Corn growers face pressure on sustainable farming

DES MOINES, Iowa -- Corn growers will most likely face growing corporate pressure to raise crops more sustainably, according to a group that released an environmental assessment critical of the U.S. industry Wednesday.

The report said corn producers face risks from climate change, unsustainable water use and "inefficient and damaging fertilizer practices." That threatens the companies that rely on them.

Giant food companies are beginning to ask farmers to adopt growing practices that reduce fertilizer use and better protect soil and water, said Ceres, a nonprofit group of investors, businesses and others that support sustainable business practices.

Coca-Cola, General Mills and Unilever have set goals to sustainably source all of their priority ingredients — such as corn and sugar beets — by 2020.

"Sustainability in agriculture is really important to us, as we think about production in the future and having to feed 9 billion to 10 billion people, and doing so on a finite planet with natural resources under a lot of constraints," said Jerry Lynch, General Mills' sustainability officer.

"We depend on agriculture and Mother Nature to run our business. As that starts to break down, our business becomes either very expensive or it could become nonviable," he said.

More companies are expected to follow, said Brooke Barton, who directs Ceres' water program. The report asks retailers, food processors and feed companies to set sustainability goals and push farmers to meet them.

The Ceres report also asks that companies be prepared to partner with growers and "provide real value and incentives for growers to make changes," the report said.

The stakes are huge for Iowa, the nation's largest corn producer. The value of the crop last year was about $10 billion.

Leaders said many growers are already adopting conservation practices such as extended crop rotations, cover crops and the development of buffer strips — and efforts are growing.

"Corn producers are already making tremendous improvements," said Grant Menke, a policy director at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association. Ethanol is a large corn user. "We're not saying we've arrived ... but there are initiatives that only will provide greater improvements in the years to come," such as the state's nutrient reduction strategy.

Ben Gleason, sustainable program manager for Iowa Corn Growers Association, said producers have been concerned with weather, water use and fertilizer management since "they first started planting. ... Certainly, the awareness and importance of these risks have escalated."

Ceres said the $67 billion corn industry is critical to dozens of companies across the U.S. economy — from Deere & Co. and DuPont Pioneer to Cargill, Tyson, Wal-Mart and McDonald's. For example, the top 45 companies in the "corn value chain" earned $1.7 trillion in revenue in 2013, the report said.

Bruce Babcock, an Iowa State University economics professor, said it will be extremely difficult for corporations to determine whether the corn they're using is grown with the sustainable practices they want.

Here's why: After leaving a farmer's field, harvested corn becomes mingled with corn grown around it and from the state and nation. "Corn is produced by tens of thousands of individual farmers who sell into a system that blends and commingles it and sells it to the highest bidder," he said.

Lois Wright Morton, director of an ISU project looking at climate and corn sustainability, said it will be important for corporations with sustainability goals to share the cost of adopting more conservation practices.

Gleason of the Iowa Corn Growers Association agreed: "Economics is an important leg of sustainability and greatly influences how these risks are managed. However, economics seem to be ignored by this report."