U.S. bets on climate-friendly farming; experts doubt it is climate friendly enough

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden’s administration is offering farmers money for adopting practices that store carbon in the soil to fight climate change, but Reuters interviews with soil science experts and a review of U.S. Department of Agriculture research indicate doubt that the approach will be effective.

Farm practices like planting cover crops and reducing farmland tilling are key to the USDA’S plan for slashing agriculture’s 10 per cent contribution to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions as the U.S. pursues net-zero by 2050. Ethanol producers also hope those practices will help them secure lucrative tax credits for sustainable aviation fuel passed in the Inflation Reduction Act.

But the farming techniques, which will receive an extra funding boost from Biden’s signature climate law, may not permanently sequester much atmospheric carbon in the soil, according to five soil scientists and researchers who spoke to Reuters about the current science.

Four other soil scientists, and the USDA, said the practices can store various amounts of soil carbon, but circumstances will dictate how much and for how long.

The White House referred Reuters to the USDA for comment.

A USDA spokesperson said “the adoption and persistent use of no-till and cover crops are key for the sequestration of carbon on working croplands.”

All the experts interviewed by Reuters agreed that no-till and cover crops can have significant environmental benefits such as preventing soil erosion and increasing biodiversity. Yet five of them expressed skepticism about tying climate policy and public money to the practices.

“Will it help with climate adaptation? Absolutely. Should it serve as an offset for more permanent and longlived pollutants? Absolutely not,” said Daniel Rath, an agricultural soil carbon scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council.

The USDA has spent US$1.3 billion in financial assistance to farmers for planting and managing cover crops and $224 million for implementing no-or reducedtill since 2014, according to agency data.

That figure is miniscule compared to total USDA spending, but does amount to about eight per cent of its farm conservation spending in that period.