USDA Undersecretary: Ag Can Be a Hero on Climate Change

America’s farmers have an opportunity to be a hero in addressing climate change through improvements in productivity and climate-smart practices, so says Robert Bonnie.  However, the USDA Undersecretary for Farm Production and Conservation, recently said a successful climate program “has to work for agriculture.”

Bonnie spoke at the International Sweetener Symposium on Monday. Thanks to strong farm policies, America’s sugarcane and sugarbeet farmers invest in new research, technologies, and techniques to boost their efficiency and protect the planet. Sugar farmers produce 16% percent more sugar today on 11% less land than 20 years ago. They’ve also increased yields by 30% while using fewer inputs. Bonnie says there’s so much diversity in agriculture that the approach to climate change can’t be one that dictates practices for low and high.

“It has to be modern, and it has to be producer-led,” Bonnie says. “Farmers and ranchers should be able to choose what works best for them.”