The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest $300 million to improve the measurement, monitoring and reporting of greenhouse gas emissions and carbon sequestration by the country’s agriculture and forestry sectors.

The funds come from the Inflation Reduction Act and will create a research network to monitor carbon levels in the soil. It will also expand the department’s data management capacity and improve research methods used to quantify and analyze greenhouse gases.

“This new investment by USDA in improving data and measurement of greenhouse gas emissions—made possible through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda—is unmatched in its scope and potential to increase accuracy, reduce uncertainty and enhance overall confidence in these estimates,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said. “We’re data driven, and we seek continuous improvement in our climate-smart agriculture and forestry efforts.”

In 2021, agriculture contributed only about 10% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The Inflation Reduction Act tasked USDA with quantifying and tracking carbon sequestration and greenhouse gas emissions and gathering field-based data to evaluate the effectiveness of climate-smart mitigation practices in reducing these emissions.

To carry out these tasks, USDA identified seven key focus areas that reflect the framework outlined by the federal strategy and are based on substantial input from stakeholders.

Those include establishing and advancing a Greenhouse Gas Research Network and expanding data management, infrastructure and capacity.

USDA will also establish and advance a Soil Carbon Monitoring and Research Network with a perennial biomass component as part of the investment.

Additional areas of focus include improving temporal and spatial coverage of national conservation activity data and strengthen USDA’s Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Assessment Program.

Improving models and tools for assessing greenhouse gas outcomes at operational, state, regional and national scales will also receive funding.

Improving conservation practice standards and implementation data to reflect greenhouse gas mitigation opportunities through USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is also a key focus area.

Additional information is available in this fact sheet.