Closeup of corn seedlings with cover crop for conservationAs he makes his return to his post as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in the Biden administration, Tom Vilsack has made it clear that carbon and climate change will be priorities for USDA. Tactically, that means farmers will likely see some kind of payments from capturing and managing carbon in the soil through practices like cover crops and no-till. That has some large ag companies focusing on carbon management with new products and services that will enable farmers to maximize financial incentives to prioritize it on their farms, too. The new ag sector of “climate smart farming practices” will likely be part of a lot of farm-level conversations moving into the new year as federal policies for farmers start to clarify and ag input companies develop programs to help farmers manage carbon. See more on the latest developments.