How Can Subsidizing USDA Organic Get Agriculture to Net Zero Emissions?

The greatest threat of climate change to humans is to our food system! Every time you buy an organic product you can make an affordable decision to fight climate change and lower our economy’s systemic climate change risk.

I went back to school at my alma mater to use my corporate research skill set within my master's program at UC Berkeley. My research culminated into a data science and systems thinking based approach to incentivize organic farming practices to turn farms into carbon sinks. By promoting an organic subsidy across the nation, we can protect our food system from drought and roll back carbon emissions from more than just agriculture. MOST states have very dry topsoil.

When a farm tills its soil to soften it before planting a crop, that releases carbon in the soil. Organic no-till farming of major cash crops like wheat, corn, soy bean, and rice can sequester carbon in the soil as that crop grows. Sequestering carbon in the soil via USDA certified organic farming has many benefits for the environment and for more profitable farming of major cash crops.

By using organic (no-till) farming methods, over time more carbon will stay in the soil and make soil healthier. Healthier soil has more nutrients and grows crops more efficiently. Untilled soil with more carbon is also healthier in many ways that protects crops against ALL extreme weather events. Untilled soil with more carbon has more/stronger structure within it to absorb more water during heavy rainfall. Soil that naturally holds with more water needs less irrigation or rainfall. Less irrigation saves money on a farmer’s water bill. This is very important because most of the US’s farmland suffers from drought.

Soil that holds more carbon also means a farmer doesn’t have to pay for as much fertilizer. Farmers will save money and help the planet. USDA organic certified farming requires the use of organic fertilizer. Conventional farming uses synthetic fertilizer that requires petroleum products to make that fertilizer. By transitioning more farmland to organic we protect farms and lower other huge government costs related to farming. It’s already more expensive to tax payers to continue farming as is. In 2022 the US government paid more for crop insurance premiums ($18.1 billion) than to subsidize their production ($11.4 billion).

Farmers need help to invest into becoming organic because that initial investment is a risky, expensive, three year-long certification process. Consumers shouldn’t need to pay more for organic if it’s better for the environment and farmers. The government should subsize organic farming to make it competitive with conventional farming. Together, with more subsidized organic production, insurance premiums should lower.