USDA sought comments recently about how it should conduct its “Climate-Smart Agriculture and Forestry Partnership Initiative.” In announcing the request for comments, Secretary Vilsack said that the initiative “will support pilots that create new market opportunities for commodities produced using climate-smart practices” and that it will “invest in the science, monitoring and verification to measure the benefits of these climate-smart practices.”

UEP prefaced its comments by noting that since 1960 the “egg sector has dramatically lowered its total greenhouse gas footprint even while increasing the total number of eggs produced to meet the continual growth in demand for eggs.  In the process, U.S. egg farmers have a footprint per gram of animal protein produced that is the envy of animal agriculture around the world.”

UEP encouraged USDA to play the role of “facilitating and enhancing, rather than replacing or substituting for the private sectors and non-governmental organizations” efforts and noted that “egg producers might be uniquely positioned to take part in any of the possible variants of the Climate Smart Agriculture supply chain approaches that exist or are coming into being today.” Please contact UEP staff if you have any questions about these comments, the USDA’s pilot initiatives, or how USDA’s efforts relate to consumer-facing companies’ supply chain climate plans.