Farms in the US release three main heat-trapping gases: nitrous oxide, methane, and carbon dioxide. The arrows in this graphic show the agricultural activities that release each of these gases. The width of each arrow shows how much each practice contributes to climate change. The largest contribution comes from wet, fertilized soils, which release nitrous oxide. Most of these emissions happen in the spring, before germination or when plants are still small. The second largest source is methane belched up by livestock. This graphic originally appeared in Why Farmers Are Ideally Positioned to Fight Climate Change published by Inside Climate News (8/24/2018).