S2 Ep017 Regenerative Agriculture Can Mitigate Climate Change: The 2023 Farm Bill with Don Viecelli, Climate Reality Project Leader and Regenerative Agriculture Advocate

Don Viecelli, Climate Reality Project Leader and Co-Chair of the Climate Reality Project Regenerative Agriculture Coalition advocating for the 2023 Farm Bill, speaks about regenerative agriculture and why it is key to climate change mitigation. He explains:

The main principles of regenerative agriculture, and their Indigenous origins;
The environmental benefits of using regenerative agriculture methods to draw down carbon from the atmosphere and sequester it in the soil;
The most threatening ecosystem changes and why they can be addressed through changes to agricultural methods;
What we can do to help make sure the 2023 Farm Bill incorporates beneficial environmental and climate policy.

Bio:

Don Viecelli was raised on a 160-acre family dairy farm in Central Michigan and is concerned about industrial farming methods that have degraded our topsoil, polluted our waterways and oceans with chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, lowered food nutrient values and harmed our environment. He believes Regenerative Agriculture (RA) practices and solutions can help save our planet faster and more cost-effectively than other technological means by drawing down excess Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions and sequestering hugh amounts of Carbon back into healthy, living soil.

He is a Climate Reality Project Leader trained in July 2020. He currently serves as a Chairperson for the Regenerative Agriculture Campaign committee for the Chicago Metro Chapter and is Co-Chair of Climate Reality Project Regenerative Agriculture Coalition advocating for the 2023 Farm Bill. He retired from a Senior Product and Marketing Manager career in 2015 for several high-technology companies in the Chicagoland area. He currently lives in the Chicago area with his family.

“Reverse climate change and stop global warming using nature's own solutions for pulling the CO2 out of the atmosphere. The solution can also be implemented today. We don't have to wait around for costly technological solutions that are mostly unproven, and some are harmful to our environment.” -Don Viecelli

Transcript

Season 2, Episode 17: Regenerative Agriculture Can Mitigate Climate Change: The 2023 Farm Bill with Don Viecelli, Climate Reality Project Leader and Regenerative Agriculture Advocate

Don Viecelli, Guest:

Reverse climate change and stop global warming using nature's own solutions for pulling the CO2 out of the atmosphere. The solution can also be implemented today. We don't have to wait around for costly technological solutions that are mostly unproven, and some are harmful to our environment.

Soils can store 3.67 times more carbon dioxide that exists in the atmosphere. Plants absorb atmospheric carbon during photosynthesis, so the return of plant residues into the soil contribute to soil carbon, roots store carbon, and feed the microorganisms that in turn provide nutrients for plants. Together they build a healthy soil needed to regenerate the land and help mitigate global warming.

[Rhythmic sounds of electric train pulling into station]

[Subway chimes arpeggio played on mandolin]

Cevan Castle, Host:

This is Towards a Kinder Public, a podcast about steps that we can all take to achieve a kinder public space, that better meets our interconnected needs. I’m Cevan Castle, and along with Annie Chen, we are Kinderpublic.

My guest for this episode is author and climate activist Don Viecelli, from beautiful Chicago, Illinois. Don is a Climate Reality Project (CRP) leader trained in July 2020, by former United States Vice President Al Gore. He currently serves as a Chairperson for the Regenerative Agriculture Campaign committee for the Chicago Metro Chapter, and is Co-Chair of the Climate Reality Project Regenerative Agriculture Coalition advocating for the 2023 Farm Bill.

This episode will jump right into our interview, which took place during a severe thunderstorm in Chicago. You’ll hear the storm clearly in the background. We moved quickly through our conversation in an effort not to be interrupted by a power outage.

Our conversation also took place soon after a tremendously damaging rainfall caused extensive flooding in the state of Vermont, very near to where Towards a Kinder Public is recorded.

This interview is absolutely packed with information, and the most important takeaway is that we already know what to do- we’ve had this information for decades. Like in all economic sectors, agriculture must earnestly shift towards ecologically responsible methods to meet urgent climate change mitigation goals. If nothing changes, agricultural production is poised to become the U.S. economic sector with the highest emissions by 2050.

Many resources to learn more are available in the episode notes and on our podcast page at kinderpublic.com.

Thank you for listening to this critically important content on mitigating climate change, and steps we must take to establish greater resilience to severe weather events and weather patterns that are reshaping our use of our planet.

[Subway chimes arpeggio played on mandolin]

Don Viecelli:

Good morning.

Cevan:

Good morning!

Don Viecelli:

We're getting a big storm here right now, so if we lose electricity, my generator will kick back on. And I'll jump back on.

Cevan:

Great.

Don Viecelli:

It just started.

Cevan:

I'm right next to Vermont, and we've just been, really, we've been a little bit lucky. They got slammed with flooding that we were also kind of expecting, actually, so…

Don Viecelli:

Yeah. I think I saw it on the news. It was on tv. It was bad.

Cevan:

Yeah. Yeah. Very bad. So,

Don Viecelli:

We've been lucky. Uh, this, we get storms, we had 11 tornadoes fly by here a month ago…

Cevan:

Oh my gosh.

Don Viecelli:

…north and south of me, but all hit in the area, and today we're having a severe thunderstorm for a half hour.

Cevan:

Well, <laugh> I'm wishing you continued electricity…

Don Viecelli:

<laugh> If the lights go out, you'll know. But the generator is supposed to pop on in 10 seconds, so.

Cevan:

<laugh> Okay.

Don Viecelli:

I'll lose the connection… But anyways, good morning!

Cevan:

<laugh> Yeah, good morning! Thank you so much for joining me.

Don Viecelli:

Well, happy to do it.

Cevan:

I've been so thrilled to listen in on the committee meetings that you hold to discuss environmental policy and action steps. You are a Climate Reality Project (CRP) leader, a member of the CRP Chicago Illinois Metro Chapter and the Chair of the Regenerative Agriculture Campaign Committee, a Sierra Club member, and many other groups and organizations where you devote your time to climate change.

Can you share a little bit about your background and how you became an advocate and activist for issues related to global warming?

Don Viecelli:

Of course, I'd be happy to. Let me start where I was raised. I was raised on 160 acre family farm in a small town called Webberville, just outside of East Lansing, Michigan. I spent 10 years helping my parents farm the land using traditional farming practices. At the time, organic farming was not in our vocabulary. Regenerative agriculture was not even known or practiced at the time. Farmers in the late fifties and sixties probably would've looked unfavorably upon any local farmers trying to turn away from conventional farming practices.

My family moved from a suburb in Detroit to the farm in 1958 when I was eight and a half years old. We raised milking cows, pigs, goats, and horses. We planted corn, wheat, and clover, or alfalfa for the cows. It was a traditional family farm with around a hundred acres of tillable land and the rest was in woodlands and wetlands. I spent 10 years of my life farming before leaving for college. I never thought I would be involved with farming again. My father would be amazed at what is happening with farmers and ranchers today.

We used, as I said, traditional industrial farming practices. There was no emphasis at all on regenerative farming practices as we know it today. Climate change was not on anyone's radar screen. Soil health was not of any farmer's concern at the time, only how much yield per acre we could get on the farm.

After I left for college, my father switched from dairy cows to beef cattle. He ended up having some of the oldest dairy cows in the state, Michigan State University found out and came to look at them, since most dairy cows live less than five years. Some of the cows were around 20 years old. They were mostly interested in the types of diseases cows develop at that later state. My dad later raised and sold beef cattle each year for tax purposes. Many of the animals today, as you know, are raised on concentrated animal feeding operations called CAFOs, which do more harm than good to our environment.

I graduated from Michigan State University in Advertising and Marketing, I received an M.B.A. from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management in Illinois. I retired in 2015. I keep busy with hobbies and volunteer work now. Most of my experience was in product marketing for large- and small- data communication, telecommunication and wireless companies in the Chicago area.

I became a Climate Reality Project leader, trained in 2020, after listening to an Al Gore webinar on climate change. I joined the Climate Reality Project- Illinois Chicago Metro Chapter and now serve on several other committees trying to mitigate climate change.

Cevan:

We're all grateful that this is your hobby <laugh>.

Don Viecelli:

I'd never expected to be involved in what I'm doing today, believe me.

Cevan:

How did you become particularly interested in and involved with agricultural policy as it relates to climate change mitigation?

Don Viecelli:

Well, one of the committees wanted to focus on regenerative agriculture, practices for farmers and ranchers, in the Chicago Metro chapter, I volunteered to become a co-chair.

The primary reason was the potential of regenerative agriculture (RA) to sequester huge amounts of carbon by drawing down carbon dioxide- CO2- from our atmosphere using photosynthesis. After much research, our team realized that RA could actually reverse global warming very quickly. With only a percentage of farmers and ranchers worldwide implementing RA principles and practices, the science was real and few people knew about it.

Cevan:

Can you explain a little bit more about the method of agricultural production that you work to raise awareness about? When you say that, “the science is real and few people know know about it,” can you explain a little bit more about that?

Don Viecelli:

Sure. Regenerative agriculture (RA) is governed by five basic principles: minimum tillage, which prevents erosion and builds soil structure; keep residue on the soil to absorb moisture and protect the soil; maintain a living root system to absorb nutrients and feed microbes; crop diversity using cover crops and crop rotation; integrating livestock- the last one- to fertilize plants that provide nutritional food.

RA also includes several key agricultural practices. This includes things like crop rotation, no or low till plowing, use of cover crops, animal grazing, composting, agroforestry, and more. Through the practices of regenerative agriculture, soil health can be restored, enabling a greater level of carbon sequestration to be achieved without the use of harmful and costly chemical additives. Some of these practices will also help to increase the soil's ability to sequester carbon on pasture land.

Cevan:

Mm-hmm. And what are some examples of the ways that regenerative agriculture practices can help mitigate the climate crisis? What inspires you the most about this agricultural method?

Don Viecelli:

Well, we know, or we think, we can reverse climate change and stop global warming using nature's own solutions for pulling the CO2 out of the atmosphere. The solution can also be implemented today. We don't have to wait around for costly technological solutions that are mostly unproven, and some are harmful to our environment.

Soils can store 3.67 times more carbon dioxide that exists in the atmosphere. Plants absorb atmospheric carbon during photosynthesis, so the return of plant residues into the soil contribute to soil carbon, roots store carbon, and feed the microorganisms that in turn provide nutrients for plants. Together they build a healthy soil needed to regenerate the land and help mitigate global warming.

Cevan:

Is this a new method?

Don Viecelli:

No, not at all. The term regenerative agriculture was coined by the Rodale Institute in the 1980s. The principles and practices behind this movement existed long before then.

J.I. Rodale was one of the early founders of the organic movement. He founded the Soil and Health Foundation in 1947, which became the Rodale Institute. He called it regenerative organic.

Many of the principles we know today were codified by the writings of Robert Rodale, J.I. Rodale's son. A farming systems trial on their land began in 1981. However, it should be noted that Indigenous Native Americans used regenerative practices long before the Europeans settled in this country. Conventional farming, ranching and deforestation methods are a major reason why we are experiencing climate change today.

Cevan:

And, what are your priority goals when it comes to advocating for regenerative agriculture in US agriculture and environmental policy?

Don Viecelli:

You know that, there's a lot of goals that we looked at trying to implement for the farm bill. There's probably over 20, and there's a lot of other farm organizations that came out with their own recommendations.

So, we had a special group within our coalition and our Climate Reality Project that decided to focus on six main goals. Let me read what they are:

The first one is to upgrade enhanced programs, incentives and funding to support all farmers and ranchers as they scale up to climate smart practices in their operations and make reducing greenhouse gas emissions a priority for conservation spending.

[thunder in background]

The second one is to reform subsidized crop insurance programs, prioritizing the use of practices that reduce greenhouse gas and improve soil health qualifications for credit and crop insurance.

Three, expand Natural Resources Conservation Services, this is normally called NRCS, funding for staff, staff training and programs to accelerate education and implementation of climate smart agricultural practices for all farmers.

Four, increase federal funding for regenerative and climate-friendly agricultural research at land-grant universities, agricultural extension programs, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

The fifth one we recommended was: invest in infrastructure that supports the development of decentralized, diverse food systems that can efficiently process and distribute local and regional healthy food, with emphasis on organic and/or regenerative production.

And the final one we decided upon was: expand incentives and funding for implementation of agroforestry practices,

[loud thunder in background]

[speaking louder] including alley cropping, riparian buffers, silvopasture and windbreaks, and forest-related easements. This would ensure hydrologic connectivity and habitat corridors with the specific focus on biodiversity that will protect pollinators and other organisms necessary to ensure soil health.

These six RA policy recommendations for the 2023 Farm Bill are available in our policy document that we send to all Ag committee members, and members of Congress, for consideration and we can provide that upon request. A link.

Cevan:

That's great. And I just want to point out that the thunder is making an appearance. <laugh>

Don Viecelli:

Yes, the storm is passing over, but we haven't lost electricity, so I'm thankful.

Another extreme weather event in Illinois. Right.

Cevan:

<laugh.> Right! Let's talk about climate today with the thunder in the background.

And here's a great question: are the positive climate effects and storm mitigation potentials…

[loud thunder in background]

…of regenerative agriculture limited to agricultural land? Or do these methods have the potential to positively impact regions of the country more broadly?

Don Viecelli:

Regenerative agriculture has immense potential to positively impact the world and the environment. It shifts the paradigm. Instead of competing with nature, we partner with nature.

We stop using conventional industrial or factory farming methods that rely on monoculture crops, synthetic fertilizers, and deforestation to feed animals. We need to cover the soil when not in use.

All of this is causing desertification of our top soil at a rate that will result in the loss of 2/3rds of our land mass to deserts by 2100.

Cevan:

It’s terrifying.

Don Viecelli:

That's most of Africa, Australia, Central Asia and the Western U.S.

Cevan:

That's within this generation, the young generation's lifetime.

Don Viecelli:

That's correct. This is all from a report on The Green Directory.

[loud thunder in background]

Desertification through inappropriate land management, exacerbated by climate change, is one of the biggest threats facing humanity today. From Africa to India, China, Australia, the Southern U.S.A., deserts are growing at an alarming rate- about 120,000 square kilometers annually.

According to the United Nations, desertification is potentially the most threatening ecosystem change impacting livelihoods of the poor.

Cevan:

And what are some of the ways that industrial agriculture is co-opting the language of regenerative agriculture, or claiming to have similar benefits, or to obscure the fact that industrial agriculture as a system is inherently unable …

[loud thunder in background]

…to participate in the urgent work of climate change mitigation? What misrepresentations do we need to watch out for?

Don Viecelli:

Greenwashing.

Greenwashing by food system producers and big ag companies that continue to grow industrial farming methods and products. Hundreds of food producers are requiring our food and annual suppliers to commit to regenerative agriculture practices to earn what's called carbon credits for themselves and their suppliers. Unfortunately, some of these producers are using the credits to claim they embrace RA methods, but still plan to increase their production capacity and grow profits, without lowering their own carbon footprint or reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Big agriculture companies, on the other hand, continue to tout the benefits of industrial agriculture farming methods to reduce high crop yields, but the cost to our environment is very high. The UN Environment Programme states that that costs the environment the equivalent of US$3 trillion every year in higher greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollution and the loss of wildlife.

[loud thunder in background]

Use of pesticides alone results in proven adverse health effects, and fertilizer production accounts for about 1.5% of total CO2 emissions, per the UN.

Agriculture accounts for around 11% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions (increasing each year!), mostly in the form of methane from CAFOs and nitrous oxide from fertilizer use.

Cevan:

So just to step back for a moment and emphasize that point, you said fertilizer production alone accounts for about 1.5% of total CO2 emissions, per the UN.

Just the production.

Don Viecelli:

Yes. What's worse though about the fertilizer use, the farmers are using too much fertilizer. Not only does it produce the nitrous oxide gas, but it's the runoff is polluting our rivers on streams and it's causing toxic waterways, like in the Gulf of New Mexico, the size of Rhode Island. It's just killing our environment. It's got to be stopped.

Cevan:

What do we need to know about the 2023 Farm Bill?

Don Viecelli:

The Farm Bill covers many different areas of legislation dealing with the Agriculture system. It's going to be one of the largest climate oriented bills, hopefully in the next 10 years.

It's one of the most important pieces of legislation passed by Congress. It’s renewed every five to seven years. The next vote is due in September of this year, though it may be delayed due to the partisan differences that exist in the House and Senate.

The baseline funding forecast for the Farm Bill over next 10 years, 2023 to 2033, is nearly $1.3 trillion dollars. Most of it goes to nutrition, what we used to call the Food Stamp Program, now called SNAP.

Nutrition accounted for around 76% of the 2018 Farm Bill outlays. Crop insurance was 9%, Commodities 7%, Conservation 7%, and Other 1%.

Adding climate smart policies to the 2023 Farm Bill is critically important to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect our environment.

Cevan:

What organizations do you recommend listeners follow and support to stay informed and active on these issues? And how can we meaningfully help support this change?

Don Viecelli:

There are many agricultural organizations we follow and support. Among them are some like, American Farmland Trust, Defenders of Wildlife, Earthjustice, Environmental Working Group, Natural Resource Defense Council, Regenerate America, Soil Food Web, Understanding Ag, and many more.

Support regenerative farmers by looking for companies and food products that contain the Regenerative Organic Certified, what we call the ROC label. Or you can buy organic grown foods, choose clean, real renewable energy, educate yourself on the benefits of RA, and then tell your members of Congress to support climate smart policies in the 2023 Farm Bill. With everyone's help, we can make a real difference to combat climate change.

Cevan:

And how can people find you and support your important work?

Don Viecelli:

Well, probably the easiest way is to go to our Climate Reality Chicago Metro chapter website. It's at climaterealitychicago.com/regen-ag and you'll find our website with our regenerative agriculture policy document and other links and resources that you can use to educate yourself on RA. Or you can send me an email, viecelli, my last name, V I E C E L L I @comcast.net and I'll get back to you right away.

Cevan:

We'll be sure to include links in the episode notes to all of these amazing resources that you're sharing. I have one more question, which is, what books or authors should we be reading to learn more and think more deeply about climate change?

Don Viecelli:

Well, there's many. There's…

Cevan:

Other than yours, of course. <laugh>

Don Viecelli:

Yeah. There's many, there's many people even in the regenerative agriculture movement today. Among the ones I follow- there are several- Allan Savory, the Savory Institute. He's an expert on the desertification in Africa and how to convert the land back to grasslands, et cetera.

Dr. Allen Williams, Gabe Brown and Ray Archuleta, Understanding Ag, they have a lot of resources just Google them, and a lot of training materials for farmers and ranchers.

Dr. Davide C. Johnson and his wife, Hui-Chun Su Johnson, co-inventors of the Johnson-Su Composting Bioreactor. That bioreactor, he put all the information online, and they use it now to convert manure pits for dairy farmers, et cetera, to put back onto the soil. And that would be a good solution for eliminating CAFOs.

Dr. Elaine Ingham, Soil Food Web. That's where you learn about the biology. And biology is what feeds the plants, and that's what we should be doing instead of using fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. And they have a lot of the training instructions there.

Vandana Shiva of the Regeneration International Institute. She is a leader in India on small farming operations, trying to get back to non-conventional farming practices.

Walter Jehne, Healthy Soils Australia. A great expert on the hydrological or water cycle and how that impacts our environment.

There's many other leaders in the agricultural movements.

Of course, the person who got me involved in all of this was Al Gore, the founder of Climate Reality Project. He has written several books on the subject, including the bestseller An Inconvenient Truth.

And if you do nothing else, take the time to watch Kiss the Ground’s free video documentary, you can find it on Netflix, on how we can reverse global warming. It'll inspire everyone to action.

Thank you for this opportunity to talk about regenerative farming, climate change, and the 2023 Farm Bill. I appreciate it.

Cevan:

Thank you so much for joining me. Thank you for all of the amazing work and organizing that you're doing and communicating and getting this message out. Really appreciate you joining me today.

Don Viecelli:

Thank you.

Cevan:

Thank you!

[Sounds of frogs calling from a marsh on a rainy summer evening]

Cevan:

Links to more information about our guest and the topics mentioned, as well as a full transcript of the conversation, are available on the podcast section of our website, kinderpublic.com.

To share information about issues in public space, and spaces that are doing things right, email podcast@kinderpublic.com.

If you have enjoyed an episode of Towards a Kinder Public, we would love your help in sharing the episode with others. Please leave us a rating and a review, it helps us make our topics more visible, and we really appreciate your support.

You can find us on instagram, facebook, and twitter! We are @kinderpublic.

I’m Cevan Castle, my guest has been Don Viecelli, Co-Chair of the Climate Reality Project Regenerative Agriculture Coalition advocating for the 2023 Farm Bill. Have a very good week!

[Frog sounds continue and then fade out]

Organizations Mentioned in this Episode:

Climate Reality Project

Climate Reality Project Chicago Metro Chapter Regenerative Agriculture

Sierra Club

Rodale Institute

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

Agricultural Research Service (ARS)

National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)

UN Environment Programme (UNEP)

American Farmland Trust

Defenders of Wildlife