US lawmakers seek to pay livestock farmers to use greener practices By Reuters

By Leah Douglas

(Reuters) – United States farmers who raise animals in large industrial operations could get funding from President Joe Biden’s signature climate law to switch to greener practices under bills introduced in the House and Senate on Wednesday.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

Agriculture accounts for about 10% of US greenhouse gas emissions, mostly from livestock production and fertilizer application.

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), passed in 2022, included nearly $20 billion to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector.

CONTEXT

About 1.7 billion animals are raised in factory animal farms in the U.S. and produce twice as much waste as the country’s human population, according to the environmental group Food & Water Watch. Installations can produce significant air and water pollution.

The bill introduced Wednesday by Alma Adams in the House and Cory Booker in the Senate, first reported by Reuters, would use IRA funds to help industrial livestock farmers reduce their environmental impact by moving animals to pasture or switching to livestock production. organic crops.

The effort could face resistance from Republicans who want IRA funds to be made available for other programs in Congress’ long-delayed farm spending bill.

In February, Adams, Booker and a dozen congressional colleagues sent a letter to the USDA arguing that IRA money should only be used for the most effective climate-smart agricultural practices.

Environmental groups have said the benefits of USDA-defined climate-smart practices, such as capturing animal methane to convert to energy, are overstated.

KEY QUOTE

“Farmers want to produce food in ways that are good for people and the planet, but they aren’t always empowered to do so in a consolidated food system like ours,” Adams said in a statement. The bill “unlocks climate change conservation dollars to help producers who want to move away from the factory farm model.”