university of wisconsin madison Archives

March 24, 2023

As US pushes “climate-smart” agriculture, hopes and fears collide

By Keith Schneider

For decades, leading US farm leaders have likened efforts to rein in harmful climate change as attacks on agriculture itself, aligning with oil and gas industry groups to block policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

That stance has slowly been shifting in recent years, and now, fueled by $3.1 billion in federal grants, farm country is poised to shape a new era of “climate-smart” agricultural practices and take a significant role in addressing the dire consequences of a warming planet.

The actions can’t come fast enough. A panel of international scientists warned this month that the world faces a “rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future,” and that the actions implemented over the next few years will have consequences “now and for thousands of years.”

The Biden Administration’s focus on agriculture is just one part of a larger effort to address climate change, but it is a key element. By funding 141 experimental projects, the administration is hoping to push an industry currently responsible for generating 10% of U.S. greenhouse gases, to the front of the nation’s work to reduce carbon emissions.

The first grants from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), for 70 large projects, were awarded in September. A second round of funding, for 71 smaller projects, was awarded in December.

The scope of the climate-smart program is expansive. Grants range from $271,200 to teach climate-friendly practices to immigrant farmers in Iowa to $95 million to encourage grain farmers in 12 Midwest states to use cultivation methods that build soil fertility. In between are projects to expand organic and sustainable agriculture, sequester carbon on pastures where livestock graze, and develop carbon-reducing cultivation methods on farms operated by African Americans and Native Americans.

In all, more than 60,000 farms and 25 million acres of crop and rangeland are involved, with spending reaching all 50 states and Puerto Rico, according to the USDA..

Considerable sums are also earmarked for development of scientific methods to effectively measure whether these climate-smart practices actually meet a program goal of sequestering 60 million metric tons of carbon.

When making the rounds at annual farm conferences across the country over the winter, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack repeatedly declared that a “transformational” new era had opened for U.S. agriculture.

Grant recipients such as Marbleseed, a Wisconsin nonprofit that trains farmers in organic agriculture, say the government support is long overdue. Marbleseed is part of a partnership receiving a $4.5 million, five-year grant to train farmer in 14 Midwest and southern states on how to improve soil fertility.

“We’ve been a tiny voice shouting into the storm for a very long time,” said Tom Manley, Marbleseed program director. “They finally are starting to hear us.”

October 25, 2022

Across the Midwest, farmers are turning to solar to boost profits

Grace van Deelen

In a corner of southwestern Wisconsin, in a town called Eden, Bob Bishop spends his days farming land that has been in his family since the 1940s. He manages about 2,000 acres— some is pasture for his cattle, some is seeded with corn and soybeans. But 40% of his acreage, as he likes to say, will soon be farming the sun.

Under a 25-year lease to a large solar project called the Badger Hollow Solar Farm, Bishop has agreed to the installation of solar panels across hundreds of acres of land he previously used to grow crops. The project, which is owned by energy companies Invenergy and Madison Gas & Electric, is projected to total 3,500 acres in all and generate enough energy to power more than 77,000 homes. The developers say landowners will collect an estimated $59 million from leasing their property to the project.

In agreeing to set aside some of his land for solar energy production, Bishop is one of an increasing number of farmers in the Midwest looking to solar as a way to add to – or replace – money made growing crops, and potentially help fight climate change at the same time.

The moves are triggering some controversy, as critics say filling large swaths of land with massive installations of solar panels is unsightly and inhibits needed food production.

But advocates say using farmland to harness a clean, renewable energy source is a critical move in the face of harmful climate impacts. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), a part of the US Department of Energy, says that solar energy has an important role in cutting greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality and reducing the strain on water resources that otherwise are tapped for traditional energy production.

Bishop said he considers the transition of his land to solar production as a welcome move. His land will produce far more usable energy per acre than it would if he was still growing corn for ethanol, Bishop said. And while growing corn requires regular management and costly inputs to control weeds and pests, solar panels require little maintenance.

“It’s all revenue,” said Bishop.