The numbers are in: U.S. agriculture accounts for under 10% of total U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions when compared to other economic sectors.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) releases a report every year that tracks greenhouse gas emissions by source, sector and specific gas. The report accounts for all man-made sources in the U.S., including carbon dioxide removal by “sinks” from management of lands.
In EPA’s latest edition of “Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2022,” the agency reported that agricultural emissions dropped 1.8% from 2021-22, the largest decrease of any economic sector.
“The drop in agricultural emissions highlights the success and importance of voluntary and market-based programs that support farmer efforts in sustainable agriculture practices,” said Zippy Duvall, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) president, in a statement.
“The latest numbers should also serve as inspiration to lawmakers who can build on this progress by passing a farm bill, which not only provides a safety net for farmers, but also helps them meet sustainability goals,” he continued.
In an AFBF Market Intel analysis, economist Daniel Munch said overall GHG emissions in the U.S. increased by 1.3% from 2021-22, likely a result of the return of economic activity following the COVID-19 pandemic. Ag production continued throughout the pandemic and emissions actually dropped 17% below 2005 levels.
“2022 marks the lowest U.S. agricultural greenhouse gas emissions since 2012,” Munch said.
He noted that EPA does update its methodologies used for their estimates each year, and retroactively applies the methodology to all years since 1990. Meaning, data in the most recent report is not comparable to the values reported last year.
2022 total numbers
Total U.S. emissions from all man-made sources was 6.34 billion metric tons (mt) in CO2 equivalents in 2022. This was an increase of 14 million mt compared to 2021. Land use, land-use changes and forestry captured 854 million mt of carbon in soils, accounting for 13% of total emissions.
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The largest emissions source was the transportation sector, which accounted for 28% of total emissions, or 1.8 billion mt. Emissions declined 4 million mt (0.2%) from 2021. Electricity emissions were the second highest, representing 25% of emissions, or 1.57 billion mt. Emissions were down 0.4% from 2021, but had increased 6.9% from 2020-21.
The industrial sector accounted for 23% of all emissions at 1.45 billion metric tons. This was a decline of 0.2% compared to 2020. Commercial and residential sectors and U.S. territories increased emissions by 4.8% compared to 2021, representing 14% of all emissions. This category includes heating, cooling and cooking and other building-related activities. U.S. territories make up only 0.4% of total emissions.
2022 ag numbers
Ag emissions represented 9.99% of all U.S. emissions in 2022, or 634 million mt in CO2 equivalents. Breaking it down by production type, crop cultivation accounted for the highest emissions at just over 5% of total emissions. Livestock emissions followed at 4.3% of emissions, down 2.1% from 2021.
“This is likely linked to smaller livestock inventories, particularly beef cattle, which were liquidated at higher rates in 2022 due to drought conditions,” Munch said.
Breaking it down further into livestock categories, enteric emissions from beef cattle represented 2.19% of total emissions, a 2.43% decline from 2021. Dairy cattle accounted for 0.77% of emissions, swine at 0.05%, sheep at 0.02% and horses at 0.02% of total emissions.
Fuel combustion used by the ag sector accounted for 0.64% of total emissions, down 1.2% from 2021.
A second methodology breaks down agriculture into additional categories not considered in the base methodology. With this methodology, the largest source of U.S. ag emissions was ag soil management, representing 50% of all ag emissions and 4.6% of total U.S. emissions.
Livestock emissions was the second-highest contribution, with enteric fermentation and manure management representing 46% of total ag emissions and 4.3% of total U.S. emissions.
“Since 1990, U.S. agricultural emissions have increased by 6.4% while the U.S. population increased 33%, adding over 83 million people in three decades,” Munch said. “With the advancements in innovation and technology, agricultural emissions per capita have declined 20% since 1990.” — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
