Climate change revenue
Fighting Climate Change Offers Recovery, New Revenues for America’s Farms
Making stored carbon farming’s next cash crop is vital to U.S. climate battle
America’s farms were struggling just to make a profit even before the COVID-19 pandemic, but long-ignored soil practices could provide new revenue opportunities and long-term profitability for thousands of hard-hit farms across the U.S., according to a new report from E2 (Environmental Entrepreneurs). The new analysis details why the U.S.’s farm economy — battered by extreme weather and unpredictable growing seasons over the last decade — needs to make carbon farming America’s next cash crop.
With more than half of U.S. farms operating in the red since 2013 and more than 100,000 farms ceasing operations since 2011, Healthy Soils and the Climate Connection: A Path to Economic Recovery on America’s Farms provides a roadmap for how climate-smart agriculture policies could provide profit boosts for farmers and climate wins for advocates.
An estimated 1.85 gigatons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year—roughly the amount emitted annually by the global transportation sector— could be stored globally through regenerative practices. As an economic opportunity, becoming carbon-negative can open the door for farmers to the marketplace of carbon credits and other financial incentives through farm policy.
