Healthy soil is the cornerstone of organic agriculture
The organic law and regulations require that certified organic farms “foster soil fertility, primarily through the management of the organic content of the soil through proper tillage, crop rotation, and manuring.” Organic producers are required to “maintain or improve” soil organic matter. The use of soil-building practices on organic farms helps to sequester carbon and increases resilience, allowing organic systems to tolerate, adapt to, and recover from extreme weather conditions.
The regulations also prohibit the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which are significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and can harm soil life.
Policy Recommendations
So what policies should Congress adopt to further agriculture as a climate change solution? NOC recommends that Congress:
1. Incentivize the adoption of climate-friendly farming practices. Existing conservation programs should be expanded to reimburse and incentivize the use of practices proven to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, build soil health, and sequester carbon.
2. Incentivize the transition to organic. A growing body of research demonstrates that organic systems systematically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, build soil health, and sequester carbon. USDA Certified Organic is the only full-scale, federally regulated systems-based approach to agriculture and therefore the most viable model to enable significant change toward a more climate friendly agriculture. The federal government can incentivize the transition to organic by increasing reimbursement rates for the certification cost-share program, creating mentorship programs to assist farmers in transitioning to organic, and addressing land access challenges for organic farmers.
3. Increase funding for research into climate-friendly farming practices. NOC endorses a doubling of federal funding for USDA competitive grant research programs such as the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI), the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), and the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) Program, with a focus on effective climate change strategies in the agriculture sector.
4. Expand education and extension efforts to give farmers access to the latest research on climate-smart farming practices. Farmers need information and strategies to implement new climate-friendly agricultural techniques.
5. Bolster public plant and animal breeding efforts. USDA should invest $100 million annually through its competitive grants research programs to significantly expand resources for public cultivar and animal breed development to ensure that farmers have access to seeds and breeds that are regionally adapted to changing climates and to optimize production using climate-smart farming systems.
6. Close loopholes and tighten organic standards and enforcement. Practices that build soil health and sequester carbon, such as cover cropping, diverse crop rotations, pasture-based grazing, proper tillage, and the use of compost and manure, are required by the organic regulations. Enforcement of these regulations should be strengthened and Congress should require USDA to close loopholes that allow some operations to skirt requirements that organic livestock have access to the outdoors and pasture.
