The American Farm Bureau Federation’s Daniel Munch reported Tuesday that a new study from the US Environmental Protection Agency showed that “U.S. agriculture represents just under 10% of total U.S. emissions when compared to other economic sectors. Overall U.S. greenhouse gas emissions increased from 2021 to 2022 by 1.3%, though agricultural emissions dropped 1.8% – the largest decrease of any economic sector.”
The 10% of total U.S. emissions number puts agriculture behind transportation (28%), electric power (25%) and the industrial sector (23%), but ahead of the commercial sector (7%) and the residential sector (6%) for percentage of total US greenhouse gas emissions, according to the US EPA’s Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2022 report.
“The nearly 2% drop in U.S. agricultural emissions from 2021 to 2022 highlights the success and continued importance of voluntary, market- and incentive-based conservation practices that help farmers and ranchers access finances for the research and technology needed to take ever-better care of our natural resources,” Munch reported. “2022 marks the lowest U.S. agricultural greenhouse gas emissions since 2012.”
The Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy’s Ben Lilliston wrote, however, that “the decline in U.S. agriculture emissions in 2022 is not surprising, given what is known about the contraction of the cattle herd, the spike in fertilizer prices and the reduction in corn acres. Unfortunately, the 2022 reductions were not part of a planned strategy to support farmers in a transition toward less emitting, more resilient agricultural systems. Instead, the reductions were the result of sudden shocks that caused enormous harm to farmers and their animals.”
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Categories: Illinois, Livestock, Beef Cattle