Hilery Gobert and her guardian dog, Bella, at Driftwood Farm in Iowa, Louisiana. Bella protects farm animals from predators like coyotes.
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Leslie Gamboni
Climate change affects our food, and our food affects the climate. NPR dedicates the week to stories and conversations about finding a solution.
Some small Black-owned farms in the South Bay that grow crops with the climate in mind. Hilery Gobert is among them. He has a 65-acre farm in Iowa, La., which he started farming in 2020. He has been trying to improve the land since then. To do this, they modify crops and use cover crops to keep nutrients in the soil. The land now supports a variety of crops, including okra, figs, Asian eggplant and watermelon.
Gobert also grows rice at Driftwood Farm. Rice is usually grown by flooding fields with water, producing methane, a powerful planet-warming gas. So Gobert planted rice with drip irrigation so that the water went directly to the roots.
“In an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we are looking for ways to grow rice as an alternative to the constant flooding of rice fields, as has been done for hundreds of years in Louisiana,” said Gobert.
Using less water to grow rice is an example of what the US Department of Agriculture calls climate-smart agriculture. Cover crops (such as red clover and cereal rye), no-till farming and crop rotation are all considered good practices for the climate and farming. The idea is that farmers can reduce the pollution that causes human-caused climate change while producing enough food to live on.
The science is not clear on what impact climate smart agriculture will have on the climate. However, it has benefits for farmers and communities, said Paul West, a senior scientist who studies ecosystems and agriculture at Project Drawdown.
Left: Gobert dries onions in his garden. Owner of Driftwood Farm, he practices climate smart farming methods. Right: Gobert uses sunflowers to attract pollinators and divert pests from plants.
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“I think a lot of climate-smart agriculture practices are very good in terms of soil health and long-term productivity for farmers,” West said.
Gobert comes from a generation of farmers who believed that the land could provide everything a family needed to survive. He said his father left him with valuable advice, which Gobert carries with him to this day.
“One of the statements to me that I will never forget as a child is that all the inputs that we bring to our farm are very good, and we can make money from it, but one day we’ll pay for not taking care of the land,” said Gobert.
Now, he wants to leave the farm better than he found it for the next generation of farmers in his family.
Work with small farm owners
In 2023, the Biden administration announced $20 billion will go to climate-smart agriculture over the next five years. Some farmers are using federal money to help implement these ideas. Other farmers learn how to practice climate-smart agriculture through universities and colleges that offer black land.
John Coleman manages Alcorn State University’s demonstration farm on Mound Bayou, in the Mississippi Delta. In mid-June, he showed a group of small farm owners and others, showing them plants such as purple peas growing in their gardens. They also share practices used on farms, such as limited irrigation and cover crops.
“It’s to help protect our lost soil. You see global warming and things like that, so we’re trying to protect the earth,” Coleman said.
Gobert, of Driftwood Farm, harvests white bush squash. Gobert practices farming with the climate in mind. They rotate crops, and grow rice by putting water directly on the roots instead of flooding, which produces methane – a powerful planet-warming gas.
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The Department of Agriculture is partnering with historically black colleges and universities, such as Alcorn, and other entities through the Partnership for Climate Smart Commodities. The goal is to work with small-scale and underserved farmers in projects that help farmers, ranchers and private forest landowners deal with climate change.
Daniel Collins, professor of plant pathology in Alcorn, said it is not a new idea to work with the Black land-grant university, which is also known as the 1890s.
“The 1890s system has a long history of working with small farmers, starting with George Washington Carver, Booker Whatley, just to name a few,” Collins said.
Carver and Whatley are proponents of environmental farming practices. Carver practices crop rotation using beans and other crops to introduce nutrients and nitrogen into the soil. Whatley helped develop a community-supported agriculture model to help small Black farms struggling with limited resources.
Now, Alcorn State University and other groups are adding to that long history. Through Department of Agriculture funding, they are enrolling farmers in a project to measure how much carbon dioxide they save when using climate-smart practices. The study will take five years to complete, but the researchers hope that with the help of black farmers, they will realize that climate-smart agriculture actually reduces emissions.
Small-farm owners, as well as students and faculty with Florida A & M University, University of Florida and Alcorn State University, examine plants at Start 2 Finish Farm in Marks, Miss., June 19. It is part of a small two-day. Agricultural Climate Integrated Pest Management Workshop covering topics such as organic pest control methods, soil amendments, cover crops and soil and water management.
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The role of cooperative farming
Through funding and research, climate-smart agriculture takes hold in the Gulf. Farmers like Chris Muse are helping others learn how to do this. He started Muse 3 Farm with his brothers in Greensburg, La., in 2015. Now, they help other Black farmers with land on small farms.
“One of the things we’ve worked on with other local farmers is soil health,” Muse said. “How to improve soil health without a lot of additives like synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides.”
On past farm tours, Muse and his brothers would ask the same farmers if they had Department of Agriculture contracts for conservation or environmental practices. No one will raise their hands. Muse said the response is understandable because, historically, black farmers have been wary of the government. A federal class action lawsuit was called Pigford against Glickman case showing years of loan discrimination against Black farmers.
Ducks seek shade under a tree at Driftwood Farm on July 16. Gobert combines livestock with crop production to improve soil health and biodiversity.
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Farmer cooperatives have historically acted as mediators for Black farmers who felt they were treated unfairly, Muse explained. Now that funding for climate-smart agriculture is available, the same group is working to ensure money to help climate-smart agriculture goes into the hands of underserved small farmers. This is a step to ensure that the historical injustice suffered by small farm owners is not repeated.
“What I tell small black farmers is funding now,” Muse said. “What do you want? You want to get your share of the funding, do you want to let the next farmer get your share?”
It’s not just about justice. Climate-smart agriculture is also about the impact of climate change on farmers, Muse said. Last year, Louisiana experienced a drought. Muse worries about how to protect the land.
“We have to do some sustainability practices. Otherwise, you know, we will be doomed,” said Muse.
He thinks climate-smart agriculture can help turn the tide and enable farmers to protect their land for future generations.
