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Article Posted: 03/05/2007 6:04:24 AM
NFU Convention Weekend: Wind Energy, Carbon Program, Farm Bill Economics
ORLANDO, Fla. – Attendees of National Farmers Union’s 105th annual convention listened to panel speakers discuss opportunities in wind energy, carbon sequestration and the economics of farm bill policy during weekend convention sessions.
On Saturday morning John Deer Business Development Manager Todd Velnosky delivered an address to NFU members about the future of wind energy, and discussed John Deer’s efforts to help rural communities derive economic value from it.
He said the company is working with wind energy project developers and landowners to provide support throughout the development, construction, and initial production phases of wind energy plants. He emphasized that the ability to derive value from the land through wind energy is an important part of the future of agriculture.
”Wind energy stimulates the growth of local economies and the development of rural communities,” Velnosky said. “John Deer’s technical expertise continues to grow, and as we support wind energy projects, we provide knowledge and commitment to rural economic growth.”
Chicago Climate Exchange Chairman Richard Sandor also spoke to the NFU audience, emphasizing room for development and advancement in carbon sequestration and the trade of “carbon credits.” Sandor said there is vast opportunity for international and domestic growth in what he termed “market-based climate change mitigation.”
NFU launched its Carbon Credit Program last fall. NFU’s program helps farmers and ranchers earn income by storing carbon in their soil through no-till crop production and longterm grass seeding practices. The Chicago Climate Exchange then trades the aggregated producer acreage of carbon as blocks of credits for shares bought by companies that emit carbon and other greenhouse gases.
Sandor said that not only does carbon credit trading offer the potential to help decrease global warming, it offers farm and ranch families an opportunity to increase their bottom lines. The following morning NFU Carbon Credit Director Dale Enerson said that NFU’s program has extraordinarily successful, enrolling more than 1 million acres of farm land in just the first few months of the program. He said that those still interested in enrolling their farms can do so by visiting www.nfu.org.
“It is important that we spend some time this weekend talking about wind energy and carbon sequestration,” NFU President Tom Buis said. “We are emphasizing these win-win opportunities for our farm and ranch community to help the environment and make additional profit.”
In addition to discussing these opportunities for revitalizing rural communities, the members also heard from agriculture economist Dr. Daryll Ray from Agriculture Policy Analysis center at the University of Tennessee. Ray told NFU members that it is important to remember that agriculture economics differs from that of other markets – one reason being that it is impossible for agriculture to self-correct in the market like other industries.
As part of NFU’s media panel discussion Saturday, Jerry Hagstrom of Congress Daily and Chuck Abbott of Reuters news service told the farm and ranch audience about issues they face as agriculture journalists. They discussed the 2007 Farm Bill process from a journalistic viewpoint. The long-time agriculture reporters also emphasized the the need for careful editing to maintain accuracy while covering complicated agriculture policy issues in today’s 24-hour news cycle environment
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