HYDE-SMITH, AG PANEL CONSIDER BILL TO PROMOTE FARM & RANCH ACCESS TO CARBON CREDIT MARKETS
VIDEO: Senator Hyde-Smith Questions Farm Bureau President on Increasing Access to Markets.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) with the Senate Agriculture Committee today explored how to best increase voluntary participation by farmers and ranchers in conservation efforts through broader access to carbon credit markets.
The committee conducted a hearing Wednesday on the Growing Climate Change Solutions Act (S.3894), which would authorize a U.S. Department of Agriculture certification program to help resolve technical entry barriers that limit participation and the adoption of practices to reduce the costs of developing carbon credits.
“Mississippi is blessed with more than 10 million acres of farmland and nearly 20 million acres of timberland. We also have high enrollment in CRP, WRP, and a number of other conservation programs in our state and other conservation programs authorized under the Farm Bill,” Hyde-Smith said. “In many instances, as we’ve discussed, producers and private landowners find it difficult to access carbon markets, and that the process is often difficult or too convoluted to achieve wide adoption.”
S.3894 would establish a Greenhouse Gas Technical Assistance Provider and Third-Party Verifier Certification Program through which the USDA would certify assistance providers to help farmers, ranchers, and other private landowners implement protocols and monetize the climate value of their voluntary sustainable agriculture and forestry-related practices.
Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, told Hyde-Smith that the measure could help more small family farms and ranches participate in carbon credit markets, especially if information comes from trusted sources.
“I think the secret to making this happen is information. Farmers need the information and the data to be able to drive their decisions,” Duvall testified. “Then we talk about small family farms where they’re not used to hiring consultants or they’re not used to having lawyers on staff full time. They’re going to depend on their extension service and the land grant colleges to help lead them in that thought process of whether or not this option is available for them on their farm and whether or not it will be profitable to them to be able to diversify their income.”
Senators Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) introduced S.3894 earlier this month.
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