Conservation programs to reduce greenhouse gases

Conservation programs in the United States can advance low-cost practices to reduce greenhouse gases (GHGs) by building on a past record of focusing on environmental results. These low-cost practices include soil testing to improve fertilizer management (Paustian et al. 2004) and anaerobic digesters to capture and use methane (CH₄) emissions from livestock lagoons (Key and Seeringer 2011; Shih et al. 2008). The proven record of similar conservation program success stems especially from certain USDA results-oriented programs, which created 281,635 km (175,000 mi) of riparian buffers (USDA 2021), dramatically reduced soil erosion, and benefited farmers. Conservationists need to modify certain programs and create new, results-oriented programs to address GHGs.

Farmers benefit in different ways from US domestic GHG reduction options and also from international efforts to reduce GHG. The most important opportunities to create carbon (C) sinks occur in tropical countries where deforestation causes GHG emissions similar in size to the entirety of US emissions (Van der Werf et al. 2009; USEPA 2021). International efforts to reduce deforestation benefit world prices for crops. This article explores how domestic and international GHG reduction options might work and how they can benefit US farmers.