Bipartisan Climate Policy that Works for Farmers & Ranchers
By Offering a Profit Opportunity for Voluntary Stewardship
Status-quo climate policy proposals discount the agricultural sector. We know that farmers and ranchers are too important to leave out of climate policy discussions. Our farmers deserve to be treated like the stewards they’ve always been.
What Industry Experts Say About RIPE…
At RIPE we are building a movement for common sense bipartisan climate policy that works for farmers bottom line by crafting climate policy that gives farmers a voice and path to long term resilience, both environmentally and economically. This farmer-led initiative is built on over 3 years of research and development on policy, extensive stakeholder engagement with farm leaders and policymakers, and collaboration with over 20 expert advisors and prominent universities. RIPE is trailblazing a path forward that is promising to stakeholders across the country and across the Congressional aisle.
Agriculture’s role in climate policy is voluntary incentive based, not regulatory.
As stewards of the land, farmers and ranchers should not be required by any climate policy to implement climate-smart stewardship practices. Additionally, the minimum payment level offered shall cover the full cost of practice reimbursement, carbon input cost increases from climate policy, and a reasonable and profitable stewardship incentive.
A profit opportunity for farmers implementing stewardship practices by investing in the ecosystem services they deliver – including water, soil, greenhouse gases, and soil health.
In contrast, the status-quo proposals only offer farmers carbon farming payments – which doesn’t even cover the cost of the policy, and ignores the valuable environmental benefits farmers can invest in our shared natural resources. Specifically, this includes:
- Stewardship Incentives for fair & meaningful profit opportunity. Farmers should earn the ecosystem service value of sustainable agriculture practices – including water, soil health, biodiversity, and greenhouse gas mitigation, which society benefits from. This tends to be in the $100-$300/acre range, which enables a payment to fully cover:
- Practice Reimbursement – in contrast to the cost-share principle in current conservation programs, RIPE advances full cost recovery of practice; plus
- Carbon Compensation – input cost increases caused by climate policy are compensated.
The freedom for farmers and ranchers to choose what works for their land.
The freedom to choose what works for their land. Farmers know their land better than any government agency ever will, so they are best qualified to select which stewardship practices work for them. RIPE’s principle is to allow farmers to select if they want to participate and if so, which practices to invest in, and a federal policy should support them in making those investments.
Long term resilience for farmers and ranchers
Farmers are tremendously resilient business people and increasingly confront climate disasters that must be addressed, including flooding, draught, increases pests. RIPE proposes supporting farmers in making the investments in additional climate resiliency that is needed.
Our nation’s farmers and ranchers are the original and most significant stewards of the environment, so are an important part of the solution when it comes to addressing climate change through their continuous care of the water, soil and air.
Federal climate policy is advancing through executive action – which passes costs on to farmers – and additional climate legislation may pass in the next few years. Yet the policy designs being discussed in Washington D.C. do not reflect the best interests of growers and their contributions to environmental solutions.
RIPE, a non-profit program dedicated to helping farmers secure a profit opportunity from climate policy, aims to advance a comprehensive climate policy that invests in sustainable farming & enables farmers to earn a fair profit for delivering valuable benefits to our shared air, water & soil.
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