The nation’s farmers and ranchers are actually reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
According to the EPA, emissions from agriculture fell more than 4 percent from 2019 to 2020, and emissions from agriculture soil management were reduced by 8 percent.
Ag represents only 10 percent of total emissions in the U.S., much lower than other sectors. However, compared to 70 years ago, farmers are getting nearly three times more out of their production than what they put into it. Farm Bureau President, Zippy Duvall says that voluntary, market-based incentives help farmers do an even better job.
That bodes well in another study with Farmland Partners. The company buys and manages farmland.
It recently compiled a sustainability survey from people who farm land owned by the company. It asked questions about the use of variable rate fertilizer, no-till operations, and technology.
According to their CEO Paul Pittman, “Overwhelmingly, the results we got back were very high scores in terms of the percentage of our farmers that are operating their farms at the sort of leading edge of modern technology when it comes to producing that food at the lowest negative environmental impact possible. I was pleasantly surprised; I thought the results would be good. They were even better than I frankly expected, and it just goes to demonstrate that the American farmer is a very good steward of the land in the context of growing food.”
The survey found 97 percent of respondents invest in soil health, 94 percent practice conservation tillage, and 87 percent use variable-rate technology to apply crop inputs.
Related:
Missouri Corn Growers weighs in on EPA’s change to greenhouse gas emissions standards
AFBF on agriculture making gains in reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Setting The Record Straight: Debunking Myths About Agriculture