Several farm and environmental groups have teamed up to develop policy recommendations that they hope will unite the industries in addressing climate change.

The American Farm Bureau Federation, Environmental Defense Fund, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives and National Farmers Union are the co-chairs of the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance, whose membership has now expanded to include several other groups.

Their 40 policy recommendations “outline ways that Congress can drive climate-smart practices in the areas of soil health, livestock and dairy, forestry and wood products, energy, research and food waste,” according to the announcement. “Because climate policies will affect natural resources, producers, rural communities and communities with limited resources, they must be carefully crafted to account for inequities, consequences and tradeoffs.”

The groups have three overarching recommendations for lawmakers:

Create incentives and market-based opportunities: “Federal policy can and should create voluntary, incentive-based programs and market-driven opportunities for the agriculture sector to maximize carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas reductions and to increase the resilience of the land.”
Increase resilience in rural communities: “Providing dedicated farm bill funding for a new conservation technical assistance initiative focused on soil health and resilience would increase climate adaptation and create job opportunities.”
Ground policy in science: “The alliance calls for substantial and continuous increases in funding for agriculture, forestry and food-related research. This will help ensure farmers, ranchers and forest landowners have access to the scientifically rigorous tools and information they need to build climate resilience, mitigate environmental impacts and increase the productivity of their land.”

Farm and environmental groups collaborate on climate policy recommendations