NFU Supports Voluntary Climate Reporting for Farmers

A few years ago, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued guidelines for companies to boost transparency on climate implications. This seemed to offer consumers and the federal government clear insights into corporate environmental practices. Mike Stranz, Vice President of Advocacy with the National Farmers Union, elaborates on its impact on farmers-

“One of the big priorities for farmers union, and I think this goes for other organizations to decide if there are going to be new climate efforts and initiatives to address climate change, which we definitely need. Those sorts of approaches ought to be voluntary. And based on incentives for family farmers and ranchers, we want to see these as additive to a farmer's bottom line and not a attraction to it or subtraction.”

In the past few years, he says SEC has put out guidelines on how farmers may need to report to companies about what their climate implications are.

“And I think whenever there's a directive from above, whether it's from a company, a big company that might control a big chunk of the market, or from the federal agency, sometimes that is not viewed as a plus to farmers. So we need to make sure that if there are going to be directives from the SEC that it'd be attainable and achievable isn't an impossible task for farmers to complete.”

Stranz says this initiative is still in the discussion phase and far from being fully implemented a long time for farmers to make their voice heard on this subject.