The farm bill tackles climate change with bipartisan support.

Don’t look now, but the divided Congress could pass a major climate change bill.

No, it’s not version 2.0 of the Inflation Reduction Act, the Democrats’ sweeping climate and health-care package. Rather, the farm bill — the five-year reauthorization of hundreds of billions of dollars in agriculture and food programs — could help farmers tackle the climate crisis while feeding the nation.

Congress has until the end of September to reauthorize the farm bill, which typically passes with bipartisan support. Already, House Democrats are working to include provisions aimed at helping farmers store more carbon in the soil, plant more trees and become more resilient in the face of extreme weather, Rep. Kim Schrier (D-Wash.) told The Climate 202.

“We’ve already started planning for the farm bill and how to push the policies that are great for farmers, great for soil health and also great for the planet,” said Schrier, who is co-chairing the House Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition’s Climate and Agriculture Task Force.

The coalition, a group of more than 80 climate-conscious House Democrats, will formally launch the task force today with an eye toward ensuring that the farm bill contains robust climate provisions. (The coalition will launch four other task forces as well, according to details shared exclusively with The Climate 202. More on that below.)

Agriculture accounts for about 11 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, so the sector can play a key role in addressing climate change. To that end, Schrier said climate-friendly provisions in the farm bill could fall into the following three “buckets”:

Sustainable forestry: This involves planting trees and protecting forests from wildfires, pests and diseases. Trees can store massive amounts of carbon dioxide in their trunks, branches, leaves and roots. But when trees burn in wildfires, these climate benefits go up in smoke, too.

Conservation programs: This involves authorizing billions of dollars a year for voluntary programs that help farmers, ranchers and landowners conserve soil, water and wildlife habitat.

Research: This involves funding research at land-grant universities and the Agriculture Department into how climate change is threatening agriculture. For instance, drought conditions and extreme weather wreaked havoc last year on corn, wheat, tomatoes and other crops.

“I think this farm bill could really turn out to be a huge climate win,” Ben Thomas, senior policy director for agriculture at the Environmental Defense Fund and a former deputy undersecretary at USDA, told The Climate 202.