The Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research and the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance are establishing an Agriculture-Climate Partnership to unlock the climate-solving potential in farmlands. While agriculture contributes 13% of greenhouse gas emissions globally, it also presents an effective solution that can offset those of other sectors. Through climate smart agriculture practices, farmers and ranchers can improve resiliency, minimize fertilizers and other inputs, improve water use and quality, and improve soil, all while storing carbon for future generations.

“The challenge is enormous, but so are the stakes. Climate change is threatening farmers and ranchers’ livelihoods and the global food supply,” said Dr. Sally Rockey, FFAR’s executive director. “While there is much research and data on the climate-agriculture intersection, these efforts are fragmented, which slows progress. This partnership will foster collaboration between farmers, ranchers, scientists and others from across the food and agriculture sectors to address greenhouse gas emissions in a coordinated way, as a united front.”

This partnership envisions a world where every farmer and rancher is employing at least one climate-smart solution on every acre of farmland. The goal is for agriculture to be net negative for greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

FFAR is bringing the best scientific minds in food and agriculture together to develop and test actionable solutions customized by geography, farm type, crops, livestock and climate. USFRA is then mobilizing its vast network of farmers and ranchers to co-create and deploy climate-smart solutions. The coordination starts in the U.S. and will move internationally, as the World Farmers Organization expands efforts on a global scale.

“No two farms are alike which means the path to climate-smart farming may look a little, or a lot, different from farm to farm,” said Erin Fitzgerald, CEO, USFRA. “The challenge is accelerating the activation of this potential in soils and simultaneously developing tools and technology that can reduce new emissions while adapting to the rapidly shifting weather patterns that farmers and ranchers are facing year over year. And all of this to be economically and environmentally sustainable.”

FFAR and USFRA have already invested $50 million in projects advancing research efforts to reduce GHG emissions from agriculture and are actively seeking matching funds from outside partners to accelerate and expand the program. The full scope of the anticipated effort is estimated at $200 million.

While the full scope of the types of climate-smart practices are part of this partnership, examples include cover crops, no-till and conservation till, variable rate technology, rotational grazing, manure fractionation, and split nitrogen application, among others.

Source: Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.