News Agricultural policy
Biden's agricultural plan puts climate at 1
One inauguration and millions of memes later and Democrat Joe Biden is officially the 46e president of the United States. His candidate for the agricultural post is an old acquaintance: Tom Vilsack. In his first week of work it becomes clear what agriculture in the country can expect.
Donald Trump and American agriculture have been a soap opera of sorts for 4 years. They have had good times and bad times. A brutal show-down, which led to a trade war with China, hurt agro-exports for a long time.
The Trump administration accommodated this by backing the industry with $46 billion. In the end, the Chinese made a strong comeback, partly as a result of which corn and soybean prices shot from a 10-year low to their highest price in 8 years.
Climate change
In the agricultural sector, Biden is no less moderate than in other spearheads. A lot of topics were brought out in the run-up to the elections, which we have discussed before wrote.
A specific topic will affect the American farmer in the short term: the climate. The coronavirus is at the top of the new president's list, with climate change being the second important point shortly after. What impact does this have on the American farmer?
His government does not want to impose rules on farmers to combat climate change, but above all encourage them to want to change themselves. Financial incentives should encourage entrepreneurs to do so. Capturing carbon in the soil and combating greenhouse gas emissions are excellent subjects for which a financial model can be attached.
A schedule that addresses this is expected to be rolled out in Biden's first 100 days. On his first day of work, the president ensured that the country rejoined the Paris climate agreement. On January 27, it will be announced what the country has in store in this area.
Emission-neutral agriculture
In an interview, Biden mentioned earlier that he wants to make American agriculture – the first in the world – emission neutral. By allowing farmers to receive money for the fixation of carbon in the soil, he believes a new revenue model is created that should improve the economic position. Less tillage and the cultivation of many green manures are 2 important pillars that should ensure carbon sequestration.
Meanwhile, the USDA is developing a "carbon bank" to financially reward farmers for their efforts. One of the ideas is that you will be paid a price for every guaranteed tonne of carbon sequestration or greenhouse gas emissions. The billions of dollars that Trump gave the sector without demands are still put into the sector, but then through this so-called bank. Another idea is for the carbon bank to set a guaranteed minimum price, where surpluses can be sold by farmers on the corporate market. Yet another idea is that the carbon bank itself will trade the captured tons and be able to pay farmers with that money.
Old acquaintance
Chances are, an old acquaintance will be at the helm of these USDA plans: Tom Vilsack. During Obama's years, he was also secretary of the USDA and received high praise from the industry for that. Biden has also nominated him as a candidate for secretary. Vilsack is fully behind Biden's plans and is himself a creator of climate plans.
It is not yet clear how big the role of the government will be. Will it be controlling or will they be financially involved? During the Trump years, the government pumped $46 billion in aid into the industry. Those times are now over. That much is clear.
The plans are not entirely new. On a modest scale, the USDA is already running programs that pay farmers for carbon sequestration.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks at the moment is how to measure carbon sequestration properly. That is very important for the payout. Despite this important point, Vilsack is convinced that in Biden's first 100 days, the carbon bank could already become a reality. He also already has ideas on how to tackle climate change. Starting by converting 4 million acres (1,61 million hectares) of less-productive farmland into grassland, forest and wetland areas that should sequester carbon in the long term.
More, not less farmland
Taking farmland out of production is inconsistent with the current mood among American farmers. They are in a season with good prices for wheat, maize and soy. That is why more than ever before, land is being taken out of nature schemes to be cultivated again with crops. Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau's advocacy group, emphasizes that these plans must be voluntary and purely scientific and market-based. This goes against the ambitions of nature conservation organisations, who believe that the transition is not going fast enough.
According to Duvall, 56,65 million acres of agriculture are currently involved in schemes to improve water quality and soil. “In addition, the production of ethanol from corn reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 71 million tons annually.
Niels van der Boom
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