Ag Wary of Biden's Carbon Bank

by Matthew Choi (Politico's Morning Energy) The Biden administration is facing skepticism on one of its most ambitious climate change initiatives: A multibillion-dollar bank to pay farmers to capture carbon. While some environmentalists view it as a positive sign of the administration’s climate commitment, other parts of the agriculture industry aren’t so sure.

Farmers and ranchers fear the program could short change them as corporations and financial middlemen flood carbon markets. And questions have arisen around how effective the program would be at reducing carbon in the atmosphere.

But the program — and general acceptance of climate risks — is gaining ground in the agricultural sector, and the administration remains confident it’ll be able to sell the program. Still, it’ll be a political tightrope to get there. “There's a balance between moving really quickly and also being deliberate enough that we can bring folks along with us,” a senior USDA official told Pro’s Zack Colman, Liz Crampton and Helena Bottemiller Evich. Zack, Liz and Helena have more for Pros. READ MORE

Excerpt from Farm Progress: One thing is clear, if farmers are going to be asked to address climate change, they must be compensated for it. Also, management decisions on the farm must be solely made by the farmer. Bureaucrats from EPA and Biden’s climate czar, John Kerry, should have no say on farm management decisions.

It’s also critical to let Biden, Kerry and others know that farmers already are taking action to address climate change on their farms. Farmers are already using no-till and other conservation-tillage practices as well as cover crops. Farmers always have been and always will be the best environmental stewards.

In testimony before the House Agriculture Committee Feb. 25, American Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall, stressed the need of a voluntary, market-based system of incentives for planting crops or adopting farming practices that keep carbon in the soil.

In a March 17 webinar on big data and carbon sequestration, P.J. Haynie, a Reedville, Va., farmer and chairman of the National Black Growers Council, made it clear that farmers be rewarded for their efforts in climate mitigation.

“We want to make sure the farmers, the ones doing the hard work, the ones that are out here beating the bushes, the ones that are doing the practices for no-till, for more environmentally friendly, more stewardship practices, get compensated for that effort,” Haynie said.

“Dangling the carrot is what makes the horse run. When we can incentivize farmers to do something, and they are rewarded for their work, you can get a lot more people on the wagon a lot easier that way,’ Haynie said.

Importantly, farmers must also be the drivers on any new policy that will address carbon capture on the farm. Farmers know the land better than anybody because they are the stewards of the land. Addressing the supposed “climate crisis” must never take precedent over the farmer’s chief aim of providing food, fuel, and fiber for a needy world. READ MORE