More than 450 scientific, agricultural, and rural development organizations and businesses have called on Congressional leadership to invest at least $200 billion over ten years to strengthen conservation, research, renewable energy, forestry, and regional food system and supply chain resilience programs, in addition to the agricultural, forestry, and rural provisions in President Biden’s American Jobs Plan. AIBS was among the signatories.
The letter emphasizes that an investment of $200 billion under the bicameral Agriculture Resilience Act (H.R. 2803/S. 1337) and Climate Stewardship Act (H.R 2534/S. 1072) would address climate change and infrastructure needs by advancing research on climate and agriculture, helping farmers and ranchers adopt mitigation practices, investing in more resilient local and regional supply chains, and expanding renewable energy on farms. The letter urges the inclusion of key provisions from those bills in the legislation that derives from the American Jobs Plan Act.
“We believe such an agriculture and climate package of at least $200 billion would represent a fair share for agriculture, one that reflects both the urgent need for U.S. agriculture to adapt to a rapidly changing climate as well as the tremendous opportunity our farmers, ranchers, private forest owners, and rural small businesses have to contribute to climate change mitigation,” reads the letter. “It would enable at least a doubling of farm bill conservation program funding while also addressing other key underfunded areas in the urgent efforts needed to enhance agricultural resilience, improve soil health, sequester carbon in the soil, and reduce emissions from the agricultural sector.”
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