Common Sense Bipartisan Policy To Support Farmers & the Environment
RIPE (Rural Investment to Protect our Environment) is a farmer-led group enabling farmers to prosper as they invest in our climate & environment
Our nation’s farmers and ranchers, the original stewards of the environment, are an important part of the solution when it comes to addressing climate change through their meticulous care of the water, soil and air.
As President Biden’s Administration and the 117th Congress consider climate policy, including the proposed USDA Carbon Bank, they can transform the partisan nature of comprehensive climate change by integrating a policy adjustment that addresses farmers’ economic needs. RIPE proposes a plan that invests in our nation’s shared natural resources beyond climate, and includes a price floor for the array of ecosystem services farmers deliver when voluntarily investing in climate-smart practices, not just carbon.
This approach to comprehensive climate policy helps eliminate risk for farmers to invest in conservation measures and to promote comprehensive climate policy in the U.S.
More evidence that carbon farming pays only $10-20/acre, which isn't enough for farmers. Out-of-pocket costs of adopting practices and climate policy are higher than that, so RIPE wants $100/acre for farmers. See more at https://riperoadmap.org/ripe100/
A small fraction of U.S. farmers who have pursued contracts for capturing carbon in the soil – an incentive for climate mitigation – say the going rate is $20 an acre or less.
https://www.agriculture.com/news/business/at-dawn-of-carbon-markets-farmers-get-up-to-20-per-acre
RIPE loves working w @FredYoder & other farmers to create a producer-led, incentive-based, voluntary program that sees farmers as providers of solutions to improving GHG emissions & other enviro outcomes while protecting them from policies that could jeopardize their livelihoods.
Biden mulls giving farmers billions to fight climate change. Even farmers are unsure about the plan.
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/29/biden-carbon-bank-proposal-478224