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More conservation practices will be rewarded by 45Z credit
An ag researcher says farmers can benefit the most if all conservation practices incentivized through the 45Z tax credit are in place.
Michigan State University’s Bruno Basso tells Brownfield, “Ideally, a farmer will choose areas where corn is highly productive and it can be productive with less inputs.”
“And, put alternative practices or different crops in areas where it doesn’t really make sense to grow an expensive crop that doesn’t qualify for a lower carbon intensity score,” he explains.
USDA’s interim rule for technical guidance on climate-smart feedstocks provides farmers with incentives for individual practices rather than a bundled approached.
Basso says using no-till and cover crops together can lead reduced fertilizer use over time, and better incentives for farmers.
“Accounting for the amount of nitrogen that a cover crop releases, then you would adjust and reduce your nitrogen in some areas and potentially get a better return investment in another areas,” he says.
He says the credit makes conservation adoption less of a financial burden for farmers especially during times of limited profitability.
“They need to be protected in some ways and be rewarded for ecosystem services, and (farmers) have to realize that sometimes it’s hard to have a paradigm shift and change, but it’s a lot better than going bankrupt,” he shares.
Basso’s modeling research is being used by USDA as part of its Carbon Intensity Calculator to help farmers quantify the carbon benefits of conservation practices.
Brownfield interviewed Basso during a recent MSU KBS research summit.
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