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Nu Life Market Partners with Sustainable Environmental Consultants to Quantify Sorghum Sustainability Metrics
SCOTT CITY, Kan. and WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Nu Life Market has partnered with Sustainable Environmental Consultants (SEC) with support of the United Sorghum Checkoff Program to identify current progress and potential growth among their sorghum farmers. Using SEC’s independent third-party sustainability platform, EcoPractices®, the recent project provides Nu Life Market and supports U.S.…
Read More Sustainable Environmental Consultants Appoints Dr. Sara Crawford As President
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (May 25, 2022) – Sustainable Environmental Consultants (SEC) powered by EcoPractices® announced the appointment of Dr. Sara Crawford as president. Since its inception in 2008, SEC has been dedicated to supporting producers and food and beverage companies alike. By utilizing their EcoPractices® platform, SEC helps the food, beverage and ingredient industries…
Read More Sustainable Environmental Consultants Announces Industry Changing R3™ ROI Tool for Regenerative Agriculture Practices
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa March 17, 2022 – Sustainable Environmental Consultants (SEC), a sustainability verification provider for agriculture has announced the release of their new R3™ ROI Tool to provide farmers and the supply chains they serve with customized data about the financial and environmental benefits of implementing regenerative agriculture practices. “Consumers are passionate about…
Read More EcoPractices®: Supporting Your Regenerative Ag Goals in 2021
EcoPractices by Sustainable Environmental Consultants 2021 Recap 2021 was the year “Regenerative Agriculture” entered the spotlight with features in Forbes and the New York Times it’s no surprise #regenerativeag is the new trend in the sustainability space. But it’s not a new concept at EcoPractices or to the farms and food supply companies we serve.…
Read More Sustainable Environmental Consultants Applauds USDA ‘Climate-Smart’ Pilot Projects
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa Feb. 23, 2022 – Sustainable Environmental Consultants (SEC), a sustainability verification provider for agriculture systems, applauds the Department of Agriculture’s dedication of $1 billion in support of measured and verified “climate-smart” pilot projects. These projects focus on the on-farm/on-ranch practices which are associated with greenhouse gas emissions and/or carbon sequestration including…
Read More Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever Partner with Sustainable Environmental Consultants to Help Private Landowners Quantify Sustainability Metrics
Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have unveiled a new partnership with Sustainable Environmental Consultants, powered by EcoPractices®, to help producers achieve agricultural resiliency through habitat-based conservation solutions.
Read More Danone North America’s Soil Health Initiative Exceeds 2022 Goal, Further Advancing a Leading Comprehensive Program in Dairy Industry
To date, the program has prevented more than 337,000 tons of soil from erosion, resulting in nearly $3.3 million in cost avoidance for farmer partners, who supply brands like Oikos®, Two Good® and Horizon Organic® Company also debuts new R3™ ROI Tool to provide farmers with data on the financial and environmental benefits of regenerative…
Read More Mourning the Loss of Sustainable Environmental Consultants President John Harsch
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa (January 18, 2022) – The Wright Service Corp. Board of Directors and executive leadership announce the unexpected loss of Sustainable Environmental Consultants (SEC) President John Harsch as a result of a vehicle accident. Chairman and CEO Scott Packard said, “With a profound sense of loss and sadness, we mourn the passing…
Read More Soil and Water Outcomes Fund Produces More Than Tenfold Increase in Environmental Outcomes in 2021
Results Generated from Farmers Implementing Conservation Practices Across Six States Originally released from Soil and Water Outcomes Fund 12.9.2021 ANKENEY, IA and WASHINGTON, DC—The Soil and Water Outcomes Fund today announced that carbon sequestration and nutrient reduction outcomes produced by participating farms in Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina in 2021 are projected…
Read More Gerber Commits to Carbon Neutrality for Organic Products in 2022 as Part of Climate Forward Nutrition Ambition
Originally released from Gerber 7.15.2021. ARLINGTON, V.A., July 15, 2021 – Gerber, the early childhood nutrition leader, today announced its Climate Forward Nutrition1 ambition to pioneer on-farm research and invest in regenerative agriculture techniques to ensure the ingredients for our nutritious food for baby are produced in a way that increases biodiversity and soil health, and reduces water usage. As part of this ambition, Gerber has also committed to carbon neutrality across its baby food portfolio…
Read More Brian Severin Joins Sustainable Environmental Consultants
Sustainable Environmental Consultants (SEC) is excited to announce our new director of agricultural engineering, Brian Severin. As the director of agricultural engineering, he will be working closely with our agricultural compliance and engineering team, guiding strategy and opportunity development. Creating designs that work with client operation strategies to achieve goals is something Brian is very passionate about.
Read More Third-Party Verifier Quantifies Dairy Sustainability
McCarty Family Farms has been in the dairy business for more than a century. Originating in northeast Pennsylvania with Taylor McCarty, the farming operation has evolved over four generations, allowing more of the family to be involved and diversifying their enterprises.
Looking for opportunities to grow, the farm eventually moved 21 years ago to northwest Kansas, establishing McCarty Dairy in Rexford in 2000. In 2011, the farm began an industry-first collaboration with Danone North America. The following year, they completed a one-of-a-kind evaporative milk condensing plant on the farm.
Read More Seeing is Believing: Regenerative Agriculture Scores a Boost from Danone North America
Originally released from TriplePundit 3.29.2021.
Regenerative agriculture is beginning to gain a stronger foothold in the mainstream market, and the Danone North America family of dairy brands is setting out to accelerate and scale up the trend. The firm’s five-year demonstration program launched just three years ago, and it has already tripled in size, covering over 80,000 acres in the U.S. and Canada.
Read More 30+ Companies, Boards, NGOs Join Farmers, Ranchers to Endorse a Shared Vision for Sustainable Food Systems
Originally released from U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action 3.23.2021.
St. Louis, March 23, 2021 – U.S. Farmers & Ranchers in Action (USFRA) is celebrating National Ag Day by announcing the growing list of companies, organizations and individuals who have joined the Decade of Ag, the first sector-wide movement to align to a shared vision for the next decade centered around investing in the next generation of agricultural systems, restoring our environment, regenerating natural resources and in doing so, strengthening the social and economic fabric of America.
Read More Food and Beverage Retailers Need Hard Data from Brands to Support Sustainability
[Article and photo originally published on Retail TouchPoints 2.24.2021] Consumers want to know about the paths their food and drinks take from the farm to their pantry. And they want this pathway to feature sustainable choices by food producers, and for those choices to appear clearly on food packaging and branding. With the pandemic driving more people to focus on health and eating at home, there’s a further demand for sustainably sourced food and better food production choices.
Read More General Mills, Danone Pilots Provide Proof for Regenerative Agriculture Success
[Article and photo originally published on GreenBiz 2.23.2021] By Jesse Klein, Contributor, GreenBiz.com A few years into Danone’s and General Mills’ regenerative agriculture pilots, one thing has become clear: It’s about data collection. Holistically changing our agriculture system to become more sustainable comes later.“We really don’t have a great understanding of what happens when farmers…
Read More Farming 4.0 Is Here
[Article and photo originally published on Food Technology Magazine 2.1.2021]
Tomorrow’s grain rows, vegetable fields, and specialty crop groves will be much busier places than the relatively passive acreage of yesterday. On the surface, sensors built into crops will signal soil conditions; digital irrigation systems will precisely direct water streams; and robotic guardians will pull weeds. In the air above, satellites and drones will photograph plants with enough precision to count the spots on a ladybug’s wing. In the soil below, new wonders of botanical manipulation and digital information will optimize available nutrients, elevate plant performance, and store results.
Read More Upholding Sustainability Efforts
[Article and photo originally published on Industry Today 12.22.2020] Consumer demand calls for food and beverage retailers to ensure brands they carry are sustainably sourced. Many of today’s food and beverage retailers offer sustainable products for their customers. For many, it’s an essential business practice. Today’s consumers demand to know that the journey of…
Read More Danone North America Expands the Most Comprehensive Regenerative Agriculture Program in the Dairy Industry
WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. and BROOMFIELD, Colo., Dec. 21, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Danone North America, the purpose-driven food & beverage leader with a diverse portfolio of dairy and plant-based brands, continues to expand its regenerative farming program, currently the most comprehensive regenerative agriculture dairy program in the U.S. The company unveiled today its year three results from its multi-year, multi-million-dollar soil health research program. Launched in 2017, the soil health initiative brings together experts and academics to build best-in-class soil health programs to benefit farms and communities across the Danone North America portfolio. Now completing its third year, the research program has nearly tripled to more than 82,000 acres, inclusive of 28,000 organic acres, across the U.S. and Canada, and has recently expanded into almond orchards in the central valley of California.
Read More Congratulations to the Recipients of our Inaugural 4-H & National FFA Organization Sponsorship
Sustainable Environmental Consultants (SEC) would like to congratulate and highlight the recipients of our first ever Sustainable Environmental Consultants 4-H and National FFA Organization Sponsorship. This $250 sponsorship is gifted to individuals who are actively involved in their local 4-H club and/or FFA chapter, demonstrate a passion for agriculture, and exhibit a desire to grow in personal and professional development. The 2020 recipients are Ethan Kneisler and Allie Kneisler.
Read More How Food And Beverage Retailers Can Ease Their Consumers’ Sustainability Concerns
[Article and photo originally published on Retail IT Insights 11.25.2020] Today’s consumers demand to know the “farm to fork” journey of their food choices. They expect safe and affordable foods that are marketed with transparent claims about environmental impacts and sustainability. The pandemic accelerated the consumer demand for sustainably sourced food and beverage products because…
Read More Sustainable Environmental Consultants Celebrates Five Years Helping Organizations Quantify their Sustainability Impact With its State-of- the-Art Technology, EcoPractices®
Originally released on November 17, 2020. Sustainable Environmental Consultants (SEC), a leader in providing innovative environmental responsibility solutions, celebrates the five year anniversary of EcoPractices®, an independent, third-party verification and validation platform that blends science with state-of-the-art technology to assess supply chain sustainability risk and quantify key sustainability performance indicators. EcoPractices provides food organizations, their…
Read More USDA Partnership Will Scale Up Soil and Water Outcomes Fund’s Work with Midwest Farmers
Originally released from Iowa Soybean Association 9.17.20. Ankeny, Iowa — Farmers in Iowa, Illinois, and Ohio will soon benefit from a new partnership between the Soil and Water Outcomes Fund and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (USDA-NRCS). The Ag Technology and Environmental Stewardship Foundation (AgTech), a subsidiary of the Iowa Soybean Association, and…
Read More The Pandemic of 2020 – Food System Change Drivers and Lessons Learned So Far
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a worldwide health and economic crisis. In a post COVID-19 world, moving to a sustainable, regenerative and resilient global food supply system will be critical. The novel coronavirus pandemic has made us realize that “business-as-usual” is no longer an option.
Read More Sustainable Environmental Consultants Soil Sampling Services
Sustainable Environmental Consultants (SEC) agricultural compliance and engineering division conducts soil sampling to meet a variety of testing protocols, including local Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) guidelines. The sampling process begins by mapping the designated fields.
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