"Near Loyal, Okla., farmer Clay Pope for years has followed some of the carbon-reduction practices being promoted by the Biden administration, including keeping vegetation on his fields even when his usual crops, such as wheat, aren't growing. While his harvests have increased, he said, so have his costs. "It's not cheap," Mr. Pope said.
In his speech Wednesday before Congress, Mr. Biden said farmers could be paid for planting cover crops that remove more carbon from the atmosphere.
The farm sector produces about 10% of U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions, with fertilizer application and livestock operations representing top sources, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Some U.S. Department of Agriculture programs can help reduce farms' greenhouse-gas emissions, including incentives to plant trees, reduce soil erosion and curb overuse of fertilizer. The USDA in April increased payments and added new incentives under its Conservation Reserve Program, which the agency said can mitigate climate change.
Big agricultural companies, responding to consumer and investor pressure, have made voluntary commitments to cut emissions. Executives said they are using more renewable power, funding climate-friendly farming and overhauling parts of their operations, such as wastewater lagoons and fertilizer-production plants.
With often-thin profit margins, individual farmers have tended to be wary of regulations that add costs and complexity to their operations.
Suburban Chicago fertilizer giant CF Industries is investing in systems that reduce its plants' emissions of nitrous oxide, roughly 300 times as potent as carbon dioxide. CF Chief Executive Tony Will said the Biden administration needed to consider carbon-related fees or taxes on imported goods to ensure that overseas rivals that aren't taking similar environmental steps can't sell cheaper agricultural products into the U.S., undercutting efforts like CF's.
The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative is considering trade tools like border-adjustment taxes to achieve the Biden administration's goal, an agency spokesman said." [1]
1. U.S. News: Farmers Want Help Cutting Emissions
Bunge, Jacob. Wall Street Journal, Eastern edition; New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y] 03 May 2021: A.3.
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