The Farm Bill can build climate resilience

As communities continue to clean up from Hurricanes Ian and Fiona, we should be reminded of the need to build a more climate-resilient and low-carbon economy. The devastation from these extreme weather events is tremendous — and costly — but it’s unfortunately not unique. Western states are facing severe, historic droughts that have contributed to extreme fire seasons. Midwest states are trying to harvest decent crops after weather conditions undercut this year’s yields.

In 2017, a Government Accountability Office study calculated that the federal government incurred direct costs of more than $350 billion over the prior decade from extreme weather and fire events. Crop and flood insurance costs accounted for about one-sixth of the total, or $90 billion.

Diverse agricultural market opportunities and clean energy sources are necessary to help rural communities become climate-resilient. Existing farm energy programs can be strengthened and adapted to help. President Biden and Congress have taken initial steps. As Congress begins to consider the next Farm Bill, legislators can build on the momentum.

In September, Biden signed an executive order on advancing biotechnology and biomanufacturing innovation that highlights the potential of one farm energy program. The order directs the Secretary of Energy to draft a report detailing how biomanufacturing, bioenergy and bio-based products can help communities adapt to and mitigate the impacts of climate change. It directs the Secretary of Agriculture to devise a plan to secure the U.S. biomass supply chain to support bio-based product manufacturing and advance food security, environmental sustainability, and the needs of underserved communities.

Additionally, the president’s order directs federal agencies to take a leading role and increase procurement of competitively priced bio-based products. The Department of Agriculture’s BioPreferred Program maintains a catalog with more than 16,000 bio-based products in over 200 categories for federal agencies and contractors to purchase. The products come from 1,250 companies and more than 6,000 of the products carry USDA’s certification label.

In fiscal year 2021, federal contractors reported $76 million in bio-based product purchasing. The executive order can help that number grow. It’s a small step, but federal leadership is vital to helping new, small producers gain a toehold in the market.

Congress also has provided significant support for the bioeconomy. Congressional members voiced strong support for renewed federal commitment and funding for the BioPreferred Program ahead of Biden’s executive order. And the Inflation Reduction Act, passed in August, provides a significant infusion of funding along with the implementation of improvements for the Rural Energy for America Program (REAP). Before that, through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, Congress provided $10 million to establish a Bioproduct Pilot Program to support scale-up activities and studies on the benefits of bio-based products.

Congress also included changes to the REAP program in the Inflation Reduction Act advocated by the Agriculture Energy Coalition. The changes provide significantly increased funding and a new set-aside for underutilized technologies. These improvements will further extend the reach of the program’s small loans and grants that have produced tremendous returns in rural America already.

Congress can expand on these as it debates and formulates a new Farm Bill next year.

REAP is hugely popular because it helps to finance projects that use proven, low-cost technologies to reduce energy bills. In a typical year, the REAP program receives four times as many applications as it can fund.

This program has supported more than 20,000 renewable energy and energy efficiency projects since its inception in 2003. Just since its 2014 reauthorization, the program has leveraged $7 billion in private investment. The grants and loans could go a lot further to support proven but underutilized technologies such as small-scale wind and biogas, providing even broader benefits.

U.S. bio-based manufacturers directly employ 1.65 million American workers and indirectly support more than 2.1 million family farms — 99 percent of which are family farms. In 2017, the industry produced and sold $162 billion worth of products, with California, Georgia and Texas as the top markets. The growing range of essential goods made from renewable resources displaced as much as 9.4 million barrels of oil.

Government-wide accountability on product purchasing will help the BioPreferred Program achieve its potential. Increased funding in the next Farm Bill can put it on par with the successful REAP program.

Reauthorization and funding for Farm Bill energy programs can give rural communities and businesses a huge role in addressing climate change while creating jobs and agricultural market opportunities. This is a policy initiative with only winners, since investments today will mitigate the costs of addressing climate damage to the agricultural economy tomorrow. Farm Bill energy programs can improve the agricultural sector’s economic resilience as it adapts to the impacts of climate change that are already here.

Lloyd Ritter is executive director of the Agriculture Energy Coalition and founder and managing partner of Green Capitol LLC.