Global Warming and Farmers’ Carbon Emissions

By Michael Slattery, WFU Member

Since the Nixon Administration,the US government has recognized that global warming and climate change are a serious threat to our world.

Nevertheless, given that the present Administration is following, along with the US Congress, the guidelines established in the Heritage Foundation’s Mandate for Leadership, the so-called “Project 2025,” anything relating to climate change and global warming is considered a hoax. The federal government has abdicated its responsibility and leadership to address and remedy this problem. This is a denial of scientific facts and the means to remedy adverse effects of climate change. They have effectively refused to recognize this global existential crisis and terminated any assistance to farmers in determining their specific emissions and ways to mitigate or eliminate such.

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the US are attributed by industrial source largely to transportation by automobiles and trucks (28%), electric power generation (25%), and industry (23%), but agriculture is responsible for 10%.

In 2022, the US’ Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published its Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, 1990-2022, a 900+plus page in-depth research analysis. It has identified key contributors of Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in agriculture, i.e. farming. They basically comprise:

• 49% emits from soil management that is largely related to fertilizer, namely synthetic nitrogen.

• Methane (CH4) from enteric fermentation, livestock manure, rice cultivation, field burning of ag residue, (33% of agriculture’s CH4 emissions are attributed to enteric emission and 11% to manure management.)

• Nitrous oxide (N2O) from soil management, livestock manure, and field burning of ag residue (N2O emissions in soil management comprised 75% of total US emissions of N2O, but 49% of aforenoted total sector emissions).

• Carbon dioxide (CO 2) from liming and urea fertilizer

Emissions from Agriculture in MMT CO2 Eq

 Environmental Protection Agency, Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks, 1990-2022, pp. Agriculture 5-1 – 5-5.

Additionally, CO2, CH4, and NO4 emissions in farming, not part of the aforenoted, originate from ag-related land use (change) and from energy used in mobile and stable fossil fuel combustions ,

In 2022, by quantity, agriculture emitted 593.4 MMT CO2 eq. Over the past 32 years from 1990, agriculture’s GHG emissions have risen erratically 7%, with the proportion of CH4, N2O, and CO2 remaining stable.

Nearly 98% of enteric emissions of CH4 are attributed to cattle with 71% (137 MMT CO2 eq) generated by beef and 27% (48.9 MMT CO2 eq) by dairy cattle in 2022. Other ruminating livestock’s (sheep, goats, bison) contributions are de minimus.

It is estimated that the EPA-identified GHG emissions are heavily attributable to approximately 600,000 farms, or roughly 0.5 percent of the US population, inclusive of this author. The contribution of such GHG for an individual farmer is enormous compared to the overall population.

The reality of climate change and actual farmers’ contribution to it and responsibility to reduce and/or mitigate it call for our role as stewards of the environment. If the federal government relinquishes its leadership, we as farmers must still confront this challenge. Although contribution of 10% of US GHG emissions may be comparatively less than other industries, as stewards of the environment and leaders in determining our own destiny, we will not wait for others to step forward first.

Wisconsin Farmers Union in its 2025-adopted policy has highlighted farmers’ need to address climate change and the GHG footprint, as a special order of business and addresses other needed climate-smart practices and actions. Additionally, Wisconsin Farmers Union has established a Climate Committee.

What we farmers lack are reliable data points that identify specific emissions by input, by actual practice, by field, by farm, by livestock and our manure management. Companies like Houston Engineering have confidential and reliable formulas to tabulate such factors. The program COMET-Farm, a federal government-related program, provides no data related to the foregoing. We need that actual data to set a basis so that we can analyze practices and pivot where applicable to reduce their related footprint. COMET has a focus on sequestration, but we need to know the actual/estimated emissions output first.

What we farmers also badly need are data-based options for reducing and mitigating our actual GHG emissions so that we can make actual smart decisions and control our destiny.

The action from Wisconsin Farmers Union’s grassroots to set policy that is intentional in addressing climate change can make us a leader in this conversation in rural spaces. Hopefully our organization and the aforementioned committee will continue to assume a lead in meeting farmer needs and opening up farmer-led dialogue on this issue. Agriculture does play a role in climate change, but together we can serve as leaders in shaping solutions and rectifying our impact.