Carbon Tax Credits Could be a Win-Win for Farmers

It is crucial Congress allow farmers to utilize carbon credits as a way to not only continue reducing their own emissions, but also offset them by selling their credits to businesses who are unable to reduce their carbon outputs as effectively. The Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2020, if passed, would allow the USDA to assist farmers in the generation of these monetary credits. Providing a carbon market for farmers is a win for farmers and the environment. 

However, according to a recent letter to Congress, anti-farming activists are asking congress to oppose the Growing Climate Solutions Act of 2020. The letter goes on to say Congress should ban factory farming. This type of rhetoric is very counterproductive when the ultimate goal for carbon credits is to reduce the emissions of GHG.

The U.S. dairy industry currently contributes only 1.58% of U.S. GHG emissions. Even if we removed all dairy cattle from the country, it would only reduce U.S. GHGs by 0.7% according to the recent study completed by scientists from Virginia Tech and the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center. Their study also verifies that the elimination of dairy cattle would diminish the critical nutrients our human bodies need in order to live. Dairy provides the protein needs for almost 170 million people, the calcium requirements for 250 million people and the energy requirements for 71 million people. 

The activists apparently are ignoring the recent announcement by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy’s zero-initiative-by-2050, which will make the dairy industry carbon neutral by the year 2050. The dairy industry has already proactively moved in this direction — by the end of 2017 the dairy industry had already reduced its carbon footprint by almost 20%. Our farmers achieved this through milk and feed production proficiencies while simultaneously reducing the amount of water required to produce a gallon of milk. 

Carbon credits will allow farmers to continue to use science and innovation to provide the best care to their animals, while continuing to protect the environment.  A brighter future for tomorrow lies in cooperation, not in limiting farmers ability to feed our nation.