USDA Takes Aim at Farmers' Environmental Footprint

February 20, 2020

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by Kelsey Tamborrino (Politico's Morning Energy) The Agriculture Department is expected to announce today that it aims to cut farming's environmental footprint in half by 2050 while increasing farm productivity by 40 percent, three sources briefed on the plan told POLITICO's Catherine Boudreau. The initiative is not expected to specifically mention climate change. Instead, it will focus on research, innovation and improving USDA's ability to collect data on farmers' conservation practices, the sources said.

The goals are part of a new department-wide sustainability initiative, which Secretary Sonny Perdue will outline during a speech at USDA's annual Agricultural Outlook Forum in Arlington, Va. How the department plans to define agriculture's "environmental footprint" is unclear, Catherine reports. READ MORE

USDA hopes to cut farms' environmental footprint in half by 2050 (The Hill)

Farmers Join Forces for Sustainability and Responsible Climate Policy (American Farm Bureau Federation)

USDA Unveils Program to Reduce Environmental Impact of Farms (Bloomberg/Yahoo! Finance)

Secretary Perdue Announces New Innovation Initiative for USDA (U.S. Department of Agriculture)

Trump's agriculture department announces 30% biofuel goal for 2050 (Reuters)

Trump Agriculture Department and farming groups tiptoe into climate discussion (Washington Examiner)

Pitching Farm Sustainability: New Coalition Announced as USDA Set to Roll Out a Sustainability Program (DTN Progressive Farmer)

Excerpt from The Hill: USDA wants to increase production by 40 percent while cutting pollution from multiple aspects of the industry.

The vision relies heavily on public-private partnerships, outlining a series of targets USDA wants to industry to hit: reducing food waste by 50 percent by 2030; reduce water pollution from nutrient loss by 30 percent by 2050; and growing enough feedstock by 2050 to have biofuels constitute 30 percent of the nation's fuel supply.

The goals also ask the farm sector to sequester more carbon in soil and trees while adopting technology and practices that could reduce agriculture's overall carbon footprint.

The greenhouse gas goal does not set a specific target, and the agency does not outline any repercussions for missing its benchmarks.

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In addition to hoping to promote research and development of greener technology and farming practices, USDA will also up data collection on sustainability practices to keep pace with the numerous other ways it tracks the industry.

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The announcement comes amid a growing push from agriculture to embrace greener practices, with a coalition of 21 farm and ranch groups launching their own sustainability effort on Wednesday.

The effort from President Trump's USDA also comes as Democrats have increasingly turned to the agricultural sector in the fight against climate change, using farming components of their climate plans as a way to reach out to the demographic.

USDA's plan was welcome news to many in the industry, and some criticized the agency for not acting sooner. READ MORE

Excerpt from Bloomberg/Yahoo! Finance: The initiative includes goals such as a 50% reduction in food waste by 2030, a 30% cut in fertilizer run-off by 2050 and an overall “net reduction” in carbon emissions by 2050 “without regulatory overreach.” A U.S. Department of Agriculture official declined to specify how the department would measure the environmental footprint.

The secretary also set a goal for biofuels such as ethanol to reach “market-driven blend rates” of 15% of U.S. transportation fuels by 2030 and 30% of transportation fuels by 2050. Both would require policy action by the Environmental Protection Agency.

“We know we have a challenge facing us: to meet future food, fiber, fuel, and feed demands with finite resources,” Perdue said at his department’s annual Agricultural Outlook Forum.

Excerpts of the speech didn’t make mention of climate change. The USDA inspector general announced an investigation in October into reports by Politico that the department suppressed research on the impact of climate change following criticism by Democratic lawmakers.

Agriculture was responsible for 9% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2017, according to the EPA. READ MORE

Excerpt from Washington Examiner: The coalition’s launch event, however, turned a bit tense as many representatives from the farming organizations were hesitant to embrace climate change science, even as their groups were uniting to ensure their seat at the table in policy discussions about the issue.

For example, while the coalition’s principles statement emphasizes science-based decision making, it doesn’t directly mention “climate change.” Its most direct reference to climate change is a statement that the groups are hoping to ensure farmers are able to “respond and adapt to climatic events.”

“Whether it’s human-induced or natural-induced, if the climate is changing, you need to address the fact that it’s changing,” said Michael Formica, assistant vice president of domestic policy and legal counsel for the National Pork Producers Council, adding farmers improving their efficiency is the best way to address greenhouse gas emissions.

Asked if it matters whether farmers agree climate change is human-induced, Formica added, “I think the end result is what matters, that you’ve reduced your emissions.”

Nonetheless, the farming groups also vigorously defended their environmental record, calling themselves the “original environmentalists.” They argued they’ve been unfairly attacked on climate change, noting the agriculture community was responsible for just 9% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2017.

In 2018, the agriculture sector accounted for 9.3% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, a slight increase from the previous year, according to the latest draft inventory from the Environmental Protection Agency.

“Is the juice worth the squeeze?” Lane said, saying that all of American agriculture only producing 9% of U.S. emissions “is a bargain."

Just one of the groups that spoke Wednesday, the National Cotton Council of America, said it had numeric climate and environmental targets, including a goal to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 39% by 2025.

The farming sector is “just an easy target for everybody,” Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau, told the Washington Examiner following the event. “We’re here to tell the facts of the story and make sure that everybody sees that we’re willing to do more, but compared to the world, American agriculture is already three times better.” READ MORE