Agriculture can be part of the climate solution using readily available practices.

The two agricultural practices with the greatest potential for extreme weather on U.S. soils are cover crops and no-till/strip-till. These practices were initially promoted as a means to stop soil erosion, but we now recognize that they have multiple benefits, including extreme weather.

The rapid adoption of cover cropping and no-till in the next three to five years can reduce emissions by 97 million metric tons of CO2e per year—the equivalent of removing 21 million passenger cars from the road for a year or to growing 1.6 billion tree seedlings for one year.

However, practices like covering crops and no-till work to reduce emissions and improve soil health only when maintained for the long term. Tilling or converting farmland to other uses would rerelease carbon into the atmosphere.