“Agriculture” refers to the cultivation of crops and the raising of animals for the “4Fs”: food, feed, fuel, and fiber.
It accounts for 52% of the country’s total landmass, including 62% of the landmass of the contiguous 48 states, making it the single largest type of land use in the United States (including
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forested grazing lands).6 Of the country’s total 2.3 billion acres, approximately 392 million acres are now cropland, 655 million acres are grassland pasture and range, and 130 million acres are grazed forestland.7 (See Figure 2 above.) Since agriculture uses so much land, modest reductions in emissions per acre can have an enormous cumulative effect when adopted across large numbers of farms.
Moreover, as discussed below, the lost carbon sequestration capacity of land already converted to agriculture must be considered. Such changes can also help farmers adapt to the changing climate.
A central argument in this book is that carbon sequestration should be an essential function of agriculture—the fifth “F” for the future8—supported by federal agricultural programs and policies. Freedom from the worst effects of climate change is at least as critical as any other function of modern agriculture, including crop, animal, timber, and biofuels production. By reducing greenhouse gas emissions while also increasing soil carbon stores, agricultural operations can make a substantial contribution to decarbonization in the United States. The following subsections analyze global, national, and state-level agricultural emissions.
More on the topic “Agriculture” refers to the cultivation of crops and the raising of animals for the “4Fs”: food, feed, fuel, and fiber.:
- Perennial agriculture uses crops that do not need to replanted each year, which results in a number of environmental and climate benefits.330
- The food system encompasses the full life cycle of food. In addition to agriculture, this includes activities that take place off the farm
- The Response of the FDA to Antibiotic Resistance Due to Overuse in Food Animals
- Phasing Out Certain Antibiotics in Food Animals
- Sustainable agriculture and food security as Treaty overall goals
- FDA’S Regulatory Principles and Approaches Underpinning the Phasing Out of Antibiotics in Food-Producing Animals
- Alike Harlan’s vision, it is important to understand the relational character of agricultural evolution, defined as ‘the activities of man that have shaped the evolution of crops and [...] the influences of crops in shaping the evolution of human societies’ (Harlan, 1975: 3).
- The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
- The commons and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
- The negotiations of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture were not alien to, but strongly influenced by the historical and geopolitical context in which they were developed (see Chapters 2 and 3 this book).1
- Demba is a small farmer in Mali who grows different varieties of millet, sorghum, cowpea and peanuts (i.e. plant genetic resources for food and agriculture) on his 0.35hafield.
- 2. Fuel Economy Standards for Agricultural Equipment and Reduction of On-Farm Energy Use
- 4. On-Farm Fuel Combustion and Electricity
- The Use of Novel Food Material in Health Food
- The tension between ‘informal’ exchange networks and ‘over-regulation’ of access to seeds: raising a social sharing disruption
- Liability for damage caused by animals