1. Agriculture and Greenhouse Gases Jill Heemstra, University of Nebraska - Lincoln Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

2. Why Is This Important? Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) Agriculture emits greenhouse gases (GHGs) Agricultural activities can capture or sequester GHGs Changing climate can impact on-farm management decisions Policy conversations & development will include agriculture

3. U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) U.S. EPA 2012

4. Climate Change Policy Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) ©University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources

5. What Do We Need to Know? Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) Greenhouse gases (GHGs) associated with agriculture Agricultural activities that emit GHGs Strategies for mitigation & adaptation Opportunities

6. Greenhouse Gases Associated With Agriculture Carbon dioxide - CO 2 Methane - CH 4 (21 times the global warming potential, GWP, as CO 2 ) Nitrous oxide - N 2 O (310 GWP) When reading about total GHG emissions, the amounts reported are generally carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e) which converts some gases to a higher number to factor in their higher global warming potential Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

7. Agriculture Activities Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) Nitrous oxide – Agricultural soil management (Fertilizer application & cropping practices) – Manure management – Field Burning of ag residues Photo courtesy Rick Koelsch, University of Nebraska

8. Agriculture Activities Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) Methane – Enteric fermentation (digestion) – Manure management (uncovered manure storage) – Rice cultivation – Field burning ag residues Photo courtesy USDA NRCS Photo courtesy Mark Rice, North Carolina State University

9. Agriculture Activities Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) Carbon dioxide – Fossil fuels – Electricity

10. Carbon Footprint Carbon footprint: The total amount of greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere each year by a person, family, building, organization, or company, including emissions from direct sources as well as indirect sources. Life Cycle Analysis: A process to calculate carbon footprint Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

12. Mitigation and Adaptation Mitigation=reducing GHGs Adaptation=risk management Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

13. Farm Management Decisions Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

14. Adaptation Preparation for changes in: – Temperature – Frequency of extreme weather events – Hydrologic cycles and connections (water quantity) – Timing of farm operations – Invasive species (plant and animal) Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

15. Adaptation Examples Extreme rainfall events are causing more frequent manure storage spills in your state. This pattern is expected to continue. How can a farm manage this risk? Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) Photos courtesy Kevin Erb, University of Wisconsin

16. Adaptation Examples A ranch in an arid or semi-arid environment is developing a 10 year plan. What climate influences need to be considered? Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

17. Animal Ag & Climate Change Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

18. Mitigating GHG Emissions Soil carbon sequestration (CO2) Biofuel production (CO2) Nitrogen use efficiency (N2O) Covered manure storage (CH4) Animal diet (CH4 & some N2O) Energy efficiency; reducing fuel use (CO2) Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

19. Agriculture & Sequestration Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) “Agricultural practices collectively can make a significant contribution at low cost to increasing soil carbon sinks, to GHG emission reductions, and by contributing biomass feedstocks for energy use” IPCC Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change 2007

20. Mitigating GHG Emissions Soil carbon sequestration (CO2) Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) No-till Perennials Cover Crops Manure Photo courtesy USDA NRCS

21. Mitigating GHG Emissions Biofuel production (CO2) Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) ©University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources Algae Switchgrass Ethanol plant

22. Mitigating GHG Emissions Nitrogen use efficiency (N2O) Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) ©University of Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources

23. Mitigating GHG Emissions Covered manure storage (CH4) Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) Examples of manure anaerobic digesters Photo courtesy Doug Hamilton, Oklahoma State University Photo courtesy Rick Stowell, University of Nebraska

24. Mitigating GHG Emissions Animal diets (CH4, N2O) Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) Photo courtesy Sharon Sakirkin, Texas AgriLife Extension System

25. Mitigating GHG Emissions Energy efficiency; reducing fuel use (CO2) Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) Photo courtesy Anne Cumbie Randle Randle Organic Farm, AL Photo courtesy Mark Risse, University of Georgia

26. Mitigating GHG Emissions Trade offs Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

27. Trade-Offs If feeding grain to ruminants results in less methane emissions, does that mean we should craft programs that encourage farmers to feed more grain and less forage? Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) Photo courtesy USDA NRCS

28. Trade-Offs If switching to perennial crops can sequester more carbon in the soil, should we be converting significant amount of crop land to perennials? Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

29. Policy & Mitigation Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) 2009 EPA finding of “endangerment” Mandatory GHG Reporting Rule Cap & trade Carbon tax State regulations

30. Opportunities Reduced input costs Carbon payments or renewable energy credits Incentivize BMPs Market access/advantage Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

31. Summary Agriculture is a significant source of methane and nitrous oxide Many current recommended management practices also mitigate GHGs Production efficiency is key Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA)

32. Summary Farm and ranch business plans should consider and prepare for: – Ways to adapt to changing climate – Financial opportunities – Possibility of regulations Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) Photo courtesy USDA NRCS

33. Contact Information Building Environmental Leaders in Animal Agriculture (BELAA) Jill Heemstra: – jheemstra@unl.edu jheemstra@unl.edu