Farmer Perspectives on Carbon Markets Incentivizing Agricultural Soil Carbon Sequestration

October 03, 2023

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by Clare T. Barbato and Aaron L. Strong (Nature Climate Action) Climate change mitigation efforts to achieve net-zero emissions require not only decreasing current greenhouse gas emissions, but also the deployment of negative emissions technologies. Soil organic carbon sequestration in agricultural lands is one such negative emissions strategy, currently being incentivized predominantly through voluntary carbon offset markets. Through semi-structured interviews, we assess both conventional and organic farmer perspectives on soil carbon offset programs that have been created in the United States since 2017. The perspectives of farmers both participating and not participating in agricultural soil carbon markets were similar and consistent. Farmers in both groups expressed concerns about the convoluted, burdensome and unpredictable nature of receiving offset credits and emphasized that they were implementing practices for their own business interests and sustainability concerns, not the financial incentive of the generation of carbon credits. Based on our research, carbon offset credit payments for agricultural soil carbon sequestration are largely reaching farmers who were already implementing these beneficial practices or were already strongly interested in implementing these practices, and the payments for the offset credits are seen as a ‘gravy on top’, suggesting that these offset markets face strong challenges of ensuring true additionality essential to effective climate mitigation. READ MORE

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Excerpt from North America Climate Smart Agiculture Alliance: Robert Bonnie, the USDA official who came up with the plan, said farmers and rural interests opposed to plans for a cap-and-trade system to curb carbon emissions did not like government mandates, but are open to being part of the solution on climate.

One sign of change is in the American Farm Bureau Federation, whose policy as recently as 2019 stated: “We do not believe unilateral action by the United States can make a difference on global temperatures or stop devastating weather events.”

Today, the Farm Bureau is a member of the Food and Agriculture Climate Alliance, a lobbying coalition made up of the largest groups in agriculture that is focused on pushing voluntary, incentive-based climate solutions. It also has proved to be an ally to the Biden administration to help blunt GOP attacks on the climate initiative.

The hard part is convincing skeptical environmental advocates that the program will translate into on-the-ground climate-friendly farm practices, rather than subsidies to agribusinesses that are partners in most of the USDA Climate Smart grant projects. Among their big questions:

How effective are cover crops and no-till farming in sequestering carbon, and how will it be measured?
Will corporate partners in the projects share their findings freely throughout agriculture, or keep it as proprietary data?
e the soil benefits of cover crops offset by reduced yields, as posited in a recent Stanford University study?

“If most of the money ends up flowing to farmers and changing practices it becomes less of a concern,” said Cathy Day, climate policy director at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition. “But we’d really like to know that there’s really good, firm data on that, to ensure that it’s not going to be benefitting the large transnational corporations.”

Bonnie said USDA is walking a fine line between transparency and the success of the business partners, but said they are required to participate in the Partnerships Network, which will bring them together to share learnings. And he underscored that USDA will be able to learn from all of these programs.

“Our hope is, in the end of Year One and Two and Three, we’ll be able to have a better idea of what’s working where [and] what practices work best, what models get more interest from farmers and ranchers,” Bonnie said.

For more information about reactions to USDA programs, click HERE. READ MORE

Excerpt from North America Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance: The research comes at a time when farmers are beginning to embrace climate-smart agriculture and explore the benefits – not just better yields, healthier soil, and less expense for inputs, but also the potential of payment for the ecosystem services they provide.

It also comes at a time when Florida, after exponential growth in recent decades, foresees continued growth in population and development – which means continued competition for land.

Putting a credible price on the benefits of well-managed farmland would allow landowners need to be compensated for being good stewards of the ecosystem—for managing the land in ways that conserves and enhances its ability to provide us all with a clean, productive environment. READ MORE

Excerpt from North America Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance: New research will try to determine whether farms with demonstrably better soil have less risk of crop failure and should therefore see a reduction in the cost of crop insurance and other financial benefits.

A young non-profit called Land Core, along with the Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research (FFAR), is hoping to find the answer. FFAR awarded a $715,611 Seeding Solutions grant to Land Core this past summer to create an unprecedented market-based, actuarially-sound model that can determine the risk-mitigation benefits and related cost savings associated with specific soil health practices.

In particular, Land Core will focus on cover cropping, no till/conservation tillage, and crop rotations, Harley Cross, cofounder of Land Core, told AgFunderNews.

The value of these practices is widely known, but less widely used, in part because of high upfront costs; the benefits don’t come overnight, and immediate financial incentives are not always available.

“We have discounts for being a good driver and a non-smoker because those behaviors are scientifically proven to mitigate health risks and save insurers money,” said Land Core Co-founder and Executive Director, Aria McLauchlan. “It’s commonplace across industries to incentivize the adoption of low-risk practices. Healthy soil should be no different.”

But until this initiative began, there was no “market-based, actuarially sound model” for a “good-soil discount.” READ MORE

Excerpt from North America Climate Smart Agriculture Alliance: Most producers do not own all the land they farm. Investing in soil health is an investment in time and money, and the benefits continue to accrue over long periods of time. It’s difficult to make such investments in land rented by the year, or even longer increments.

In Iowa, 58 percent of farmland was leased, or operated by someone other than the landowner, according to the 2022 Iowa Farmland Ownership and Tenure survey, released this summer. The same study found that two-thirds of the state’s farmland is owned by people at least 65 years old – with 37 percent owned by people 75 and older. Among other findings:

Many older, retired farmers and/or their spouses have no succession plan for the land they own.
Many people who have inherited Iowa farmland neither live near nor intend to farm it themselves.
Still others have purchased land as a relatively safe, long-term investment. Families go in together to buy land, which they lease to one or two family members or neighbors. Companies exist to buy land and sell shares in the corporation, making anyone who is a shareholder an invested landowner.
About 37 percent of Iowa farmland is primarily owned for family or sentimental reasons; and about 20 percent is owned by someone who is not an Iowa resident.

Jason Russell, who farms with his brother in Linn County, Iowa, has seen different reactions from landowners who rent farmland. He said some view innovation as a financial risk that could limit a farmer’s ability to pay rent. Landlords may also have concerns that new practices would harm the land or create a messy look when they pride themselves on “clean,” weed-free fields. READ MORE

Excerpt from Groundwork BioAg/NewsDirect: • Boasts Impressive Co-Benefits: Groundwork BioAg was the first to crack the code on mass production of mycorrhiza for mainstream agriculture. By joining the Rootella Carbon program, farmers can leverage the co-benefits of Rootella products, including increased yields, fertilizer savings, and stress tolerance, while earning carbon credits.

• Generates Premium Carbon Credits: Rootella Carbon farmers expect to sequester 1-4 tCO2eq per acre per year—an unprecedented carbon sequestration rate. Carbon buyers gain access to high-integrity, high-volume, Verra-certified carbon credits.

Enrollment in Rootella Carbon is currently open to farms with a minimum of 250 acres, at https://www.groundworkbioag.com/rootella-carbon READ MORE

Excerpt from Farm Progress: Where’s the carbon money at? Look to carbon intensity scores. Here’s what farmers need to know to get paid in 2024. --

Lack of measurability, unfair pricing, long-term contracts and additionality are reasons farmers avoid carbon offset market.
To be compensated for carbon, farmers need to know their carbon intensity score, which measures carbon footprint per bushel.
The driving force behind CI score compensation is the 45Z tax credit for creating low-carbon renewable biofuels. READ MORE