think that this is a great way
to think about it.
CH: Right, so you feel like
the things that farmers can do
to be more environmentally sustainable
can also help them economically?
BF: Exactly. And it must.
It must.
And that’s why this model that we have,
Truterra Insights Engine,
is iterative almost.
Hey, if I do these three things,
what happens to my profitability?
And it might be tied to a program
that’s available at the state level,
it might be tied to improve variable
rate application of your fertilizer
where you don’t put everything
on at the same time
and then have it seep into the soil.
Instead, you look and you use
your satellite technology and everything
and you say, “Oh, I’m going to
put partial on now,
and maybe I don’t need as much later.”
Every piece, every acre
on a farm is not the same
and doesn’t have the opportunity
to yield as much,
one acre to the next.
And with that then,
where do you make the right investments?
And a model like this helps you understand
where to make those investments.
We also have applied research plots,
answer plots, where we help
with our agronomists
to help improve the planting
decisions a farmer may make.
So there’s any number of variables,
and I say it makes a farm more resilient.
And let’s agree,
we’re going to get into a situation
where the financial markets
and the bankers are going to say,
you need to be making investments
that make your farm more resilient,
given the amount of disruption
we’re seeing already, right?
Climate.
Think of the fires in the west,
the freeze in the south, in Texas,
and we’re going to see these events
over the next number of years.
We have to make the farm more resilient.
That makes it more profitable
for the farmer.
It helps their ability
to make an investment
that we all know is necessary.
CH: But you mentioned
that it can also be a revenue source.
Can you give an example of how, you know,
a climate mitigation technique
also provides revenue for a farmer?
BF: Well, there’s two things.
One, I was just mentioning
more directly, this true carbon,
where you’re generating a carbon credit
because you’re able to prove
the new practices you’re putting in place
is going to reduce that.
You use that proof
for the soil test in advance,
and then a number of years later.
You may use a stabilizer, for instance,
and that would mean that you don’t have
some of your nitrogen you’re putting on
or using, kind of, seep into the soil.
That, in and of itself,
means you have less of investment
you have to make in those products
as you’re putting on fertilizer
or planting different crops.
But then more directly,
that credit that you develop,
because this market is evolving,
can be sold.
So what we’re doing with the Microsoft
partnership here and their purchases,
if you are able to prove
this tonnage reduction,
it’s like 20 dollars a met ton
for carbon credit,
so it’s a more direct line payment
for that in and of itself.
And that’s an evolving marketplace
we’re going to see.
We’re also partnered with Nori,
it’s a platform like eBay,
and they want to be the eBay
of carbon credit trading.
This is very early stage,
but it’s an exciting opportunity
because we know it’s going to take
this kind of innovation, this creation,
this technology to address climate change.
And the farmers can be in a position
where they can be part of the solution.
CH: Thanks for being here, Beth.
BF: You bet.
Richard Gamrát
July 16, 2021 at 4:16 pm
Don’t farm animals
credenza1
July 16, 2021 at 10:30 pm
If you investigate regenerative agriculture (eh Greg Judy’s farms) you will find that ruminant animals are a natural and essential part of soil regeneration and thus carbon sequestration. Farmers are competent, well-informed and eager to adapt. Regenerative Agriculture is the most efficient and fast way to capture massive amounts of carbon.
joshx022
July 16, 2021 at 4:17 pm
Why arent we talking about the starlink internet that is coming about for these rural areas and countries lacking on access? Were already doing things like this, but ignoring it for political push. So tired of that.
kaja googoo
July 16, 2021 at 4:39 pm
The problem with this is corporate America trying to preach land stewardship. Industrialization of ag is what has creating the horrible impact of our practices on the environment. They’re trying to capitalize on lumping ag into their agenda for pushing tax payer money to pay for tech infrastructure that benefits Corps most. Just like taxpayers paying for more highways and bridges to support Amazon. And Amazon not paying a damn thing.
kaja googoo
July 16, 2021 at 4:42 pm
We will be burning ethanol to run generators to make electricity to run everyones electric cars. And call it green. Makes sense.
P Stone
July 16, 2021 at 11:04 pm
Beats fossil fuels. But you’re right, calling it green is a long shot.
kaja googoo
July 16, 2021 at 11:52 pm
@P Stone at least you are recognizing the difference between ethanol and fossil fuels, not that i totally agree with its production since it uses massive amounts of water and still emits high levels of co2 in its production as well as massive amounts of synthetic fertilizers attributing to runoff and pollution. Not to mention rainforest clearing along the equator from massive subsidies causing its increased demands…
swgeezer
July 16, 2021 at 4:44 pm
If we are subsidizing farms to stay in business, maybe we the people should own those farms instead of subsidizing private properties. Now China and India are buying up all our farm land, perhaps the U.S. should be buying the land that keeps us fed instead of having US taxpayers subsidizing Chinese-owned farms in the US?
Telmo prl
July 16, 2021 at 4:56 pm
Sounds like Utopia!!
GymLeader Jake
July 16, 2021 at 5:00 pm
For the first time in a long time, I disagree with a TED talk!
I think we don’t need to bring farmers wifi.
Instead I want to end farm subsidies and buy all our food from the international market.
Michigan USA/Singapore S.E.Asia
July 16, 2021 at 5:18 pm
Not always practical when your business is out in the boom docks where the GPS, etc may not work or work well including broadband
hatcher
July 16, 2021 at 5:41 pm
Elon musks starlink is already live in a lot of places and its probably gonna deal with this problem in the next couple of years, so this is sort of a non-issue and a solution is already almost complete.
Δ.Μ
July 16, 2021 at 7:41 pm
Another Elon fan-boy… 🙄
hatcher
July 16, 2021 at 9:44 pm
@Δ.Μ Based on your comments on other videos, you seem to be an inept limbic troll. a solution is a solution, the simple fact is, these problems will be dealt with, in America, in a matter of months, maybe a year or two tops, and then the rest of the world will slowly follow, even though elon is doing the work, the free market will deal with his monopoly with time
Kyle Ma
July 16, 2021 at 7:19 pm
well since TED blocked comments section on last video. Can we talk about it here? I mean how can we know about that guys culture if we can’t discuss it?
Mike beats tsb
July 16, 2021 at 7:56 pm
Pardon me,
sorry..
Excuse me… Coming through…
My bad..
I thought this was a Farming talk 🤷🏽♂️
LMAO..
I Know right.. 🤦
Duuurrrr 🙄
‘broadband for the people’ not my thing right now…
Sorry… 🙏🏼
Leo Yambao
July 16, 2021 at 7:59 pm
Maps of natural energy rich farms.
Build infrastructure; that will generate revenue;must return capital ++ enrich
-Ayem
Lisa Love Ministries
July 16, 2021 at 8:11 pm
Seek God daily.
Proverbs 9:10
Geff Gollins
July 16, 2021 at 8:31 pm
Sorry Climate Barbies, but I ain’t interested in Tedx’s left wing propaganda 👿
bbc lerning to think in english with fouad
July 16, 2021 at 8:46 pm
I really thank you very much for this wonderful work.👍👍👍👍🇱🇷
Ángel Valverde
July 16, 2021 at 9:51 pm
I’m a farmer, what you mean with ‘being modern’ givin my plants an iPad?
Ángel Valverde
July 16, 2021 at 9:52 pm
Farming is the best work someone could do. Food, Life and cycles
Zenn Exile
July 16, 2021 at 10:48 pm
What farmers actually “need” is the political will to deem food production an essential human NECESSITY that regulates pricing in a way that allows small family operated farms to produce local food, everywhere, without having to compete for market space with ultra producers that are the ones pushing the non sustainable market, and CAUSING all the problems themselves in the process. Centralized agriculture is a mistake. Our entire planet is visibly succomming to desertification. ALL the satellite imagery from every inhabited corner of the planet shows it.
We have to stop industrial agriculture and mass tilling immediately or there will be mass droughts and famine like humanity has never witnessed. Everyone with land should be growing whatever food that land will sustainably produce through permacuture and no-till multi-culture models. If you are growing grass just to mow it… You’re doing it wrong in EVERY IMAGINABLE WAY. The key to maintaining fertile land is establishing a cycle of growth, death, and dependence. You need plants to grow and die, insects and microbes to facilitate decomposition and pollinate, and you need large animals eating small animals, insects, and those plants. That entire process needs to happen constantly to reverse desertification.
Farming should be like the mail. Access for everyone everywhere no matter what it costs, because it’s NEEDED to ensure the transfer of information between all people in a fair and democratic society. If we do not end centralized industrial agriculture by 2050, there may be no humans left to record 2100. Or there will be so few that it won’t matter because everything they record will be like it never existed in a few centuries.
Our fight between those who would hoard everything for themselves to better themselves has come to a head. A society shattering, land poisoning, and human future annihilating head. There’s no future where global desertification is allowed to continue and humanity survives. We could survive an asteroid, a super volcano, an ice age or two, but what we cannot survive is the desertification of our productive land. Everything we are and any future we have has to come directly from the soil. If we do not protect it now, there is no future.
This what farmers “need”. This is what our grandchildren and their grandchildren need. Every school with an empty field should be teaching kids permaculture and argriculture. Every lawn should be a garden. And there should be no hungry people on this planet just to satiate the greed of a few mass producing polluters who would burn the world down around us for a few extra dollars in their obituary article.
Quang Định Vlogs
July 16, 2021 at 10:48 pm
She says so speedy
Jeanie Coppe
July 16, 2021 at 11:06 pm
IT’S CALLED HEMP……
Njul
July 16, 2021 at 11:30 pm
We need FTTH everywhere, especially in more rural areas!
Jacob Lewis
July 16, 2021 at 11:32 pm
TED needs to allow people to talk. Stop disabling comments on your most controversial content! How will we ever progress if we can’t engage in conversation?
Stanley Tipsword
July 17, 2021 at 12:17 am
And don’t spray the dandelions
Zed Games
July 17, 2021 at 3:32 am
I’ll tell you what farmers need! Farmers need to keep farming. Thank you for all you do!
Bartacomus Kidd
July 18, 2021 at 11:34 am
they need people like this woman, and these progressives in the comment section, to bugger off.
Hot Girls Video XXX
July 17, 2021 at 3:52 am
Blue sea with white sand, waves in harmony with love
Cajun Wolf
July 17, 2021 at 4:53 am
Elon Musk already has this problem solved, and the taxpayer isn’t on the hook. Broadband is an old hat.
Bartacomus Kidd
July 18, 2021 at 11:33 am
Elon Musk is a scam-artist. Stop pretending to care, if you cared youd be a critical person.
Hi Here
July 17, 2021 at 5:52 am
😶
Parm Gill
July 17, 2021 at 10:50 am
I was watching the last video uploaded by TED Talk and I was surprised that the Crystal Rasmussen’s video had twice as many thumbs down than thumbs up. They had the comments turned off but I’m curious why the disagreement. Would love to hear your perspective.
Hot Girls Video XXX
July 17, 2021 at 11:32 am
industry
VQM6
July 17, 2021 at 3:42 pm
More power, influence and micro manageing the production to have greater control. Quickest way to make people obselete, no?
Nathan Banks
July 17, 2021 at 6:58 pm
Watching on Starlink. It’s quite usable. Six months ago it used to disconnect for 10-20 seconds every couple hours, but now it’s fine. 50 Mbps down, 25Mbps up, 30ms latency, no monthly usage limit.
Bartacomus Kidd
July 18, 2021 at 11:44 am
60 million a rocket.. 60 sats per launch.. a minimum 12,000 sats needed, a proposed 40,000 sats total. With a 3 year lifespan (if they stick to promised altitudes). Thats a rocket launch, per day, for eternity.
By the way.. every last Starlink thats failed.. failed to deorbit. 3% currently.
Elon Musk is a Scam Artist. It takes minimal effort to discover this.
fafa fafafa
July 18, 2021 at 5:38 am
What farmers already know that is how ‘modern’ and ‘technology’ meaning. What they really need is to continue to be independent. Independency means no one try to force or convince them what to grow and how to do that. They should be confident they are still protected from unprofessional decision of amateurs which have very useful ‘ideas’, including how to save a planet. Those pros with their ideas can’t help, as farmers are already pro and they know what they doing. The best help is possible – stfu and let people to do they job. To be sure that supply chains are protected – protect farmers right to repair, financial, and watch such practices like ‘technology’ companies like John Deere use. To not make wifi on farm as basic tool to make companies like Joth Deere taking advantage over the farmers.
Kuong Sam
July 18, 2021 at 3:26 pm
Need to modernize the law that the farm machines can be repaired without software locks and they dun find the icecream machine often not functioning in Mcdonalds because of the tricky programming.
Troy
July 18, 2021 at 3:30 pm
This lady needs to do some more homework. Focused on the wrong inputs and outputs.
Pulsar
July 18, 2021 at 6:14 pm
A compass that does not point at permaculture is spurious.
Levi Vegan
July 19, 2021 at 1:33 am
Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, habitat destruction, water pollution, ocean dead zones and species extinction. – United Nations FAO
According to the most comprehensive analysis ever conducted on the topic, avoiding meat and dairy is the “single biggest way” to reduce your environmental impact on Earth. – Oxford University
Those on plant based diets have 73% lower odds of developing serious illness from coronavirus, while those eating a ‘low carb-high protein’ diet have nearly 400% higher odds. – Healthcare Globus
Plant based meals cost on average 40% less than ones that include meat and dairy. – Veganuary
The only diet ever scientifically shown to reverse our leading cause of death (Heart Disease), with 99.4% success, is a Whole Food Plant Based diet. – Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
Cocoy
July 19, 2021 at 3:09 am
i wonder why microsoft bought the 95percent of us lands?? and what does it has to be with this talk, since bill gates is still the founder and commander of Microsoft you know..he’s a maniac….🤔
d b
July 19, 2021 at 1:39 pm
ridiculous
Fukuoka and permaculture are the key
this video is more about transagriculture and great reset
PoliCAP
July 19, 2021 at 2:07 pm
Sincerely, I am tired of seeing TED put CEOs to speak about real world problems. A bit too ‘Northern hemisphere centrered’
Aaron Colbert
July 20, 2021 at 4:32 am
Farmers would profit more if the super markets bought every thing they grew. Instead of the crops being wrong size wrong shape etc. they don’t get sold
HUMBLE AZZHOLE
July 20, 2021 at 6:10 am
The real problem is we’re allowing corporations to monopolize broadband.
Jac Flasche
July 21, 2021 at 6:09 pm
The biggest single factor in climate change is the generation of greenhouse
gases.
Far more greenhouse gases are produced by animal agriculture than any
other source (87% by animal ag as compared to 13% by all other sources,
cars, planes, electric plants, etc, combined)
The most important thing you can do as an individual to address climate
change is to stop buying the products of animal agriculture, such as
meat, dairy products, leather goods, and furs.
If enough people do this, we will survive, if not, your grandchildren
will be forced to determine whether to eat their babies to survive a few
more weeks when crops fail globally.
Your choice, indulge your blind instinctive desires and rationalize them
with self-centered mindless opinions, or leave future generations an
earth worth living on.
Or you can just go on fruitlessly bitching about the injustice of things
like Bezo’s money and ignore the situation until it is beyond too late.
My personal bet is that the vast majority of you, even if convinced of
the reality of the global climate situation will go on with your
rapacious lifestyles unabated.
Even so, those are the facts. Now, are you a rational moral being, or a
mad machine that really has no control over yourself?