A $100 million infusion of federal money will help ranchers, farmers and loggers switch to practices that emit less greenhouse gases and capture more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced Sept. 26 it would send two Portland-based nonprofit conservation groups, Sustainable Northwest and The Climate Trust, $50 million to work on three sustainable ranching and reforestation projects, and $50 million to Oregon State University to lead the Northwest’s transition to more climate-friendly potato production.
The money comes from the USDA’s Climate Smart Commodities Program, established earlier this year to help expand markets for commodities that can be produced with small or no carbon footprint.
The four projects being sponsored in Oregon are among 70 chosen nationwide.
The trust will receive $15 million to spend over five years on reforesting areas throughout the western U.S. that have been damaged by wildfire, as well as reforesting some agricultural lands in the South.
In a statement, the trust said the forests would be managed both for production to meet global demand for forest products, and to absorb the maximum amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere before harvesting.
The nonprofit conservation group received $10 million to invest in regenerative ranching economies and another $25 million grant to build a sustainable wood products economy in the region. The latter involves collaboration among tribes, small forest owners, wood producers and scientists to restore and manage tens of thousands of acres of Oregon forests to absorb carbon, known as carbon sinks.
The $10 million for ranching will go toward studying and implementing sustainable pasture and ranchland management at 120 beef ranching operations across nine states. Emissions from each ranch will be measured and monitored, and land managed for maximum carbon sequestration, for improving water quality and for protecting habitat for wildlife.
The goal is to use the ranchlands to sequester carbon emissions equal to one billion gallons of gasoline or 10 billion pounds of coal per year. They have the potential to reduce the carbon intensity of beef production by 50-100% compared to conventionally-raised beef, according to a statement from Sustainable Northwest.
The College of Agricultural Sciences at OSU is getting $50 million to work with farmers and tribes on implementing sustainable potato-farming practices and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the Northwest’s potato industry during the next five years. More than 60% of the nation’s potatoes come from Oregon, Washington and Idaho, according to the USDA.
Modern potato production often leaves soils unstable and depleted of organic matter, according to a news release from OSU.
Researchers will collaborate with their peers at the University of Idaho and Washington State University and with researchers and farmers from the Yakama Nation, Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Nez Percé and major northeast Oregon potato growers and processors such as Lamb Weston, Threemile Canyon Farms and Simplot.
The collaborators will study the effectiveness of rotating crops on potato fields every three years, such as growing grains, corn, alfalfa, onions and hemp to increase organic matter in the soil and its ability to hold and save water.
