Are Biden’s carbon markets as good as they look? No, say smaller farms

Carbon credits to cut US emissions may benefit big animal operations but lock out small, climate-friendly food producersNicole and Aaron Bradley’s diversified livestock farm is a far cry from the industrial pig operations that dominate the landscape in North Carolina, the second biggest pork-producing state in the US.Instead of confining thousands of animals and managing their millions of litres of waste in lagoons that release methane, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG), the Bradleys raise 200 pigs at a time on pasture and in wooded areas, where the animals’ manure is integrated into the ground naturally as fertiliser. Similarly, they move their 40 grass-fed cattle using a “mob” grazing system that maximises soil health, with laying hens following behind.Having the support of multinational agribusinesses ... has given folks the illusion that family farmers support thisThere's something offputting about rewarding large-scale farmers who plant some cover crops but keep the rest conventional Related: Cash cow: could carbon credits get US farmers to plant trees? Continue reading...