Farm Compliance

During the final hours of negotiations on the climate change legislation, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, Rep. Kratovil worked to include approximately $1 billion for carbon sequestration practices that are not eligible for an offsets market, including potential compensation for growers who have been practicing continuous no-till since prior to 2001.

“This allowance allocation is particularly important in the Chesapeake Bay region where early adoption of no-till agriculture was used to prevent soil erosion in the bay and improve water quality conditions throughout the watershed,” NCGA President Dickey said in a July 1 letter to Rep. Kratovil. “Similarly, many Midwest corn growers also embraced conservation tillage prior to 2001 and should not be penalized for leading the industry toward environmentally friendly practices.”

Throughout the negotiations, NCGA reiterated its concerns that early actors would not be able to participate in a cap and trade system due to strict definitions of the legislation. NCGA worked to oppose policies that would provide producers incentives to alter their conservation tillage practices in order to become eligible for carbon credits.

The $1 billion can be used by United States Department of Agriculture over the course of five years for a variety of conservation practices, including rewarding long-term continuous no-till producers for ongoing carbon sequestration or maintenance of carbon already stored in the soil.

The climate change legislation passed the House of Representatives 219-212 and will now be sent to the Senate.