Livestock Emissions Dominate Agriculture's Carbon Footprint, Taxing Farmers Needed to Curb Climate Impact
This study looked at how farms contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, with a focus on energy use. By analyzing farm data, researchers found that livestock production is the biggest source of emissions, while energy-related emissions were less significant, except for horticultural farms. They suggest that reducing emissions should target livestock farming primarily, as there is limited potential for cutting energy-related emissions on most farms. Introducing a tax on greenhouse gas emissions could reduce farm income, ranging from 21% for field crop farms to 40% for farms raising herbivorous animals. However, low-emission permanent crop farms would only see a small income decrease of 3.85%.