FARMERS and land managers will need to rethink the business model that they operate under to capitalise on the new opportunities on offer in climate change mitigation, the US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told farmers in Copenhagen this week.
At a special day dedicated to agriculture and its role in a new climate change deal, Secretary Vilsack said to capitalise on these opportunities farmers and land managers would need to develop new ways to partner with business and industries demanding greenhouse gas reductions.
He said climate change and global food security would be "among the most important and defining issues for our global community in the coming decades" and the two issues should not be separated.
"The drive to increase food production to keep up with global demand will have to occur in a system already under duress as a result of climate stress," Secretary Vilsack said.
"This increasing demand will have to be met within increasing water scarcity, heightened salinity, and more erratic weather and climate patterns.
"While climate change may affect all of us, there are particular vulnerabilities and challenges to our farmers, ranchers and those who make a living off the land."
But he said beyond the impact of the globe's food supply, and the livelihood of agricultural producers, agriculture must play a key role in mitigating climate change.
"Globally agriculture is responsible for 14 per cent of emissions, and deforestation's responsible for another 17 per cent of emissions," he said.
"It is difficult for me to see how greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere can be stabilised without actions to address emissions in carbon sequestration on agriculture and forest land.
"And frankly, as we look at the current research trajectory, we are not on a trajectory to help meet the challenges.
"We simply cannot afford to have increased emissions at the same time while food production fails to keep up with global demand.
"Our challenge today is to bring about a transformational change to mitigate and adapt to climate change."
Secretary Vilsack said to manage risk, farmers would need information about expected changes in climate on a scale that is useful to them.
"While global and regional climate change projections are important, they are not necessarily particularly helpful to a farmer who needs to know how this information translates at a local scale.
"We must remember however that research is not an end to itself, but rather better information is a tool and in a sense no different to a planter or a combine.
"The second area where we need scope, scale and impact is in the area of climate change adaption.
"We need to develop cropping and livestock systems that are resilient to climate change.
"We must take advantage of the world's vast gene banks to identify traits that can help curb resistance to drought and temperature extremes in crops and livestock.
"Finally we need to focus on climate change mitigation - agriculture stands to gain from new markets to reduce greenhouse gases and to increase carbon sequestration.
"There are a wide range of practices that exist to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, increase carbon sequestration, develop renewable energy sources, and improve energy efficiency on farms and forest lands.
"To fully realise the potential for land use mitigation for lands we will need to go beyond what we have done before and what is available now."
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