less than 1 kilogram of CO2 emissions. Moreover, current almond farming practices are offsetting roughly 50 percent of these emissions, as the industry has made strides to improve its air quality impact, water usage, and orchard recycling methods. Furthermore, as USDA considers providing crop insurance incentives for carbon-reducing conservation practices, orchard crops—which routinely use crop insurance—could be prime candidates. 3. Field grown produce. Most of the USDA carbon efforts around crops focus on strategies like no-till which do not neatly suit field grown produce. However, that does not mean that our opportunities will vanish. For example, exploration of new pesticide and fertilizer management techniques and technologies could help producers reduce carbon emissions, as well as save money while maintaining yield. 4. Energy savings. One area that USDA can help producers in all aspects of the industry is around comprehensive whole on-farm energy audits to provide recommendations for how energy conservation and efficiency can be achieved. Beyond that, USDA programs can be utilized toward energy efficiency upgrades for agricultural buildings and facilities. USDA also could have programs that incentivize or assist farmers with swapping or upgrading to newer, cleaner tools and systems. As one potential model, since 2017 California has operated the Funding Agricultural Replacement Measures for Emission Reductions (FARMER) Program, which provides funding through local air districts for upgrading agricultural harvesting equipment, heavy-duty trucks, agricultural pump engines, tractors, and other equipment used in agricultural operations. Overlap with Private Sector and States Many of you may be thinking that some of this is old hat. You are already involved with or familiar with some of the opportunities described above because there are state programs—such as the California Healthy Soil Initiative—or buyer sustainability programs that undertake some of these practices. We agree; we think that there is some work to build on as we explore these federal opportunities. We firmly believe that this topic is not going away. A focus on environmental sustainability has only increased over the years. Today, most buyers have some type of program,
and the level of complexity only seems to be getting higher. Given the degree of overlap between private sector focus and public sector opportunity, it is common sense for Western Growers to help shape the federal program and opportunities on behalf of its members.
While we know that many of you are involved in some of these environmental sustainability efforts, we want to learn about what you are doing to better shape our advocacy. We encourage you to reach out to us, the authors, with your story or questions.
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