Policy Recommendations – “U.S.-German Forum Future Agriculture: Recommendations on Climate for the National Level and Transatlantic Cooperation”
The future of agriculture is of critical importance for the economy, the environment, and society. The sector plays a major role, both in protecting natural resources and mitigating climate change as well as promoting the development of rural regions and social cohesion. Worldwide, farmers face significant challenges due to the impacts of climate change, such as extreme weather events, shifting seasons, water scarcity, reduced yields, new pests, and soil degradation. To ensure food security and the long-term viability of the agricultural sector, the sector must act now to improve the climate resilience of arable agriculture. Farmers’ involvement in developing economically viable climate solutions for the well-being of rural communities and the environment is critical.
Given their shared values, common interests, and influential agricultural sectors, Germany and the United States are natural partners to work together on these issues. Transatlantic collaboration is an opportunity for both countries to meet the challenges of adapting agriculture in light of a rapidly changing climate. In order to provide joint global leadership in shaping the future of agriculture, a better mutual understanding of different agricultural practices and standards is needed.
The U.S.-German Forum Future Agriculture initiative, led by the Aspen Institute Germany together with implementing partner, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, addresses precisely this need. In 2023, the project brought together German and U.S. farmers and key agricultural stakeholders from research and business for in-person and virtual exchange. In 2023, the project hosted ten online workshops and a five-day in-person meeting of 16 U.S. and German farmers and other agricultural stakeholders in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois from June 27 to July 1. In addition to an exchange of experience, visiting best practices on-site, and establishing new transatlantic networks, participants in the project developed policy recommendations and action points on climate and agriculture for the national and transatlantic levels. These recommendations address climate resilience of agriculture, agriculture’s power to mitigate climate change and protect natural resources, and the importance of balancing the social, economic, and environmental sustainability of agriculture and rural regions.
A virtual final event for the first cohort on September 27, 2023 from 5:00 to 7:30pm CEST will convene participants from Germany, Europe, and the United States to discuss the policy recommendations developed in the context of the project with representatives from politics, research, business, and praxis. We are very pleased to welcome numerous outstanding speakers, to include: Dr. Ophelia Nick (Parliamentary State Secretary, German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL)); Jeanne Bailey, (Deputy Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA); Don Lamb (Director, Indiana State Department of Agriculture); Owen Jones (Minister Counsellor for Agriculture, European External Action Service, European Commission); Sophia Murphy (Executive Director, Institute for Agriculture & Trade Policy); and Dr. Christina Chemnitz (Director, Agora Agrar). The event will be held in English and is open to the public. To register to participate, please click here.
The final publication with resulting recommendations can be found here.
More information about the project is available here.
Thank you to our 2023 cohort: AJ Blair (Blair Farm LLC); Nancy B. Brannaman (Paddy Ridge Farm); Chandler Bruns (Precision Planting); Dr. Alyssa Cho (Bayer Carbon Program); Christian Egel (Thuringian State Office for Agriculture and Rural Areas); Dr. Thomas Gäbert (Agrargenossenschaft Trebbin eG); Hans-Heinrich Grünhagen (Grünhagen Farm); Adam Joseph Henkel (Self-employed farmer); Juliane Horsch (Klim GmbH); Dr. Björn Küstermann (Landgut Krosigk GmbH); Dr. Alex Lindsey (The Ohio State University); Marie Saudhof (Saxony-Anhalt Rural Youth Association e.V.; Nelben Farm); Florian Schiller (German Agricultural Society DLG e.V.); Donald Schnitker (Schnitker Family Farms LLC); Dr. Carmen Ugarte (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign); Erik Unger (Self-employed farmer; Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology).
The project is supported by the Transatlantic Program of the Federal Republic of Germany, funded by the European Recovery Program (ERP) of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK).
