Anne Schechinger explores agriculture’s impact on the environment and analyzes how government policies can reduce agricultural pollution. As an undergraduate, Schechinger researched the economics of natural resource valuation. In graduate school, she studied the commercial feasibility of growing environmentally sustainable crops.
They’re touting these programs as major ways that farmers can reduce climate emissions but not much money from these programs are going to actual practices that are good for the climate.
[A USDA carbon bank] could just be mostly income support for farmers and not really much about mitigating climate change at all.
[Most farms] “are highly capitalised agribusinesses growing one or two commodity crops and employing very few people.
It’s on USDA to make sure that these funds are being spent as Congress intended—and not on business as usual.
For all farm subsidy programs … most of the money really goes to the largest and the wealthiest farms.
Retiring land is the best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from farming…The crop insurance program is actively encouraging farming in this area where farming should not be done.
We see algae blooms happening throughout all of the Midwestern states, and it’s not a coincidence that these states also are very agriculture-heavy states.
The state doesn't really know how many facilities are even in the state and how much manure is produced and where it's going.
There’s a lot of opportunity for making the next farm bill into a climate farm bill. There’s a lot of momentum.
