climate change
Biden to end large-scale old-growth timber sales in Tongass
The Biden administration will end large-scale sales of old-growth timber in the Tongass National Forest on the Alaska panhandle, the world's largest intact temperate rainforest, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday.
Lawmakers look to overrule appellate decision on year-round E15
In a step coinciding with an ethanol conference in Iowa, midwestern lawmakers filed bills in the House and Senate to allow year-round sales of gasoline that is a 15 percent, or higher, blend of corn ethanol. The bills would override a U.S. appeals court ruling on July 2 against summertime sales of E15.
Do conservation subsidies really battle climate change?
The Conservation Reserve Program, which will pay farmers more than $1.8 billion this year to take land out of crop cultivation, has become a linchpin of the Biden administration's climate mitigation program for agriculture. But critics question just how effective the program is in reducing the greenhouse gas emissions generated by agriculture, says FERN's latest story, produced in collaboration with The American Prospect. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
Oregon adopts heat safety rule to protect farm labor and other workers
In the wake of a heat wave blamed for the death of a farmworker, Oregon adopted an emergency rule on Thursday that guarantees workers rest breaks in the shade and plenty of cool water to drink during hot weather. Farmworker advocates called for the passage of federal protections against heat stress on the job.
Opinion: The opportunity to unleash farmers to fight climate change
Producing environmental benefits will become an important enterprise for American farmers, giving them the ability to monetize their response to climate change and other environmental challenges. But as these new enterprises get going, farmers, agribusiness professionals, researchers, policymakers, and rural leaders need to ask how these solutions can be created by farmers — not just be something that happens to farmers. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
Solar leases more popular than carbon contracts among farmers
The relative handful of farmers who have signed carbon sequestration contracts is half the size of the group that has leased land for solar electricity production, said Purdue University on Tuesday. Solar leases, which may exceed $1,000 an acre annually, are more lucrative than the rates offered for carbon capture.
Moore will be first Black chief of the Forest Service
Randy Moore, a career USDA employee who now oversees 20 million acres of national forests in California, will be the first Black chief of the U.S. Forest Service in its 116-year history, announced Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday.
Amazon agroforestry co-op shows how to farm sustainably in the rainforest
In remote northwestern Brazil, a group of farmers has set up a co-op that plants native fruit trees on exhausted former ranchland. In the process, the farmers are not only reforesting the area in a way that mimics the natural habitat, they’re earning about five times more per acre from their agroforestry plots annually than local ranchers are earning by clearing the forest to graze their cattle, says FERN's latest story, produced with National Geographic. <strong> (No paywall) </strong>
Senate passes first-ever climate mitigation bill for agriculture
Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow was certain on Thursday that the House would follow the Senate in passing the first-ever climate mitigation bill for agriculture. Under the bill, the USDA would help farmers enter the carbon market, touted as the private enterprise way to earn money while combating climate change.
Give retailers a cash incentive to sell E15, ethanol group asks Congress
Biofuels could play an important role in helping the nation reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the impact of global warming, said an ethanol trade group on Tuesday, with an eye on upcoming infrastructure legislation. Growth Energy suggested the government pay retailers to lower the price of E15 to entice motorists to buy the higher-blend renewable fuel.
Food production must change for nearly 1 billion threatened by climate – WRI
Nearly 1 billion people live in countries where food production is threatened by climate change, says the World Resources Institute in a report that advocates "transformative adaptation" or large-scale change. "Risks are especially high in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and small island developing nations and for vulnerable groups such as women, youth, indigenous peoples and people living in poverty, among others," said the report, "Food Systems at Risk," released on Wednesday.
Rethinking wildfires at the start of a potentially devastating fire season
California experienced more wildfire last year than any previous year on record, but the severe drought currently strangling nearly three-quarters of the American West threatens to make the 2021 fire season even worse. And while many state and federal agencies are taking extraordinary measures to prevent the further loss of life and property – including prescribed burns, thinning and the deployment of the largest firefighting force in California’s history – some question the efficacy of these increasingly costly measures. <strong> (No paywall)</strong>
Methane from livestock may be greatly underestimated, say researchers
Livestock farms and feedlots in North America may be emitting far more methane, a potent greenhouse gas, than currently assumed, according to a review published in the journal Environmental Research Letters.
Shield farmers from higher taxes for Biden projects, says House ag chair
The Biden administration could "impose a significant financial burden" on farm families with its proposal for stricter application of capital gains taxes, said House Agriculture chairman David Scott on Wednesday. Scott also said any increase in estate taxes "for those taking over farmland is untenable."
Climate change boosts risks to crops from pests
Plant diseases and invasive insects take a huge toll — up to 40 percent — on global crop production, with annual losses worth nearly $300 billion. Climate change could make that worse by opening up new areas to plant pests, according to a scientific review released on Wednesday.
Lawmakers ask for $200 billion for USDA climate work
Thirty Democrats in the House and Senate, in a letter to congressional leaders working on broad-scale climate and infrastructure legislation, called for "a substantial investment in farmers, ranchers, and rural communities as part of the climate solution."
Advocates: Agriculture needs $200 billion increase for climate mitigation
Congress should provide $200 billion in new funding over a decade to reach the goal of "negative emission farming," said 450 conservation, consumer, farm and environmental groups in a letter on Tuesday. The increase would be the equivalent of all the funding in the 2018 farm bill for crop subsidies, land stewardship, crop insurance, research and rural development.
Opinion: If Biden wants farmers to join his climate fight, he needs a better sales pitch
The president is betting the political farm that American farmers and ranchers are ready to help solve this global crisis. Now Biden and his team have to sell their strategy to farm country, and that will require that they abandon the feckless messaging that Democrats have used for too long, and develop a sales pitch that is more empowering than the GOP’s.<strong>(No paywall)</strong>
How climate change could turn America’s poorest region into a produce-growing hub
In FERN’s latest story, published with Switchyard Magazine, reporter Robert Kunzig takes us to the upper Mississippi River Delta, where the idea of growing more fruits and vegetables — to ease the burden on California in the climate-change era — is taking root.