ATLANTA — Farmers have a role to play in fighting climate change but they shouldn’t be coerced, according to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Agriculture has the potential to profit from reducing carbon emissions through “climate smart” conservation practices, Vilsack said Jan. 10 during the American Farm Bureau Federation’s annual convention in Atlanta, Ga.

“We know it has to be voluntary and incentive-based,” he said. “It can’t be regulated.”

The USDA is using the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, or EQIP, and the Conservation Stewardship Program, or CSP, to help farmers use methods such as cover crops to sequester carbon.

While the USDA plans to encourage such farming practices with money from the federal Commodity Credit Corporation — which disburses farm support dollars — it will not deprive other programs of funds, Vilsack said.

Likewise, the USDA isn’t planning to take an active role in creating markets for carbon credits, such as those growers could earn for reducing emissions, he said.

Such efforts should occur in the private market, Vilsack said. Even so, the USDA wants to help growers tap into that potential.

“This is about creating new revenue streams, additional revenue streams,” he said. “We can be the first agriculture in the world to do so, which would give us a market advantage.”

Vilsack has returned to the role of USDA secretary under the Biden administration after previously serving in that capacity during the Obama administration.

Zippy Duvall, AFBF’s president, said he considered Vilsack a friend and appreciated his responsiveness to the organization’s concerns.

“When I text the secretary, he texts me back,” Duvall said. “When I call the secretary, he calls me back.”

The USDA is poised to speed the farm industry’s adoption of new technology with the passage of a major federal infrastructure bill last year, Vilsack said.

“We finally got the job done,” he said.

The bill will improve the farm industry’s ability to get products to port but it’s also going to expand access to broadband internet, Vilsack said.

Faster data upload and download speeds will allow farmers to take full benefit from precision agriculture tools, he said. “I’m excited to get this technology in the hands of farmers.”

Farmers collectively earned strong profits last year but that doesn’t reflect the experience of every grower, Vilsack said.

Specific crops and regions may not fully gain from the industry’s successes, he said. “Income doesn’t necessarily go up in every part of the country.”

To that end, USDA is deploying disaster relief dollars to help growers affected by wildfires and other problems, he said.

Exports are crucial for the farm industry, which is why the federal government is focused on clearing up port congestion.

For example, the government is creating incentives for ocean shippers to fill containers with Asian-bound farm exports, he said.

While farm goods typically rely on empty containers once filled with imported Asian products, current supply chain problems have changed that dynamic.

Ocean carriers are now taking back more empty containers without waiting for them to be filled with U.S. farm goods, since they’re needed to bring products back to America.

“We are working on the areas where we have control,” Vilsack said, referring to the container program and advocacy to extend port operating hours, among other efforts.

Ensuring that ports and other transportation facilities work effectively is critical for agriculture but so is the enforcement of trade deals, he said.

Exports to China, for example, have been strong under a phase one trade agreement but that doesn’t mean the U.S. will look past phytosanitary restrictions that needlessly restrict shipments, Vilsack said.

“We are going to press China on the need for complete enforcement and complete implementation,” he said.