By Linda Gerber, Neil Koehler, Sam Tannahill and Erik Wohlgemuth
If you have trouble thinking of the last time Congress worked across the aisle for the common good, here's a recent example: the Senate Farm Bill. The bi-partisan bill that just passed contains provisions sponsored by our own Sen. Ron Wyden to incentivize soil health practices that pull more carbon out of the atmosphere and store it in the soil. This reflects the science that shows agriculture as the most practical and powerful carbon sequestration opportunity available at a global scale.
Oregon's $5.7 billion agricultural sector is a key driver of our state's economy, producing among the most diverse crops of any state. On our farms and ranches we grow grapes, hay, corn, cattle, fruit, nuts, hops and a host of other commodities. But there's another valuable farm product that farmers can deliver: stored soil carbon. While improving the health and resilience of our soils, we can combat climate change and support economic development in the rural parts of our state.
Replenishing soil health by building organic carbon content is a practice as old as agriculture itself. But many current cultivation methods degrade soil structure and require the addition of excessive -- and expensive -- chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The agricultural practices encouraged in Sen. Wyden's provisions, such as cover cropping and reduced tillage, benefit farmers directly by increasing crop quality, yield and resilience to flooding and drought.
Sen. Wyden's efforts were supported by farm organizations and individual producers and business people like us, as well as by environmental groups. The new policy will create a pilot program to monitor soil carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas mitigation outcomes of various cultivation practices, with a goal of creating a new revenue stream for carbon performance by agricultural producers. Whereas climate change is creating greater unpredictability and increased risk of crop failure, addressing climate change directly through carbon mitigation could be a new and reliable revenue stream for farmers.
The Farm Bill, which is renewed by Congress every five years, has major impacts on the economy beyond farm operations. Policies that recognize the value of smart resource and carbon performance in agriculture are also great for business, creating a strong market signal to innovate and invest in the fast-growing "AgTech" sector.
New companies are forming to enhance farm efficiency and productivity. For example, precision agriculture technologies that allow the highly targeted application of nutrients and pesticides, or soil microbe additives that improve crop vitality. Large established companies like John Deere are investing in this space as well. The result is a value chain of job creation that begins in laboratories around the country and ends on the fields of rural America.
It's worth celebrating that this initiative received strong bipartisan, cross-regional and cross-industry support, opening the door for more collaboration between the agricultural and environmental communities. If these soil health provisions remain in the final Farm Bill to be hammered out over the summer by the House and Senate, it will benefit Oregon's farmers, our economy and the environment.
-- Linda Gerber is the owner of Gerber-Christiansen's Family Farm in Oregon City; Neil Koehler is co-Founder, director, and chief executive officer of Pacific Ethanol in Boardman; Sam Tannahill is the founder of A to Z Wineworks in Newberg; and Erik Wohlgemuth is the E2 Oregon Chapter director and chief operative officer of of Future 500 in Portland.