Items Tagged with 'carbon bank'

The Biden administration is launching the application process for a $1 billion program that will test ways farms of all sizes can profit from the low-carbon commodities they produce through practices that cut greenhouse gas emissions.

The Senate has confirmed an important member of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack’s team at USDA, approving the nomination of Robert Bonnie to be undersecretary for farm production and conservation.

The Agriculture Department issued a climate strategy Thursday that heavily focuses on measuring the impact of climate-friendly practices, taking steps to facilitate private carbon markets and ensuring all farmers can benefit financially from addressing climate change.

With the Agriculture Department expected to soon release its strategy for tackling climate change, the top Senate Ag Committee’s top Republican is doubling down on his opposition to a USDA-run carbon bank.

Farm and environmental groups that often disagree on ag policy are urging the Agriculture Department to prioritize climate change in conservation programs and to consider changes to crop insurance that would promote the use of cover crops and other carbon-conserving practices.

A broad coalition of farm and conservation groups says a USDA-run carbon bank should be used to test ways to establish carbon accounting guidelines, expand the use of climate-friendly farming practices and enable small-scale farms and minority producers to benefit from carbon markets.

A new report from the AGree coalition recommends alternatives for the Agriculture Department to consider in setting up a carbon bank that could be used to develop private credit markets and to assist producers who may be left out of them.

President Joe Biden's $2.7 trillion infrastructure plan would address some long-standing needs in rural America with substantial new funding for roads, bridges, waterways and broadband, but the plan doesn't provide the major boost in farm conservation spending that many ag groups say is needed to get more farmers to adopt climate-smart practices.

In this opinion piece, Lloyd Ritter with the Agriculture Energy Coalition discusses how USDA can expand and improve already existing programs to be climate focused.

U.S. farmers, ranchers, foresters and food companies are leaning in on the climate policy debate more than ever before, even as many questions remain about how to achieve measurable and practical solutions that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions.