THE IMPACT OF CLIMATE CHANGE, CARBON MARKETS AND CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY PRACTICES ON U.S. AGRICULTURAL SECTOR AND MARKET

Climate change has been found to have a negative impact on society. In the face of such impacts there are numerous efforts to reduce GHG net emissions to protect the future economy and environment. Adaptation is also essential as it will take time for mitigation to have an effect and agriculture is vulnerable. Climate smart agriculture and forestry (CSAF) practices address both adaptation and mitigation sometimes individually and sometimes jointly. Those practices also influence carbon and commodity markets along with effects of conservation programs. To the best of our knowledge, there is not a comprehensive integrated model that portrays climate change impacts covering crop and livestock impacts along with the implications of the wide array of potential CSAF practices plus associated policies as they influence the economic, environmental, geographic and temporal dimensions of agriculture. In this study, we will develop and use a modeling approach to evaluate carbon markets and CSAF practices oriented incentives and other policies. We will develop and use the model to do an integrated analysis with the consideration of interactions among climate effects, adopted CSAF practices, adaptation, regional, national, and international commodity markets, mitigation extent, and implications for regional incomes which has never been done in the literature. The characteristics of CSAF practices, such as permanence, leakage, uncertainty, additionality, and transactions cost will also be considered. We will also evaluate carbon market, carbon policy and conservation programs design and provide information for policy makers and farmer. Climate change has been found to have a negative impact on society. In the face of such impacts there are numerous efforts to reduce GHG net emissions to protect the future economy and environment. Adaptation is also essential as it will take time for mitigation to have an effect and agriculture is vulnerable. Climate smart agriculture and forestry (CSAF) practices address both adaptation and mitigation sometimes individually and sometimes jointly. Those practices also influence carbon and commodity markets along with effects of conservation programs. To the best of our knowledge, there is not a comprehensive integrated model that portrays climate change impacts covering crop and livestock impacts along with the implications of the wide array of potential CSAF practices plus associated policies as they influence the economic, environmental, geographic and temporal dimensions of agriculture. In this study, we will develop and use a modeling approach to evaluate carbon markets and CSAF practices oriented incentives and other policies. We will develop and use the model to do an integrated analysis with the consideration of interactions among climate effects, adopted CSAF practices, adaptation, regional, national, and international commodity markets, mitigation extent, and implications for regional incomes which has never been done in the literature. The characteristics of CSAF practices, such as permanence, leakage, uncertainty, additionality, and transactions cost will also be considered. We will also evaluate carbon market, carbon policy and conservation programs design and provide information for policy makers and farmer.