REUTERS — American farmers who raise livestock in large industrial operations could get funding from President Joe Biden’s signature climate law to transition to more environmentally friendly practices under bills introduced in the House and Senate Sept. 25.
Agriculture accounts for about 10 per cent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, mostly from livestock production and fertilizer.
The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed in 2022, included nearly $20 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the farm sector.
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About 1.7 billion animals are raised on U.S. farms, and they produce twice as much waste as the country’s human population, according to the environmental group Food & Water Watch.
The bill, introduced by Alma Adams in the House and Cory Booker in the Senate, would use IRA funds to help livestock farmers reduce environmental impact by moving animals to pasture or converting to organic crop production.
The effort could face resistance from Republicans who want funds made available for other programs in the long-delayed farm spending bill being drafted by Congress.
In February, Adams, Booker and a dozen congressional colleagues sent a letter to USDA arguing that the IRA money should be used for only the most effective climate-smart farming practices.
Environmental groups have said the benefits of some USDA-defined climate-smart practices, like capturing animal methane to be converted to energy, are overstated.
“Farmers want to produce food in ways that are good for people and the planet but aren’t always empowered to do so in a consolidated food system like ours,” said Adams in a statement.
The bill “unlocks climate-forward conservation dollars to assist producers who want to transition out of the factory farm model.”
