With well over half of the earth’s lands managed by a farmer, rancher or forester, our ability to thrive on a changing planet will depend on creating incentives, policies and social norms to build agricultural resilience.
Our agriculture initiatives
Boost financing for cost-effective conservation practices
Why: The economic and environmental challenges facing farmers and the agricultural system are closely connected. The farm economy is anticipating sharp declines in the years ahead, due in part to increasingly extreme and variable weather.
How: Increase investments in conservation practices like cover crops and no-till that have proven time and again to deliver a clear ROI — reducing risk and environmental impacts all while increasing yield and building climate resilience. Innovative loans, crop insurance programs, tax incentives and other financial incentives can help make these practices the norm.
Achieve climate mitigation potential of agricultural soils
Why: Agricultural soils could remove 4-6% of annual U.S. emissions. Credits for soil carbon sequestration, however, aren’t yet comparable or consistent. This has created uncertainty in the marketplace and made it difficult to know whether credits are delivering durable climate benefits.
How: Increase confidence in soil carbon credits and agricultural carbon markets by advocating for science-based standards for high-quality credits and supporting consistent, credible and cost-effective measurement and verification. Make it easier for farmers to participate in agricultural carbon markets and benefit from contributing to climate mitigation and resilience.
Equip farmers with data and tools to reduce pollution
Why: Fertilizer is the engine of agriculture, but inefficient use contributes to air and water pollution. Nitrogen pollution is a $157 billion problem that exacerbates climate change and creates dead zones that choke out aquatic life and cause respiratory distress for people.
How: Make the invisible loss of nitrogen pollution visible by equipping farmers with better data, analytics tools and environmental models. With a user-friendly, scientifically robust way to assess environmental results, farmers can deliver quantifiable improvements for climate resilience, air quality, water quality and their bottom line.
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