EPA issued a Draft U.S. Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions last month for comment. This inventory reports the estimated emissions for each major U.S sector and totals from 1990 to 2018.  Agriculture’s share of total emissions remains at approximately 9% of total emissions (8.5% in 1990, 9.2% in 2018).

Energy consumption remains the largest emitter by far, at 83%, led by fossil fuel use for transportation and electric power generation. Within agriculture’s 9%, emissions of nitrous oxide from agricultural soil used in grain and other crop production lead with about 55% of all agricultural emissions. About 29% is attributed to enteric emissions of methane from cattle and other ruminants, and 13% from manure management (mostly in the form of methane).