Oregon Ag Carbon Work Group

1. Oregon Ag Carbon Work Group

2. Introduction • Agriculture represents a small percentage of greenhouse gas emissions • Ag likely won’t be regulated under a greenhouse gas reduction program • Voluntary agricultural practices can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and sequester carbon

3. Ag Carbon Work Group • Evaluated opportunities for agricultural offsets • Focused on voluntary sequestration/GHG reduction projects • Ag groups, environmental groups, agencies, offset experts participated

4. “Offsets” Overview • Reduction, removal or avoidance of emissions that compensates for emissions elsewhere • Available for non-regulated sectors • Used by regulated sectors to help comply with caps in cap-and-trade program

5. Key offset criteria • Additional - what will be eligibility date? • Real • Quantifiable - baseline vs. project reductions • Outside of capped sectors • Permanent

6. Key questions • What types of practices will be eligible for offsets? • How to reward early adopters • What potential do various practices in Oregon have to reduce emissions? • What prices are necessary to encourage these practices?

7. GHGs evaluated • Carbon dioxide • Methane • Nitrous oxide

8. GHG Mitigation • Soil sequestration practices • Nutrient management • Irrigation water management • Manure management • Livestock diet management

9. Soil Sequestration • Reduced tillage • Crop rotation • Pasture/range management • Some data for east side • Less data for west side • Per-ton incentives will probably be fairly low for E Oregon (although lots of other benefits from sequestered C)

10. Nitrous oxide reductions • Application rates/timing • Precision application • Controlled-release products • Irrigation water management • Several research needs identified

11. Livestock diet management • Animal selection/breeding • Improve feed digestibility • Additives to reduce methane production • Little to no net economic benefit from practices; so incentives would help encourage them • Need more research to be able to quantify benefits

12. Manure management • Minimize anaerobic conditions - aerate manure in lagoons • Avoid long storage periods • Avoid application to saturated soils • Anaerobic digesters

13. Energy projects • Most energy efficiency and renewable energy projects will not be eligible for offsets in the long-term. • Benefits of these projects will be claimed at the utility level. • However, there are other incentives available for these types of projects.

14. Some conclusions of group • Good practices for offsets in Oregon: • Digesters - benefits are really easy to quantify • Soil sequestration practices are eligible for some programs already • Problems with offsets for other practices: • Need to reward early adopters • Not enough data to quantify the benefits of many practices in Oregon at this time • Payment amounts for some practices won’t be enough to encourage them

15. Conclusions • We know there are GHG reduction and carbon sequestration benefits from many practices, but just aren’t able to quantify them • It makes sense to offer incentives for these practices - just not necessarily “offsets” • Farm Bill seems to be an appropriate mechanism • Many FOTG practices already providing benefits

16. Conclusions • Reward “ecosystem services” that producers are providing, including erosion control, water quality protection, wildlife habitat, GHG reduction, and carbon sequestration • Allow “stackable” incentives - in other words, payments for each type of service provided by the producer

17. Conclusions • Need more research to help quantify benefits of a variety of practices • Also need technical assistance resources to assist producers with GHG reduction and carbon sequestration practices • Many GHG benefits described in FOTG - describe benefits for all practices that reduce GHGs and sequester carbon

18. Conclusions • Marketing can be another important benefit of documenting GHG reductions and carbon sequestration - both developing new markets and keeping existing markets

19. Next steps • Add a column about magnitude of effects to the “Climate Friendly FOTG practice” list • Identify systems of practices and compare benefits to other systems