climate-smart agriculture
Seeded by USDA, climate-smart products speed to market, says Vilsack
Nearly four dozen climate-smart commodities, from beets and bourbon to corn and yogurt, are on the market two years after the USDA launched the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities project, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday. The $3.1 billion public-private initiative, with 135 demonstration projects, is meant to encourage farmers to adopt climate-mitigating practices on working lands while creating a market for the products.
Lawsuit challenges ‘climate-smart’ beef claims
Tyson Foods, one of the largest meatpackers in the world, cannot credibly say it produces “climate-smart” beef and should be stopped from making such marketing claims, said a lawsuit filed Wednesday under the District of Columbia’s consumer protection law.
Support for regenerative agriculture drops if food costs more
Consumers like the goals of regenerative agriculture, but they don’t want to pay more for food produced with the climate-friendly practices, said a Purdue University survey released on Wednesday.
Democratic platform calls for net-zero agricultural emissions by 2050
The U.S. farm sector would be the first in the world to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 with the assistance of projects such as the USDA's climate-smart agriculture initiatives, said the Democratic Party platform released on Monday. Delegates to the party's national convention in Chicago were scheduled to vote on the platform on Tuesday.
Restrict clean fuel credits to U.S. feedstocks, farm groups say
Lucrative tax credits of up to $1.25 a gallon should be available only for low-carbon fuels made from U.S.-grown feedstocks, four farm groups told the Biden administration on Wednesday. In a letter, the groups also said the government should broaden its list of climate-smart farming practices that produce lower-carbon “sustainable” crops.
Farm practices will open the door to SAF tax credits, for some
Sustainable aviation fuels will qualify automatically for tax credits of up to $1.25 a gallon if they are derived from corn and soybeans grown under a specific set of carbon-reducing practices, said the Biden administration on Tuesday. Farm groups and biofuel producers grumbled at the restrictions — a fraction of U.S. biofuels would be eligible at present — and said they would seek better terms in the long-term regulations now under consideration.
Republicans would put half of climate funding into commodity subsidies, says Stabenow
Senate Agriculture chairwoman Debbie Stabenow rejected on Thursday a Republican proposal to move several billion dollars of climate funds into the commodity title of the farm bill. “No, the answer to that is no,” Stabenow said at an expo on climate-smart agriculture practices.
USDA approves climate funds for unproven practices, say EWG
The USDA has inflated its spending total for climate mitigation by including practices that are not proven to reduce greenhouse gas emissions or sequester carbon in the soil, said the Environmental Working Group on Wednesday. The USDA said EWG's conclusions were "fundamentally flawed, speculative, and rest on incorrect assumptions."
Biofuels and climate markets could stem loss of farms, says Vilsack
The decades-long decline in the number of U.S. farms can be stanched by adopting climate-smart farming practices and crops, increasing biofuel production, and expanding local and regional marketing, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told the largest U.S. farm group on Monday. There are 2 million farms in operation today; the number of farms peaked at 6.8 million in the 1930s.
Biden to announce $5 billion in funding for land stewardship and rural development
President Biden will open his administration’s “investing in rural America” blitz on a Minnesota farm on Wednesday with the announcement of $5 billion in funding for soil and water conservation, rural infrastructure, and economic development. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the $1.7 billion allotted for stewardship was the largest single-year injection of money ever into USDA conservation programs.
USDA seeks precision in measuring greenhouse gases and carbon reductions
As part of President Biden's goal to cut U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in half by the end of the decade, the USDA will spend $300 million to more accurately measure and verify GHG emissions and carbon sequestration by climate-smart agriculture, said the White House on Wednesday. Climate adviser Ali Zaidi said the project would help "the people on the front lines of the climate crisis to be part of the solution."
With cuts, USDA will ‘do more with less,’ say House Republicans
Split on party lines, a House subcommittee approved a USDA spending bill on Thursday that would rescind $6 billion earmarked for clean energy and farm loan forgiveness and end work on fair play rules in livestock marketing. The bill also would limit Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s access to a $30 billion reserve that is being used to pay for a climate-smart agriculture initiative.
USDA launches $3.1 billion climate-smart initiative
Sixteen months after Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a project to help farmers develop markets for sustainably produced commodities, the USDA formally put the initiative into operation on Thursday. Some $3.1 billion — three times more than originally planned — would be spent on 141 pilot projects to offer incentives that encourage producers to adopt climate-mitigating practices on working lands. <strong>(No paywall)</strong>
House spending leader says USDA’s wings should be clipped
The Biden administration cannot be trusted to spend tax dollars prudently, and Congress ought to block the USDA’s access to the $30 billion reserve fund it used to launch a climate mitigation initiative, said the chair of a House Appropriations subcommittee on Thursday. The Republican-controlled Congress restricted Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s access to the fund for five years during the Obama administration.
Senator warns of farm-size conflict in farm bill negotiations
At the same time that Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called for more attention to small and midsize farmers, who see limited revenue from agriculture, a key Southern senator cautioned on Thursday against “a small farm versus big farm conflict” in writing the new farm bill. Large-scale operators collect the lion’s share of U.S. farm subsidies at present because payments are tied to production volume.
USDA spending falls as White House envisions transformational farm bill
Agriculture Department spending would fall 14 percent in the new fiscal year, due almost entirely to reduced SNAP benefits with the end of the pandemic, said the White House on Thursday. It proposed relatively modest initiatives at the USDA for fiscal 2024, such as offering free school meals to more poor children, while seeing golden potential in the new farm bill for broad-scale change.
NFU: Address climate change, create permanent disaster program in farm bill
Congress should give farm-state lawmakers additional funding for writing the new farm bill, said the National Farmers Union, the second-largest U.S. farm group, following its annual meeting. The NFU said the 2023 farm bill should address climate change through such steps as crop insurance discounts for farmers who plant cover crops or employ other practices that increase resiliency or decrease risk.
Protect climate funds in farm bill, say advocates
Some 644 environmental, farm, religious, wildlife and recreation groups urged the leaders of the Senate and House Agriculture committees on Monday to protect the $20 billion earmarked last summer for climate-smart agriculture from farm-bill raids. "This is the largest investment in agriculture conservation and rural communities in decades and farmers, ranchers and foresters across the country are depending on these resources," said the groups in a letter.
Farm bill should broaden climate mitigation, land stewardship, says FACA
When Congress writes the new farm bill, it should include incentives for farmers to adopt cover crops and purchase so-called precision agriculture equipment that more efficiently uses fertilizers and pesticides, said the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance on Wednesday.