Climate change poses a serious threat to farmers as well as the rest of society, said the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition in a report, released today, that calls for action “to make U.S. agriculture climate-neutral.” Steps would range from requiring farmers to meet minimum standards for conservation to removal of “subsidies for CAFOs with their massive greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution impacts.”
“Shifting to a more resilient, sustainable agricultural system will mitigate climate change while building an agri-food system that is better for our planet and its people,” said the report. “Research has demonstrated that agroecological farming and ranching systems, including organic, sustainable, conservation agriculture and permaculture, can sequester C (carbon) and reduce direct agricultural GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions.”
Agriculture is responsible for 8.4 percent of U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases. Half of agriculture’s direct emissions are from fertilized soil, one-third is methane emitted by livestock and 14 percent is methane from manure pits and lagoons. Erosion and soil degradation also are part of human-caused greenhouse gases. “However, improve agricultural practices for soil health and resource conservation can potentially sequester sufficient SOC (soil organic carbon) and biomass C to make U.S. agriculture climate neutral.”
The NSAC called for larger federal incentives for adoption of farming practices that increase organic matter in soil and sequester carbon in soil and plants, reform of the farm program and crop insurance to encourage climate-change mitigation, support for “climate-friendly, pasture and grazing-based livestock production systems,” and federal research into crop varieties and livestock breed that are resilient in the face of climate change.
The report, “Agriculture and climate change,” is available here.