Evening Edition | Wednesday, December 7, 2022

In tonight's Evening Edition, meet a dairy farmer who is turning cattle waste into a revenue stream, see why the top republican on the House Ag Committee says the farm bill needs to provide more long-term certainty for farmers, and get help figuring out the "Wild West" carbon markets.

Cattle waste could provide a revenue stream for dairy farmers

Renewable natural gas (RNG) producers are establishing more and more operating facilities across the country, turning waste from cattle into energy.

Johannes Escudero, founder and CEO of RNG Coalition, the North American RNG trade association, says, "We are capturing that methane and converting what is an environmental liability into an asset, in the form of renewable energy.” He says many of North America’s agricultural and livestock operations have sufficient volumes of waste to successfully support RNG facilities, and it can create a new revenue stream for farmers.

Cassidy Walter introduces us to the Goodrich family of Vermont. Vanguard Renewables covered the construction costs of an RNG digester on their dairy farm and the company runs the day-to-day operations. The Goodriches receive a monthly fee for use of the land and manure.

READ MORE: Turn waste into wealth

Thompson: Farm bill should provide more long-term certainty, less ad-hoc aid

Congress should strengthen the crop insurance and farm subsidy programs so producers don’t have to rely on stop-gap federal aid to survive trade wars, natural disasters, and the pandemic, the Republican leader on the House Agriculture Committee said during the Farm Foundation online forum on Tuesday.

“The need for a reliable farm safety net is paramount,” said Representative Glenn Thompson (R-PA). Nearly 80% of federal funding for agriculture since 2018 flowed through bailout programs — “necessary assistance” although “farmers can’t plan for them. And that’s why we need to enhance the farm safety net provisions in the farm bill to provide more long-term certainty and to reduce the need for ad hoc assistance.”

Farm groups are pressing for higher reference prices, a factor in calculating subsidy payments, and more protection under the federally subsidized crop insurance program.

Successful Farming Contributing Editor Chuck Abbott is on the ground in Washington, D.C. He shares thoughts from other members of speakers from the Forum and a link to a video of the meeting.

READ MORE: 'Enhance the farm safety net,' says top republican on House Ag

Get help figuring out carbon markets

While the carbon market space has been dubbed the Wild West, it’s getting more and more settled every day. Numerous programs have already distributed payments to farmers, technologies to measure soil organic carbon are in testing, and the demand from corporations to offset their carbon emissions via agriculture has only increased.

That said, getting started can be very confusing. Megan Schilling has been reporting on carbon markets for years, and she has compiled a list of helpful resources for farmers considering taking the leap.