Vilsack at CU: Climate-change innovations create opportunity

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack praised those at a biochar conference Monday at the University of Colorado, calling them innovators who potentially could help fight climate change and even create new economic opportunities for farmers.
Vilsack gave the keynote address at the conference, which is the first major biochar gathering in the United States. Biochar, created when organic materials are burned in a low-oxygen environment, is touted as an environmentally friendly way to turn infertile soils into nutrient-rich dirt.
"These are the kinds of innovations I think we're going to see all over the country," Vilsack said.
He talked about his support for a "cap-and-trade" system to reduce carbon emissions, making companies that produce more carbon emissions than allowed under a cap buy carbon permits through a government auction. The profits could pay for new energy research.
Companies also could buy "carbon offsets" at a lower cost from farms, forests and other sources. It's those offsets that could create an economic opportunity for farmers and ranchers, Vilsack said, and biochar is an offset candidate.
He said other income-generating possibilities for farmers include biomass and biofuels.
"We're seeing more interest in renewable energy on the farms," he said.
Revitalizing rural America -- and making it possible to earn a good living through farming -- is a priority for his department, he said.
A recent survey showed that mid-sized family farms have declined in the last five years, he said, though there are about 100,000 more small vegetable, fruit and specialty product farms. One of his department's initiatives is a program to help create local supply chains for small farmers.
He also told the audience that, while the agriculture department's 2010 budget is light on money for research, there's a greater research emphasis in the 2011 budget.
Jim Amonette, a biochar conference attendee who works at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, said he was impressed by Vilsack's address.
"It's nice to have a secretary of agriculture who knows what biochar is and understands the role agriculture can play in energy," he said.
Deborah Martin, a Boulder research hydrologist with the U.S. Geological Survey, said she liked that Vilsack talked about the need for a worldwide approach to sustainability.
"He was terrific," she said. "He was well-educated and well-informed."