Talking to Farmers

Some of us believe in climate change; some of us don’t. And, that’s okay.

Regardless of what we think,

Congress is getting ready to do something about climate solutions. As such, farmers and ranchers should get clear on:

  • what we want to see in a climate solutions policy.
  • which potential climate solutions policy aligns most closely with our particular concerns.

Certain things that tell me Congress is on the verge of doing something about climate solutions. When they do decide to do something, farmers and ranchers should have a very clear idea of what we want in a legislative proposal and what we don’t want. We should also know which potential policy addresses our concerns the best.

So, how do we know that Congress is on the verge of addressing climate solutions?

Congress is showing us that they are moving towards addressing climate solutions with three big steps.

  • Republican House Resolution on Climate Change
  • Bi Partisan Climate Solutions Caucus
  • RECLAIM Act

If Congress continues moving towards climate solutions, what do farmers/ranchers want in a national climate policy?

  1. Maintain our share of the global market – a national policy on climate should NOT put American farmers and ranchers at a disadvantage on the international market.
  2. Protect our consumers – no matter which way you slice it, making the transition from high carbon to low carbon is going to cost money. Additionally, we will be creating the low carbon infrastructure while simultaneously running and then downsizing the high carbon energy infrastructure and market. This will cost. We will have to pass those costs along. Something should protect our consumers during this transition time.
  3. Give us a generation to make the change – We need time to transition from high carbon to low carbon. We need time to look around and see which farmers/ranchers are already doing this or have already made such a transition. We need time to investigate and then to run some tests on our own land and with our own commodities. Then, as we figure out what might work best for us, we need time to bring that all to scale. This will take a generation – 10 – 20 years – so that we are leaving our children with a farm/ranch that is profitable and low-carbon.

This wish list aligns with the American Farm Bureau Federation's statement on climate policy.

The federal government has five basic climate policy options.

  • Regulations
  • Subsidies
  • Cap and Trade
  • Carbon Tax
  • Revenue-Neutral Carbon Fee and Dividend

Carbon fee and dividend is the only option which addresses all three concerns of the agricultural sector.

Concern 1 - maintain our share of the global market

Regulations, subsidies and the plain vanilla carbon tax do NOT include border adjustments necessary to prevent leakage and maintain global market share. The border adjustment in Carbon Fee and Dividend provides accuracy that the Free Adjustments in Cap and Trade lacked.

Concern 2 - protect our consumers

Carbon Fee and Dividend is the ONLY option which protects consumers. The dividend protects consumers from rising costs.

Concern 3 - give us a generation to make the change

CFD provides a steady, staged, predictable transition from high carbon to low carbon. It's carbon price starts low, rises gently, and predictably gives us 10 – 20 years to change from high carbon to low. Twenty years gives farmers time to sit down with their children,investigate local low-carbon successful farms,create a plan to transition the farm, and implement that plan (adjusting as they go) over the course of a generation. Occurring over 20 years, farmers have a generation to make the transition on their own farm, leaving their children with a low-carbon farm of the future.

REMI tells us that the agriculture sector indirectly benefits in three specific ways.

  1. cars
  2. food
  3. wind

With the dividend, middle income and poor people will have extra pocket money. Middle income people will go out to eat more often. Poor people will buy more groceries. Both groups will purchase health care they previously denied themselves because they lacked the funds. And, middle income people will replace their automobiles. Agriculture benefits as people buy higher up on the food chain. Ag also benefits as people buy more cars (lots of leather goes into the production of cars.)

REMI also tells us that a transition to low carbon energy with CFD will cause wind power to increase 10-fold, thus realizing "mailbox money" for farmers who install wind turbines among their pastures and fields.

FAQs

Farmers and ranchers use lots of fossil fuel! How will we become low carbon?

Great question! We will have to figure this out. Let’s find out who in our state/region/county is already giving this a go and let’s see what they are doing and how it is working. How does that sound?

What about the next Farm Bill?

Yes! The next Farm Bill can help us with Concern 3, as we work over a generation to make the change. Perhaps, Farm Bill funding could help farmers and ranchers develop and implement transition plans.

How can the next Farm Bill help us make the change in a generation?

Establish and fund programs that help us with the following timeline and goals:

Year 1 – 3

  • Look around for local farmers who have already shifted to low-carbon farming. What are they doing? How is it working out for them? Where are the best examples? What can they tell us? What might we try?
  • Set up test plots/acres/fields/pastures/woodlots. What happens when I try these ideas on my land, with my products, and my resources? What works? What doesn’t work? What can I tweak to improve outcomes on my land?
  • Create a 5 – 7 year plan

Year 4 – 8

  • Unroll 5 – 7 year plan.
  • Tweak, adjust, fine tune, continue growing network of farmers making the switch

Year 8 – 20

  • Tweak, adjust, refine,

Year 21

  • Hand low-carbon farm over to kids