Commercial agriculture in the United States is an intensively managed and market-based sector. Producers, agribusiness, and others in the sector are continually adjusting to changes in the structure of the agriculture sector, competition in global markets, impacts on the environment, and emerging new technologies. The effects of climate change on agriculture are difficult to predict and add a new dimension to managing agricultural resources and production processes.
Well managed agricultural resources can increase both the environmental benefits from agriculture and the efficiency of agricultural production. There is increasing interest in the potential for agriculture and forestry activities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to sequester carbon. This interest arises from a greater awareness of the joint benefits that can be achieved in pollution prevention and climate change.
Conservation and other Best Management Practices – by conserving soil and water – provide pollution prevention benefits by reducing nutrient losses and also provide climate change benefits by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing carbon sequestration. The added climate change benefits of improving the management of agricultural systems could be a significant factor in broadening public and private support for actions to improve the management of agriculture and forestry systems.
Strategies for pollution prevention and mitigating greenhouse gas emissions from crop and livestock production can build upon the linkages between agriculture and the environment. The United States Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency recognize that there is often site-specific, regional, and national variability in the selection of appropriate management practices. Opportunities to adjust to climate change are numerous but require participation by individuals, business, and government.
The U.S. Climate Change Action Plan, the FAIR Act of 1996, the Clean Water Action Plan, and the Unified AFO Strategy provide a framework for action at the local, state, and national levels. The policies and measures outlined in these programs will encourage and enable farmers to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases and sequester significant amounts of carbon. New policies and programs will also help the agriculture sector to adjust to other important changes including structural change, global competition in agricultural markets, impacts on the environment, and emerging new technologies.
Selected References
J.S. Kern and M.G. Johnson, Soil Sci. Soc. Am. J. 57, 200 (1993).
P.J. Kuch and W.M. Crosswhite, The Agricultural Regulatory Framework and Biomass Production, Biomass and Bioenergy, Vol. 14 No.4, 1998 ISSN 0961-9534.
R.Lal, J.M. Kimble, R.F. Follett, and C.V. Cole, The Potential of U.S. Cropland to Sequester Carbon and Mitigate Greenhouse Effect, Ann Arbor Press, 1998, IBSN 1-57504-112-X.