Dear Agriculture,
America is absolutely steeped in environmental talk and events this week, and all the action isn’t just at parks and Earth Day celebrations. Across the country farmers are helping to provide solutions for our most pressing environmental challenges.
Movement on Climate Change Legislation: U.S. Agriculture Is Ready
Today on Capitol Hill, members of congress are gearing up for climate change legislation with an eye on environmental conservation practices on farms that can help sequester carbon and, a nod to clean energy crops such as wind. Farmers are ready to start combating climate change, and if US congress rolls out a cap and trade system this year, agriculture will provide one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce greenhouse emissions.
Conservation Practices on the Farm for Clean Water in the Ohio River Basin
The Ohio River Basin encompasses portions of 14 states with an area of more than 200,000 square miles—over 5 percent of the total United States land mass.
Our work with agriculture in the region will help clean up the Ohio River Basin which in turn will address the Hypoxic Zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Today we’re talking with Ohio farmers about how they can be part of the solution for clean water.
Implementing an Ecosystems Service Marketplace in the Upper Mississippi Watershed
Over the next two years, AFT and its partners will launch the Midwest’s first real "stackable" credit market involving both water quality trading and carbon trading with point source polluters and farmers in Minnesota. This week at the American Planning Association’s national conference in Minneapolis, we’ll chart out some of the first steps that are being taken with farmers and communities to establish this new market to benefit the environment.
Farmers Making a Difference for the Chesapeake Bay
The Bay states—Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia—committed in the Chesapeake 2000 Agreement to significantly reduce pollutants by 2010; the states have set goals to reduce nitrogen from agriculture by nearly 65 million pounds annually. Many farmers have adopted practices to improve water quality. Providing more assistance to farmers is an effective way to keep farms thriving while protecting the water quality of the bay.
We know that the health of the bay can improve because of farms, not in spite of them.
Integrating Conservation and Wildlife Protection in the Pacific Northwest
We are working with agriculture in the Pacific Northwest to implement ecosystem service markets. Such markets—which pay farmers for the environmental benefits they provide—promise immense opportunities for helping the environment and improving the profitability of agriculture. Read our piece in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer about the role of farmers in a healthier environment!
Improving California's Environment through Agriculture
California’s progressive environmental initiatives combined with its agricultural and political importance make it a prime candidate for showing that ecosystem services approaches can work on a wide variety of irrigated crops, including fruits, vegetables and nuts.
Starting this spring, farmers in California are implementing environmentally friendly conservation practices through our BMP Challenge for Reduced Tillage to improve water quality and help mitigate climate change.
With all this momentum building across the country, we are certain to see a brighter future for our agricultural lands and our precious natural resouces. We need your support to make sure that the right policies are made, that as citizens we make the right choices to limit our impact, and to ensure that the way is clear for agriculture to bring its land stewardship and conservation practices to the table!
Do your part for the environment this Earth Day by taking three simple steps:
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