Growers weigh in on climate-related agriculture policies
President Biden’s climate change policies are causing some wariness among growers, and many growers say they want any climate change and carbon credit system programs for agriculture to be voluntary and market-driven.
In a Farm Journal Pulse Poll on April 27, nearly 1,000 of those polled responded to the question “What do farmers think about Biden’s goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030?” as follows:
- 4% — Positive, creating new revenue;
- 72% — Negative, creating new regulation;
- 14% — Positive and negative;
- 1% — Neutral, will not impact agriculture; and
- 9% — Don’t know.
On Jan. 27, President Biden signed Executive Order No. 14,008, “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad.” In Section 216 of that executive order, Biden directed the secretary of the interior, along with the secretary of agriculture and other senior officials, to develop a plan to conserve at least 30% of the lands (not limited to farmland) and waterways in the U.S. by 2030.
The American Farm Bureau Federation penned a letter to President Biden on April 22 voicing alarm about his policies.
“The concerns of farmers and ranchers are escalating regarding the intent of the 30x30 goal, the definition of conservation, and the metrics for defining success, among other things,” Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation, said in the letter.
The Biden administration also has suggested using $30 billion in farm aid money from the USDA’s Commodity Credit Corporation to pay farmers to implement sustainable practices and capture carbon in their soil.
U.S. lawmakers also are beginning to address climate policies for farmers. In April, the Senate Agriculture Committee passed The Growing Climate Solutions Act to assist farmers and foresters interested in potential revenue from carbon markets.
Northwest growers support maintaining the voluntary nature of any climate initiative, said Mark Powers, president of the Yakima, Wash.-based Northwest Horticultural Council.
“The term Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is being used and the Northwest Horticultural Council seeks a clear definition of CSA that is applicable to all U.S. crops, including perennial tree fruit, and identifies metrics that are directly related to U.S. producer practices,” Powers said in an e-mail.
“There is an understandable level of skepticism in the grower community regarding broad policy objectives tied to global initiatives that are not clearly defined and do not appear to have established metrics for determining success, no matter how beneficial the intent.”
Whatever definitions and metrics are used, Powers said it is important for USDA to acknowledge and help to quantify the many CSA benefits that are already in practice in the production of all U.S. crops, including tree fruits such as apples, cherries and pears.
“Such a recognition would assist growers not only in addressing regulatory incentives or requirements, but also in addressing the private marketplace questions, as well as supply chain and retailer initiatives, that are likely to surface and effectively make the voluntary nature of a USDA-CSA program mandatory,” Powers said.
