Sec. 101. Goals
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As part of a national greenhouse gas emission reduction effort to prevent climate change from exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming above preindustrial levels, the goal for the agricultural sector in the United States shall be to achieve at least a 50 percent reduction in net greenhouse gases from 2010 levels by not later than 2030 and to achieve net zero emissions by not later than 2040. To help achieve the goal specified in subsection (a), the total Federal investment in public food and agriculture research and extension should, at a minimum, triple by not later than 2030 and quadruple by not later than 2040, with a heightened emphasis on climate change adaptation and mitigation, soil health and carbon sequestration, nutrient and manure management to curb nitrous oxide and methane emissions, agroforestry, advanced grazing management and crop-livestock integration, other agro-ecological systems, on-farm and food system energy efficiency and renewable energy production, farmland preservation and viability, food waste reduction, and related topics to accelerate progress toward net zero emissions by not later than 2040.
To help achieve the goal specified in subsection
(a)the United States should— immediately become a member of the 4 per 1000 Initiative’s forum and consortium, hosted by the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research (commonly referred to as the CGIAR ), with the aim of increasing total soil carbon stocks by 0.4 percent annually to reduce carbon in the atmosphere, restore soil health and productivity, and thereby improve food security; expand adoption of soil health practices (including diverse crop rotations, cover cropping, conservation tillage, perennial crop production systems, agroforestry, composting, biologically based nutrient management, and advanced grazing management including silvopasture) sufficiently to— reduce nitrous oxide emissions from agricultural soils in the United States by 25 percent by not later than 2030 and 75 percent by not later than 2040; and increase soil carbon stocks by 0.4 percent annually on at least 50 percent of United States agricultural lands by not later than 2030, and to meet or exceed that threshold on all United States agricultural lands by not later than 2040; expand implementation of regionally appropriate cover crops and other continual living cover so that— at least 50 percent of cropland acres nationwide include one or more cover crops or other continual living cover in their rotations by not later than 2030, rising to at least 75 percent of cropland acres nationwide by not later than 2040; and cropland acres are covered by crops (including forages and hay crops), cover crops, or residue for an average of 75 percent of the calendar year by not later than 2030, rising to at least 85 percent of the calendar year by not later than 2040; and encourage conversion of at least 15 percent of current annual grain crop acres to agroforestry, perennial grazing, perennial grain crops, or other perennial production systems by not later than 2030, rising to at least 30 percent by not later than 2040. To help achieve the goal specified in subsection (a), the rate of conversion in the United States of agricultural land to development, as well as the rate of grassland conversion to cropping, should be reduced by at least 80 percent by not later than 2030 and eliminated by not later than 2040. To help achieve the goal specified in subsection (a), the livestock sector in the United States should— establish advanced grazing management, including management-intensive rotational grazing, on at least 50 percent of all grazing lands by not later than 2030 and 100 percent of all grazing land by not later than 2040; reduce greenhouse gas emissions related to feeding of ruminants by at least a third by not later than 2030 and by at least 50 percent by not later than 2040 by reducing non-grazing feeding of ruminants, growing feed grains and forages with soil health and nutrient management practices that minimize net greenhouse gas emissions from cropland, and designing livestock feed mixtures and supplements to mitigate enteric methane emissions; re-integrate livestock and crop production systems at farm, local and regional levels to facilitate environmentally sound management and field application of manure and reduce the need for long-term manure storage by increasing acreage on individual farms under crop-livestock integrated management by at least 100 percent over 2017 levels by not later than 2030 and by 300 percent over 2017 levels by not later than 2040; and immediately cease building any new or expanded waste lagoons for confined animal feeding operations and convert at least one third of wet manure handling and storage to alternative manure management (as described in section 1240T of the Food Security Act of 1985 (as added by this Act)) by not later than 2030 and at least two thirds by not later than 2040. To help achieve the goal specified in subsection (a), the agriculture sector in the United States should— implement energy audits and energy efficiency improvements on at least 50 percent of farms by not later than 2030 and 100 percent of farms by not later than 2040; expand on-farm clean renewable energy production to at least double 2017 levels by not later than 2030 and at least triple by not later than 2040; and install and manage on-farm renewable energy infrastructure in a way that does not compromise the climate resilience and greenhouse gas mitigation goals of this Act or adversely impact farmland, soil, and water resources, or food production. Consistent with the Food Waste Challenge launched by the Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency in June 2013 and the national food loss and waste goal announced in September 2015, the food and agriculture sector in the United States should commit to— at least a 50 percent reduction in food loss and waste by not later than 2030; at least a 75 percent reduction in food loss and waste by not later than 2040; and in a manner consistent with the Food Recovery Hierarchy established by the Environmental Protection Agency, diverting from landfills through composting and other means at least 50 percent of unavoidable food waste and food processing byproducts by not later than 2030, and 90 percent of such food waste and byproducts by not later than 2040.