The Nebraska Farm Bureau board of directors recently voted to join the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance. The group consists of organizations representing a cross section of farmers, ranchers, forest owners, the food sector, state governments and environmental advocates that are working together to develop and promote shared climate policy priorities.

“Farmers and ranchers are on the front lines of climate impacts, and we support how the alliance is addressing climate change,” NEFB president Mark McHargue says. “The alliance is united around three principles, including support voluntary market and incentive-based policies, advance science-based outcomes, promote resilience, and help rural economies better adapt to changes in the climate. The recommendations put forth by the alliance ensure farmers and ranchers will be respected and supported as society pushes for climate-smart practices.”

Momentum for climate action is growing in Congress, the administration and the private sector. As always, a collective voice is stronger than any one alone. Advocating for the right policies, which include voluntary market and incentive-based solutions, will help prevent a move toward the punishing policies discussed a decade ago.

Part of the solution

“The reality is that agriculture can play a positive role in responding to the calls for further reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and building greater resilience throughout the food value chains,” McHargue says. “At the same time, efforts undertaken by farmers and ranchers to meet GHG reduction goals should always make financial sense.”

Today’s farmers and ranchers have already done a tremendous amount to reduce agriculture’s carbon footprint. By reducing tilling, rotating crops, planting cover crops and emphasizing crops that can capture carbon, they have reduced their carbon footprint.

“We are proud of the advancements farmers and ranchers have made on the sustainability front,” McHargue says. “The founding principles of the alliance line up perfectly with where NEFB believes the discussion about climate policy should center.”

Members of the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance include American Farm Bureau, The Nature Conservancy, National Council of Farm Cooperatives, Environmental Defense Fund, and the National Farmers Union, among others.

Source: Nebraska Farm Bureau, 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.