CCL comments on USDA use of IRA funds for natural climate solutions

Thanks to @Matthew Mayers for alerting us to a request from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service for public input regarding how the agency should spend the ~$20 billion allocated in the Inflation Reduction Act for climate-smart agricultural solutions. Specifically, the IRA stated that the funding slated for four agricultural conservation programs should be distributed via grants that prioritize projects that “directly improve soil carbon, reduce nitrogen losses, or reduce, capture, avoid, or sequester carbon dioxide, methane, or nitrous oxide emissions, associated with agricultural production.” 

CCL submitted a comment, which you can see on the USDA site here or in this PDF file.  Our primary recommendation was that USDA should prioritize the types of solutions that have the most potential for sequestering carbon dioxide.  According to research that we cited, including Fargione et al. 2018, the natural solution with the most potential in the US is reforestation, and the largest single category is silvopasture – the combination of trees and grazing animals on the same land.  Silvopasture has the added benefit of providing shade for livestock as threats from extreme heat events continue to rise.  Silvopasture projects have gotten some – but very few – grants to date via these programs.  We also suggested prioritizing other agroforestry solutions like alley cropping, and also climate-smart forest management practices.  

We also recommended a secondary prioritization of cover cropping and reduced tillage practices on farms.  These programs already receive a substantial amount of funding via these conservation programs, but there's less certainty about their carbon sequestration efficacy in the scientific literature, as we note in the comment.

CCL very much appreciates the opportunity to provide feedback in the USDA's climate-smart agriculture funding process, and we hope the agency finds our comments informative and useful.

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