Farming activities in the U.S. accounted for 10.5 percent of America’s greenhouse gas emissions in 2022. From 2021 to 2022, agricultural greenhouse gas emissions decreased from 681.6 to 663.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent and decreased from 10.8 percent to 10.5 percent as a share of the entire U.S. economy’s emissions.
The Environmental Protection Agency estimated that in 2022, agriculture emitted 390.1 million metric tons as nitrous oxide emissions directly as nitrous oxide, 227 million metric tons of methane, 47.9 MMT directly as on-farm carbon dioxide, and indirectly emitted 29.7 MMT through electricity the agricultural sector uses. Ag practices that emit nitrous oxide include nitrogen fertilizer application and manure management.
Major sources of agricultural methane emissions include enteric fermentation, manure management, and rice cultivation. The EPA has identified the industrial sector as the largest contributor to total greenhouse gas emissions at 26 percent, followed by transportation and commercial.