A new Environmental Working Group analysis shows the outsize climate toll of continuous corn. When farmers grow corn on the same field year after year, referred to as “continuous corn,” the report found that fertilizing the crops across the Midwest is a major driver of greenhouse gas emissions.
The new report, which focused on four Corn Belt states, found corn to be “the most nitrogen-fertilizer-intensive crop in the U.S. and accounts for more than two-thirds of all nitrogen fertilizer use nationwide,” according to Environmental Working Group(EWG).
“Continuous corn locks farmers into a system that demands enormous amounts of fertilizer and creates climate emissions,” Anne Schechinger, EWG’s Midwest director and lead author of the report, said. “But even modest investments in regenerative conservation practices could help farmers shrink agriculture’s climate footprint while protecting drinking water and public health.”
While the data was drawn on cropland and climate data from the Agriculture Department in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin, the new report proved that “conservative practices could dramatically cut farming’s contribution to climate change.”
The four proven conservation practices include riparian forest buffers, tree or shrub establishment, hedgerow planting and windbreak establishment. If each practice was implemented on 1 percent of continuous corn acres across the Corn Belt, total greenhouse gas emissions would drop by 3.67 million metric tons every year from those acres.
“These are relatively small changes with outsized impacts,” Al Rabine, EWG GIS analyst and co-author of the report, said. “Planting trees or shrubs along the edges of cornfields can sequester carbon, cut nitrous oxide emissions, and reduce water pollution—a triple win for farmers, communities and the climate.”
EWG’s report said that while regenerative conservation practices will drastically help to cut greenhouse emissions, it requires reforms to federal and state farm programs. A few changes EWG recommends for federal programs like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program include:
- Support longer-term contracts with farmers, between three to five years, ensuring conservation measures stay in place over time
- Prioritize practices proven to cut greenhouse gas emissions
- Cover up to 90 percent of costs for legitimate regenerative practices
Some of these changes will “encourage farmers to diversify crop rotations instead of planting continuous corn year after year,” EWG said.
COMMENTS