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Opinion: GHG debate needs debit-credit balance

The home plate in baseball is 17 inches wide.

I listened to a presentation by the University of Saskatchewan agricultural economist Richard Gray at the end of March. In his submission, he suggested there was an error in greenhouse gas emission accounting. Kevin Hursh mentioned this in his column on page 11 of the April 6 issue.

Gray hypothesized that the accounting does not account for the carbon dioxide withdrawn from the atmosphere, converted to energy, stored in a kernel of grain, and exported to a user. The farm does not get credit for that exported carbon.

Industry champions support his hypothesis. I hear words like “rewarded,” and that past practices should be in the reward mix and the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change coefficients are wrong.

But the IPCC protocols for reporting emissions do address this energy transport. The accounting for respiratory emissions is on a worldwide scale. Their protocol is slightly less than a one-to-one debit and credit.

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Trending Video

We’ll NEVER Use These Grain Bins Again!

Video: We’ll NEVER Use These Grain Bins Again!


A huge change is happening on the farm — our new grain bin has officially arrived, and that means we’ll never use some of our old grain bins again. In today's video, we take delivery of the new grain bin, look back at the old bins that have been part of our farm for years, and talk about why this upgrade is such a big deal for harvest, grain storage, and the future of our family farm.

This is more than just a grain bin delivery. It’s the end of an era and the start of a major farm upgrade that will completely change how we handle corn during harvest. From old grain storage to a brand-new bin setup, this project is one of the biggest improvements we’ve made at the farm.

Join me as the new grain bin shows up, the bin project continues, and we prepare for a new chapter in harvest efficiency on our Minnesota family farm.