Why agriculture can have the biggest impact on carbon

Every year, 5.6 billion pounds of synthetic pesticides are poured over crops worldwide, 1 billion of that is used in the United States. These chemicals are on our food and in our water and we are only starting to understand what that means for human health. Industrial agriculture, which is the method that utilizes synthetic pesticides, accounts of a majority of agriculture in the U.S. and worldwide. It also annually releases 1/3 of the greenhouse gas emissions we are fighting to control in order to save our climate and our planet. This form of agriculture is wasteful and destructive.  In addition, the biodiversity lost from these methods of farming just make the landscape more prone to disease, erosion, and drought in a continuous negative feedback loop. And every year, the average American farmer goes 4% more into debt. There is no future in the status quo.

In my last post, I wrote about the carbon market as a financial vehicle set in motion to control the world’s atmospheric carbon or carbon dioxide equivalents (C02e). If food producers aren’t motivated to change how they grow our food by the numbers I’ve provided above, let’s hope that paying them to change their ways will. And to be fair, much of our food comes from folks just trying to feed their families, earn a living. So, paying them to change makes sense. Therefore, those looking to purchase carbon offsets via the carbon market should take a look at investing in agricultural carbon. It can have such a significant impact on climate change… and more. 

It’s not just the emissions agriculture is responsible for that we should focus on. The real opportunity is in the potential for sequestration. Studies have shown that changing how farms and ranches are managed can not only reduce their carbon emissions by half (as a source of atmospheric carbon), but can also create a massive reduction (as a sink) in atmospheric carbon released by other sources like industry and transportation. Moving carbon down into the ground (pedosphere) or into living things (biosphere), rather than up in our atmosphere, will solve climate change. Agriculture is one of the most impactful ways to do that.

The practices of Regenerative Agriculture and Holistic Grazing use less energy, no chemical inputs, and do not rely on tilling the soil. These are the actions that emit carbon into the atmosphere. So adopting practices like rotating, using cover crops, integrating animals and adding biodiversity (regenerative actions) create a carbon sink in the soil. It causes the soil to draw down more carbon. In simple terms…

So it doesn’t just tighten the valve of outflow, it creates an inflow – into the ground. The inflow comes from being able to capture carbon in the soil.  In fact, even the most conservative estimates (.33 tons of CO2e/acre/year) and minor changes (like only implementing no-till or only using cover crops), show that Agriculture can sequester almost all (and some claim ALL) of the excess carbon in the atmosphere causing climate change.  So it can go from being a major source to a major sink of carbon for our planet.  In certain regions and with layered practices like cover cropping, rotating, no till and animal integration, as much as 8 tons of carbon or more per acre can be sequestered annually.  With 32.64 billions acres of agriculture land worldwide, 900 million of which is in the United States, imagine the possibilities!

But that’s not even the whole story.  If farmers are incentivized and rewarded for farming differently, regeneratively, the increase in their soil carbon creates more soil fertility that no longer requires synthetic fertilizer, pesticide or herbicide applications.   That saves the farmer money, and results in a healthier, more resilient crop, less vulnerable to loss.  The additional carbon also creates a soil sponge that absorbs more rainwater – avoiding floods and withstanding droughts. 

It creates fertile soil that grows food packed with more nutrients than what is grown now – so it impacts all of our health.   What investing in Agricultural Carbon Offsets means is a healthier climate, a healthier economy and a heathier population.

“Well-implemented regenerative farming practices can bring our soil back to life, reduce levels of things we don’t want in our food, and boost those we do.”

— WHAT YOUR FOOD ATE – Anne Biklé and David Montgomery

So by far, one of the best places to invest in climate change mitigation via the carbon market is agriculture.

What’s stopping us from doing that? 

Awareness & Education –   Unfortunately, this field of regenerative agriculture and creating ag carbon offsets is still very niche, even though the potential impact on atmospheric carbon is enormous!  More awareness by consumers, farmers, politicians and government agencies would move the needle. Applause! Applause! to those working towards that!

Big Agro-Chemical Companies – whose lobby fights pesticide regulation or a change in the status quo from conventional agriculture. Agro-chemical companies have done everything from fighting regulation and policy change to greenwashing.

Policy – Current agriculture policy does reward implementing conservation practices to an extent. But not sufficiently, and it still rewards those farming conventionally. The new Farm Bill being hashed out and passed this fall can make a huge impact on the future of regenerative practices. Paying farmers to sequester carbon via the carbon market is persuasive, but would be even more attractive if coupled with further support from the government for farmers to make these shifts in practices. It reduces the risk, which will do a lot to convince even the least desparate for change to make the move.

Once the shift is set in motion, except for the big agro-chemical corporations (Syngenta, Bayer,BASF), it’s a win-win-win for all. The key actions are to sell the potential to farmers, support them with policy, and sell, sell, sell! After all, there is a climate case, a public health case and a business case to do this.  So we need to focus on agriculture as a solution.  Let’s get our farmers paid to sequester carbon!

“Carbon, that is currently one of the biggest problems in our atmosphere can be one of the biggest solutions when it is in our soil.”

– Ryland Engelhart, Co-Founder Kiss the Ground

What You Can Do

1. Net Zero Goals – if you know a company or municipality (Ann Arbor, Michigan, for example) that has set Net Zero Carbon goals, urge them to contact purveyors of Agricultural Carbon Credits as part of their roadmap.  A favorite of mine is Indigo Ag – 75% of the revenue from the offset goes directly to the farmer, and their products are reliable.
2. Send a message to Debbie Stabenow, U.S. Senator and Chair of the Senate Agriculture Committee that you support policy around regenerative or sustainable agriculture.  This year is a key year for ag policy, as the new Farm Bill is set to pass this fall.  See the message and EASY form from the League of Conservation Voters.  It will take you two minutes.
3. Spread the word – talk about it.  You never know when you’ll end up having a conversation with someone thinking about buying carbon offsets or addressing climate change on a personal or professional level.

Additional Sources:

• https://www.soils.org/files/science-policy/caucus/briefings/carbon-sequestration.pdf
• https://rodaleinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Rodale-Soil-Carbon-White-Paper_v11-compressed.pdf
• https://www.gettingmoreontheground.com/2019/06/25/five-dollars-a-ton-for-carbon/#:~:text=Agricultural%20soils%2C%20at%20least%20in,increase%20in%20soil%20organic%20matter
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/276629/global-co2-emissions/