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NFU on dire climate report; sees glimmer of optimism

A new climate report issued by the United Nations has dire implications for agriculture. Tom Driscoll with the National Farmers Union tells Brownfield what sets this report apart is that it says the world cannot rely on cutting emissions to mitigate increasing weather extremes.
Driscoll says what WOULD help is to, “Reward people for practices, production practices, conservation practices, forestry practices that take existing carbon from the atmosphere and sequester it in the soil or biomass.”

Driscoll says the markets also need to be more competitive to give farmers the ability to try new things which many NFU members want to do, “Many of these reforms tend to benefit the climate as well but just the way the markets are set up they have to farm in a very prescriptive manner that doesn’t give them the discretion to make these changes.”

Driscoll says NFU members are increasingly reporting difficulty producing food but there’s a glimmer of optimism, that folks will work with farmers “to try to circumvent some of the worst consequences we’re facing.”

The current administration has pulled back on climate change policies but Driscoll praises the USDA for helping farmers address climate change issues, “In spite of what’s going on in other aspects of the government. And we appreciate the dedication of folks at (USDA) NRCS on such matters but they will always be hamstrung until there’s more agreement at the higher levels that they answer to.”

The American Farm Bureau declined Brownfield’s invitation to comment on the report from the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change saying it is “far too technical” and goes far beyond what their policies cover.

AUDIO: Interview with Tom Driscoll ~