Episode 16 - What is BCI and how do growers sign up? Arkansas Row Crops Radio providing up to date information and timely recommendations on row crop production in Arkansas. Bill Robertson: Welcome to Arkansas Row Crops Radio. My name is Bill Robertson, Cotton Extension Agronomist for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture Cooperative Extension Service. Joining me today is Karen Wynne. She's the USA Program Coordinator with the Better Cotton Institute, or BCI. A special thanks go to BCI for sponsoring his podcast, which is part of a series to highlight the benefits of improving soil health. This is in an effort toward documenting continuous improvement on the farm to ultimately improve profitability of our producers, as well as provide a source of verified, sustainably produced fiber that the cotton supply chain desires. Karen, we're glad to have you with us today. Karen Wynne: Thanks, Bill. I appreciate the opportunity to visit with you today. Bill Robertson: Karen, thank you. But before we began our visit today, I'd like to give a little bit of background information for our discussion. Now, climate change was a big news item prior to COVID-19, but it's still a very important issue. Regardless of your view on climate change, it is really driving a lot of what we see going on here. Agriculture offers one of the most immediate, affordable and scalable opportunities to play a central role in climate change mitigation. This is the basics or the basis for all the programs the USDA, NRC is targeting agriculture practices that can have a positive impact on climate change. Consumer response to climate change is really driving the corporations to become active in this arena, not just to meet the wants and needs of their customers, but to also address the wants and needs of their stockholders and investors. Many have set lofty goals and now theyÕre really trying to figure out, okay, how we're going to do these? How are we gonna meet them? Some of their goals can be met with changes inside their organization. But most time they need to impact other segments of the supply chain, starting with raw products that they source. Many brands have set goals to source 100 percent sustainable fiber. In most of these plans are set to be accomplished by 2025. U.S. Cotton wants to make sure our cotton can be used to help them meet their goals. U.S. cotton producer leadership has set goals for improving cotton production sustainability metrics. They want to improve land use or yield 13 percent in soil carbon by 30 percent. And then we want to reduce solar loss by 50 percent. Water use by 18, energy use by 15 percent in greenhouse gas emissions about thirty-nine. So, these goals will help support to go set by the entire supply chain. So, Karen, with all this said. Share with us exactly what is BCI and how does BCI fit in with all this ism? I'm sure there must be some type of process to assure brands are really getting sustainable cotton that they want. Karen Wynne: Sure, Bill. The Better Cotton Initiative is a global nonprofit organization that's the largest cotton supply sustainability program in the world. BCI exists to make global cotton production better for the people who produce it, better for the environment it grows and better for the sector's future. We have over eighteen hundred members and they come from all sectors of the cotton supply chain, as well as nonprofit and government organizations. BCI was established to build supply and demand for cotton that's produced in a better way for farmers and for the environment. So BCI owns and operates the world's largest cotton sustainability standard in the world. We aim to transform cotton production worldwide by developing better cotton as a sustainable, mainstream commodity. We're not creating a niche product. And in 2018, 24 percent of global cotton from over two million farmers in twenty-three countries was licensed to better cotton. So, that's pretty good progress. And in less than 10 years, as you said, many retailers and brands have targeted sustainability goals for the next decade, including sourcing 100 percent sustainable fiber. These goals are in response to consumer and shareholder demand, but they rely on licensing or certification programs to verify that the product meets an acceptable level of sustainability. And so, they're actively involved in BCIÕs programs and development of the standards. It's also really important to recognize that cotton growers are already building more resilient farms and they've been adopting a whole slate of practices that improve their farming systems and profitability and have a positive impact on the environment. So many of our growers are already on that path to meet their own sustainability goals. And we're verifying work that they've already done. Bill Robertson: Well, great. How does the BCI program work? Karen Wynne: The better cotton standard rests on seven principles, and each comes with specific criteria that define the practices. So our seven principles are crop protection, water stewardship, soil health, biodiversity, fiber quality, decent work and effective management systems. Our standards focus on continuous improvement and planning. So, we expect that all licensed growers across the globe meet some basic requirements, but also that they're setting realistic goals to improve their farms along these principles. So, in the spring, growers who've signed up complete a self-assessment that reviews their practices. It's an online survey that asks growers how they're implementing each of those seven principles. And then a sample of those farms receive a farm visit during the season, either from an implementing partner, BCI staffer, third party verifier. And then in the winter, we ask each grower to submit end of year data, including final acreage yield, water use and total amounts of all inputs. So, growers need to meet core criteria and be committed to improvements. Generally, if growers are committed to participating, they've been able to meet the criteria. So, we don't deny many licenses, but we find that many start the process and then elect to remove themselves at some point if they don't meet the criteria or just aren't willing to fully participate. Bill Robertson: Okay, well you mentioned a while ago that the growers are signed up. But how does a grower sign up? Karen Wynne: Most of our growers are signed up with what we call an implementing partner, and usually they're a cotton merchant or a marketing co-op or gen. And so those partners help growers meet the deadlines and understand what they need to do. They also cover the cost of these third-party verification visits for the growers. We do license cotton at no cost to most growers. But if a grower participates outside that that umbrella of the implementing partner group, the farm is responsible for the cost of the third-party verification every three years, as well as all the yearly steps that I mentioned earlier. Bill Robertson: Okay. We talked about earlier some of the core criteria. Can you go into more detail on what are some examples of core criteria? Karen Wynne: Sure, most of the core criteria is already being implemented and is pretty familiar for U.S. growers. The criteria that focus on environmental impacts include practices like integrated pest management, making crop protection decisions based on pest resistance and managing beneficial species populations, handling crop chemicals properly and using PPE soil tests and crop rotation, efficient irrigation water use, and then prevention of runoff and leaching. And then our decent work criteria cover things like child labor restrictions, limiting hazardous work to adults, and making sure that there are appropriate disciplinary measures, clear policies, equal pay for equal work and the threat of workers to bargain collectively. And then the management systems criteria's really to ensure that record keeping and policies are in effect so that all these other practices can be implemented well and monitored. Bill Robertson: Okay, thanks. Also, we talked about you mentioned something about farm visits. So what really is the purpose of a farm visit? Karen Wynne: Right. So, the self-assessment, which all growers do, covers the criteria but our system requires that we verify the practices of a sample with of the growers with an on-farm visit. And these visits are pretty critical to provide an added level of integrity to the program. So, there are crucial, crucial part of a credible standard system like BCI is. So, in the US we use a representative sampling system and we manually select about half of participating farms for some kind of verification visit. It might be a third-party verifier or BCI or implementing partner staff. So, these visits are really just a review of the information that we've already received in the self-assessment where we're not looking for ways to find fault. We're confirming that the practices that each grower identified in the self-assessment match those on the ground. So, the visits also help us understand the challenges for growers in different areas. And the answer any growersÕ questions growers may have about BCI or about the standard. So as a as a global standard, the criteria we use to define sustainable cotton production, they're universal, but they're implemented very differently according to size and location of the farms. And the more we can understand about the challenges specific to a country or region, the more we can make our work there relevant and accessible to the growerÕs actual practices. So, so we ask our growers to commit to continuous improvement concepts on their farm. But we also internally commit to improving our process for growers. So, with the verification visits, we know that it's really stressful to have someone show up and ask questions about your business, even if you know that you're doing things correctly. But, you know, so we need to be thorough. But we do try to make the process as painless as possible. And honestly, it's my favorite part of the job because I get to see, you know, innovative practices that each grower has figured out with their specific farming system and hear what's working and what's not really worth the effort. And since every farm is different, it makes it a very interesting process. Bill Robertson: Well, Karen, you know, if I put my farmer cap on it, it's always scary to have somebody come out, ask questions, especially somebody that I really don't know and all that know exactly what they're wanting. So what kind of questions do you ask and what kind of information do you ask to see? Karen Wynne: Well, we have we have our primary meeting with the farm manager or owner. And, you know, often that's the same person. Sometimes the implementing partner or their crop consultant will join us. And we usually just meet in the shop office or at the tailgate of the truck. And after an opening meeting where we sort of explain what's involved in the visit, I usually start by having the farm manager describe the overall farm. And, you know, usually if you get them to talk about the farming system, they'll cover things like cropping and irrigation, pest management strategies, soil and water conservation and what other land uses on the farm or nearby. And then we'll talk about the farm's workforce and figure out sort of what kind of what kind of labor they're using. Usually there's unpaid family workers, permanent and seasonal employees, and then there's temporary or custom hires that come through during the season. A lot of this information should already be provided in the self-assessment. And so, it's more of a review. And so that the conversation covers a lot of the questions on the checklist that I have. And then I'll usually follow up with anything that we didn't quite cover that I need to ask. We do require maps of soil, water and biodiversity resources. So, we ask to see those. And those maps come in a lot of different forms. Usually growers have FSA aerial photographs, grid sampling maps. And really what's important for us to see is that the grower can, you know, identify and explain how those resources impact their farm. So, we may talk about how water flows on or off the farm or what kind of habitats the wildlife exists and field buffers and adjoining land. But again, it's more of a conversation than a test. And then we ask to see a mix of other records that the manager may have, including scouting recommendations, spray records, pesticide applicator licenses, any conservation planning documents, soil tests and other input records. We also may ask to see paystubs or some other confirmation of worker payment or hiring records and any written or posted labor policies. So, you know, some growers have the records in a notebook and others have these really sophisticated software systems. So, we don't care how the information is recorded as long as long as we can see that it does exist. Then we like to see the pesticide mixing and storage areas and any common areas for workers where you'd post information and sites where a grower might be addressing degraded lands or managing sealed borders or waterways or improving habitat. So that's the main interview. And then we also do interview twenty five percent of the farms workers whenever possible to verify that workplace criteria are being met. And so, this doesn't include family members. But, you know, we didnÕt really talk about this earlier, but the social impacts of cotton farming are real concern with these guys members. So we'll talk to the worker privately about their responsibilities, any training they've had, if they're working with pesticides especially, we verify that the farm management has practices to ensure no discrimination. Discipline is fair and consistent and workers aren't prevented from organizing. So, our interview is strictly to confirm that the growers made an BCI criteria and we don't ask about things like immigration status. And as I mentioned before, we're visiting to confirm that the what the farmers already told us on the self-assessment and find successes in the areas for improvement. So, we're not hunting for errors or mistakes. Bill Robertson: Now, that's certainly good to know. But, you know, as we talk at the very start. BCI is a global organization, and so you kind of have to cover all situations. And I know in in some areas there may have particular sticking points, but what are some of the sticking points that it is common that you see for U.S. growers? Karen Wynne: Yeah, and really most of the criteria are pretty straightforward and really pretty easy to meet. But there are definitely a few areas where U.S. practices and regulations don't quite line up with the BCI standards. One thing is that we're still working on communicating this this concept of continuous improvement planning and how to measure them on each farm. So that's more of our challenge of defining and clarifying our expectations. Biodiversity is another concept that really requires more definition. It's a really broad concept, you know, that requires looking at the farm as a whole. So, it includes everything from soil biology to wildlife and habitats that are adjacent to the farm so that the farms in some parts of the US are really large and only grow a few crops. So, this is an area of concern for some of these guys, brand and retail members, about how those farms are able to manage their land to support more beneficial habitats and species. So that's one sticking point. Another one we've found is that. BCI uses some globally recognized lists of highly hazardous pesticide, active ingredients that are either prohibited or they're targeted for future phase out in a certain period of time, and it's based on their toxicity level. So, these lists are based on a few different international conventions. And in the past, there were no prohibited active ingredients labeled for use in the US. But starting this year, we're starting to see ingredients on our list that are registered for use on cotton in the US, but are prohibited or targeted for prohibition in the future. So aldicarb and flow rate that are under brands like Lobe AgLogic, is that right? Bill Robertson: Yes, AgLogic. Karen Wynne: And phymet, those aren't allowed for use for a licensed better cotton producer. We have found that fewer growers use these substances, but moving forward, our list will get longer with more common products. And so, we're working on helping growers identify less toxic alternatives. But there are still a lot of commonly used substances that that are allowed in BCI standards. So, we're not eliminating chemicals from use on the farm. And finally, we're just you know, we're working to improve our communication and growers understanding of the program and by doing things like this podcast. You know, every year it gets a little bit easier as growers have been participating longer and we understand our challenges and help growers address them. And then we we're also just working on improving our timing because, you know, when the cotton season starts, it's really hard to get in and schedule a visit, you know. But it is the ideal time just to see production under way. So, so we do our best to accommodate growersÕ schedules. But, you know, as you know, some things don't go according to plan. Bill Robertson: Yeah. Speaking of going as planned, we kind of have the new norm going on with COVID-19 and such. So, howÕs COVID effecting in this season's farm visits? Karen Wynne: Yeah, well, definitely not gone as planned. We have developed this alternate approach to farm visits for the 2020 season where we were offering the option of doing a remote visit. So, you know, we really take the safety and health of all our growers seriously across the globe. We want our BCI farmers to stay safe and healthy. So, you know, in person verifications are seeming less possible this year for a lot of growers. And so, we have this this backup system of remote or virtual verifications, and we leave that up to the grower, the verifier, the implementing partner. And so, it's pretty fluid depending on the local situation and confidence levels. But yeah, but and we've started it's really not the same. It's disappointing because it it's really nice to get out to the farm. But, you know, this year we we've got to be flexible and that's the best we can do. Bill Robertson: Well, Karen, you know, sometimes when you think about, you know, certification, farm visits, it's all really kind of scary. You know, our conversation today is really helped give me a better understanding of the process BCI uses to help facilitate continuous improvement for the producers and to become more efficient and sustainable and to ensure that our supply chain has confidence in that they are getting this sustainable cotton they want. Karen Wynne: Yeah, and, you know, we just we love working with U.S. growers and, you know, we're constantly working to do a better job and have the better cotton standard fit to the U.S. cotton production system. So, and we're always here for, you know, for help. If anyone ever has any questions, we do have a Website that the U.S. program is that bettercotton.org/USA. If anyone wants to go there to find out more. Bill Robertson: Thank you, Karen. We appreciate your visit with us today. I enjoyed our conversation really is very educational. I want to thank BCR again for their sponsorship. This has been Bill Robertson. And I want to remind you, support Arkansas agriculture by eating rice and wearing cotton. Thanks for joining us on Arkansas Row Crops Radio. Arkansas Row Crops Radio is a production of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture. For more information please contact your local county extension agent or visit uaex.edu