Advocate: Preserving farmland could help the climate

In many parts of the U.S., family farms are disappearing and being replaced by suburban sprawl.

We need to protect our peri-urban farmland from urban
sprawl as it will help slow the advance of climate change.

“Our estimates are that farmland loss is occurring at an alarming 175 acres per hour,” says Jennifer Moore Kucera of the American Farmland Trust.

She says when farmland is lost to development, it’s not only a problem for agriculture. It can also hinder climate action.

Although many farming methods can make climate change worse, farmers also have the potential to store a lot of carbon on their land through practices like cover crops and minimized tilling.

According to the U.S. Climate Alliance, managing natural and working lands so they store more carbon is a key strategy to limit global warming.

Read the story from Yale Climate Connections - “Advocate: Preserving farmland could help the climate.”