The American Farm Bureau Federation said that a new study from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) showed that U.S. agriculture represents just under 10 percent of total U.S. emissions when compared to other economic sectors.
Overall U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased from 2021 to 2022 by 1.3 percent, though agricultural emissions dropped 1.8 percent, the largest decrease of any economic sector.
The year 2022 marks the lowest U.S. agricultural greenhouse gas emissions since 2012.
The 10 percent of total U.S. emissions number puts agriculture behind transportation, 28 percent; electric power, 25 percent, and the industrial sector, 23 percent, but ahead of the commercial sector, 7 percent, and the residential sector, 6 percent, for percentage of total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. EPA’s Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
The nearly 2 percent drop in U.S. agricultural emissions from 2021 to 2022 highlights the success and continued importance of voluntary, market, and incentive-based conservation practices that help farmers and ranchers access finances for the research and technology needed to take ever-better care of natural resources.
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy indicated however, that the decline in U.S. agriculture emissions in 2022 is not surprising, given what is known about the contraction of the cattle herd, the spike in fertilizer prices, and the reduction in corn acres.
Unfortunately, the 2022 reductions were not part of a planned strategy to support farmers in a transition toward less emitting, more resilient agricultural systems.
The EPA reported in its Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions 1990-2022 report that agriculture’s main sources of greenhouse gas emissions in 2022 included “livestock manure management, fertilizers, other management practices, and fossil fuel combustion from agricultural equipment.
“Indirect emissions from electricity in the agricultural sector are about 5 percent of sector emissions,” the EPA’s report said.
In 2022, crop cultivation emissions totaled 319 million metric tons, down 1.7 percent, or 6 million metric tons, from 2021 and just over 5 percent of total emissions. “
At 4.3 percent of total emissions, livestock emissions were 274 million metric tons, down 2.1 percent, or 6 million metric tons, from 2021.
This is likely linked to smaller livestock inventories, particularly beef cattle, which were liquidated at higher rates in 2022 due to drought conditions.
Fuel combustion utilized by the agricultural sector contributed 41 million metric tons in 2022, down 1 million metric tons, or 1.2 percent, from 2021, a mere 0.6 percent of total emissions.”
The latest numbers demonstrate farmers’ and ranchers’ commitment to growing the food and fiber America’s families rely on while improving the land, air, and water, a benefit to the farm and the climate, officials said.
The latest numbers should also serve as inspiration to lawmakers who can build on this progress by passing a farm bill, which not only provides a safety net for farmers, but also helps them meet sustainability goals.
While the American Farm Bureau Federation said the 2022 emissions decrease was evidence of “voluntary, market- and incentive-based conservation practices,” a review of U.S. Department of Agriculture research indicate doubt that the approach will be effective” in the long term at reducing substantial emissions.
Farm practices like planting cover crops and reducing farmland tilling are key to the USDA’s plan for slashing agriculture’s 10 percent contribution to U.S. greenhouse gas emissions as the U.S. pursues net-zero by 2050.
Ethanol producers also hope those practices will help them secure lucrative tax credits for sustainable aviation fuel.
+++30+++