USDA and Dairy Producers Renew Agreement to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Increase Sustainability of Dairy Production (MOU between Innovation Center for US Dairy and USDA) Goal to reduce the US dairy industry's GHG emissions by 25% by the year 2020

Take that 'carbon footprint' down another shoe size (DairyHerd Network) According to the Wisconsin State Journal, the University of Wisconsin-Madison will receive $9.9 million from the USDA over the next five years to reduce the industry's carbon footprint by finding climate solutions.

USDA funds research initiatives on weather, climatic variability on cattle (Feedstuffs article) The U.S. Department of Agriculture awarded $19.5 million May 7 to support research, education and extension activities associated with climate solutions in agriculture aimed at the effects of climate variability and change on dairy and beef cattle.

Making Cows N Intake Efficient (Manure manager) The REDNEX project is about to reach completion this year. Funded by the European Union, the project investigated ways to reduce the excretion of nitrogen by dairy animals.

Effects of climate change on US grain transport (Nature article) The United States is a global grain supplier. Agriculture uses 22% of all US transported tonnage with grain being the largest component. Crop mix shifts are an often cited consequence of climate and such shifts may change the demands grain places on the transport system.

Climate adaptation as mitigation: the case of agricultural investments (Env Research letters) In this paper we investigate the potential co-benefits of adaptation in terms of the avoided emissions from land use change. A model of global agricultural trade and land use, called SIMPLE, is utilized to link adaptation investments, yield growth rates, land conversion rates, and land use emissions.

Adapting to increased 'climate variability' (Brownfield AgNews) Bring up "global warming" or "climate change" with a group of farmers and you'll like get a wide range of opinions. But many of those same farmers would agree that there seems to be more variability or unpredictability to the weather now than in the recent past-with the extremes of last spring versus this spring as an example. So how are farmers adapting to what would seem to be increasing "climate variability"?

Agriculture and Livestock Remain Major Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions (Worldwatch Institute article) Global greenhouse gas emissions from the agricultural sector totaled 4.69 billion tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent in 2010 (the most recent year for which data are available), an increase of 13 percent over 1990 emissions. 

Western Region

Carbon Dioxide Passes Symbolic Mark(BBC) Carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have broken through a symbolic mark. Daily measurements of CO2 at a US government agency lab on Hawaii have topped 400 parts per million for the first time.  NOAA -Earth System Research Laboratory(direct link to daily CO2 data)

An article from the Wall Street Journal that has received a lot of attention, and a detailed rebuttal argument:

Harrison H. Schmitt and William Happer: In Defense of Carbon Dioxide (WSJ Opinion) Contrary to what some would have us believe, increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere will benefit the increasing population on the planet by increasing agricultural productivity.

Wall Street Journal's Idocracy: CO2 is What Plants Crave (Media Matters) This Argument Relies On The Fallacy Of Exclusion. Skeptical Science explains that while carbon dioxide stimulates plant growth, our excessive emissions are changing precipitation patterns in ways that can hurt plant growth: A quick look at the science behind this argument demonstrates its inherent weaknesses. In closed, controlled environments, like greenhouses and plant nurseries, an increase in CO2 does indeed spur plant growth. However, the globe is not a controlled environment, and it's incredible sensitivity to a variety of factors is something that is often taken for granted when such narrow arguments are proffered.