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Getting agriculture talking about climate change

Over the last 30 years, much of the US has experienced an evolution in climate and weather patterns.  Gre​g Page, executive chairman for Cargill says the majority of the farmers he talks to acknowledge that.  “At the same time there is a reluctance to agree to climate change as a terminology,” he says.  “More importantly – to man caused climate change for fear that it really is a euphemism for more regulation and government overreach.”

And with a fear of more government overreach, it makes having the conversation about climate change difficult.

He says Cargill has made a commitment to be the global leader of nourishing people, but the issue of climate change and food production has become a concern for consumers.  “We cannot be careless or irresponsible about this,” he says.  “There’s a moral aspect to at least having this discussion.  If we’re not careful to invest year in and year out against a variety of climate change scenarios – we can’t look to the 9 billion people in the world and says we didn’t prepare enough, we didn’t invest enough, and we’re not adaptable enough to feed you all.”

He tells Brownfield Cargill isn’t afraid to openly discuss climate change because the company feels it would be irresponsible not to at least contemplate all the things agriculture can begin to do now that could improve the industry’s resilience down the road.