Solutions from the Land

10/20/2026

One of the benefits of working in the global agriculture and food system arena is meeting and learning from leaders who have dedicated their lives to improving food and nutrition security along with livelihoods across the world. Last week in Rome at the World Food Forum, I had the great pleasure of reconnecting with my good friend, Yaya Adisa Olaitan Olaniran, Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the UN Rome-based agencies – Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Food Programme. I have worked with Yaya for over a decade and have benefited greatly from his knowledge of global agriculture, sage advice, and pragmatic approach to forging consensus around challenging topics. Like SfL, Yaya puts relationships first and builds trust with those he is negotiating with.

It’s an honor to call him not only a trusted colleague, but also a close friend.

10/15/2026

Today our Board Member, Dr. Lois Wright Morton gave a presentation at the War, Soil and Freshwater Systems Conference in Prague. Here are some excerpts from her talk, followed by a link to learn more.

"Soil and water are necessary resources in ensuring civilization survives and thrives. Past and current conflicts and wars around the world and the military activities they entail have destroyed soil and water properties of agricultural landscapes.

Agriculture is central to local, national and world food security and rural livelihoods. Today, I am going to talk about agriculture, the disastrous effects war and conflicts have on food and nutrition security and rural livelihoods, and propose a way forward to reclaim and reconstruct contaminated soil and degraded water resources so they can again be productive."
- Lois Wright Morton, PhD

View Lois' presentation here:

https://www.solutionsfromtheland.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Lois-Wright-Morton_War-Soil-and-Freshwater-Systems-Conference-15-17-October-2026.pdf

View the Conference website here:
https://pdconference.org/conference

10/15/2026

Doug Berven (POET) and I were honored to participate in a roundtable with Ambassador Blanchard last night in Rome for Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)'s World Food Forum where we joined with partners and US Mission officials in celebrating American innovation and agricultural leadership!

10/13/2026

We are pleased to report that the UNFCCC has approved our proposed official side event for COP 31, which will be held 15:00-16:30 on Wed. Nov. 18th in Antalya, Türkiye! This is a major accomplishment as competition to host official side events is intense. The title of our event is “Scaling the circular bioeconomy: agricultural solutions to climate change” and our theme is Pathways to help farmers and global agriculture replace linear “take, make, and dispose” systems with circular “make, use, recycle, and reuse” systems to produce food, renewable energy, and biobased materials while reducing and sequestering GHG emissions and delivering ecosystem services benefits.

The co-applicants that accepted our invitation to join us in organizing the event include:
• Corn Refiners Association
• International Center for Research in Agroforestry Korea University
• National Council for Climate Change Sustainable Development and Public Leadership (NCCSD) - India
• U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action
• US Grains Council

In addition, the following organizations have joined our event as co-organizing partners:
• Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods - Uganda
• Circular Bioeconomy Systems Institute (CBSI)
• Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture
• International Agri-Food Network (IAFN)
• Nuffield Scholars and
• International Farming Scholars

SfL extends our hearty thanks and congratulations to our co-applicant and co-organizing partners and everyone else who contributed to securing UNFCCC approval of this event. In the coming weeks we will be firming up final speakers. Stay tuned for more details!

10/09/2026

Last week, members of the California Agriculture Invasive Species leadership team participated in the CA Invasive Species Summit sponsored by the state’s Invasive Species Council. Our team members effectively communicated the growing invasive challenges across the state and lent our support to efforts to scale up prevention, detection, and response strategies.

Check out our "read out" of the summit here:https://www.solutionsfromtheland.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/InvasiveSpeciesSummitSacto2026OctNotes.pdf

10/08/2026

Check out a replay of SfL's Webinar for VoLo Foundation's 2026 Florida Climate Week here: https://youtu.be/ueFriXF3JME?si=0hOOQRB4ArP9LRaQ

10/08/2026

Check out this blog post by UF/IFAS regarding our CHEERS program!

Email 0 Facebook 0 Twitter 0 Reddit 0 X Linkedin 0 Stumbleupon 0 A University of Florida (UF) will lead a multi-state, multidisciplinary team to promote year-round agricultural operations in the Southeast. Funded by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USDA-NIFA), a $9.99 million gra...

10/05/2026

Reminder! Tomorrow is our Webinar for VoLo Foundation's Climate Week online from 12-1pm!

10/02/2026

Join us for our Webinar during Florida Climate Week 2026
In order to join, you need to register for Florida Climate Week via Whova: https://whova.com/portal/registration/Glvl-m64Gy8e0XMwXZE@/

"Climate Change and Invasive Species: A Growing Challenge"
Natural Resources & Conservation Virtual Event
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
VIRTUAL
https://whova.com/.../ZB7q.../53731936/

Description
Invasive species are among the leading drivers of declining agricultural productivity, biodiversity loss, and human health impacts worldwide, causing ecosystem degradation and billions of dollars in economic damage annually. Invasive species damage agriculture and infrastructure, threaten livestock and human health, disrupt food webs, reduce native biodiversity, alter ecosystem functions, and create long-term management costs for agencies, communities, and taxpayers.

Climate change, extreme weather events, expanding global trade, and increased land development, and other changes are opening new invasion pathways and overwhelming existing management efforts. Addressing the invasive species challenge at the required scale and pace requires a more integrated and collaborative approach. To address this challenge, Solutions from the Land and the UF Invasion Science Institute are building a statewide invasive species coalition that will serve as a catalyst for strengthening Florida’s collective capacity to prevent new invasions, respond rapidly to emerging threats, and reduce long-term ecological and economic impacts. Now more than ever, invasive species are impacting all aspects of life and society and require an interdisciplinary, collaborative approach. We invite you to join this event and learn about this growing threat.

Speaker
Ernie Shea, SOLUTIONS FROM THE LAND, President

Co-speakers
Luke Flory, UF Invasion Science Institute, Director
Steve Johnson, Central Treeair Cattle Company & Johnson Harvesting, President
De Broughton, 6th Gen Ag Services, LLC, President
Doria Gordon, Environmental Defense Fund, Lead Senior Scientist II

VoLo Foundation

09/24/2026

Meet Amelia Levin Kent. While Amelia grew up in agriculture, her own path to farming was self-made. She and her husband, Russell, combined their beef cow herds when they married in 2010. Today, she manages the daily operations of Kent Farms LLC, a diversified beef cattle operation where they raise cows and calves, replacement heifers and stocker cattle as well as direct market finished beef in their Louisiana community.

Check out our Q&A with Amelia Kent of Kent Farms LLC:https://www.solutionsfromtheland.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Amelia-Kent-FAO-IYWF-2026-QA.pdf

Thank you, Amelia, for inspiring us to be relentless in pursuing goals!

This is our 2nd installment of our initiative to honor our female farmer envoys as part of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)'s International Year of the Woman Farmer 2026

For more information visit the official website for FAO's IYWF 2026: https://www.fao.org/woman-farmer-2026/en