Carbon 101: What Farmers Want to Know

Carbon Granular | March 23, 2022

By now, most farmers have heard about carbon programs but few have signed up. What’s holding them back? Surveys conducted across the industry – whether by Corteva, AgriPulse, Successful Farming or Purdue – confirm what we’ve known all along. Farmers still have plenty of questions about this evolving marketplace.

We’ve got answers, starting with the questions we hear most.  

? What’s an agriculture carbon program and how does it work?

Corporations face increasing pressure from investors, employees and customers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. To offset their pollution, these companies purchase carbon credits as a way to “make up” for their emissions today, and agriculture is one of the avenues to do that. 

Carbon programs help farmers generate carbon credits from implementing soil health practices that sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and into their soil. These practices include cover cropping and reduced tillage.  

This simple overview illustrates how Corteva’s program works:

? How does a farmer earn carbon credits?

By introducing soil health practices, a farmer can “sequester” or capture CO₂ from the atmosphere into the soil and/or avoid greenhouse gas emissions. For every 1 metric ton of carbon sequestration or emissions reductions, a farmer earns 1 carbon credit. Your carbon sequestration, or carbon yield, is measured by the eligible practice(s) you choose and data-driven models that predict soil carbon based on soil type and sampling, and weather data 

? What’s the role of a company like Corteva Agriscience in a carbon market?

Imagine the time, effort, and science needed to generate and sell a carbon credit. To get paid, farmers must measure their carbon sequestration rates field by field, certify their credits with regulatory bodies, and then negotiate credit prices with individual companies.   

Corteva helps farmers click the “easy button” on carbon by acting as an aggregator — helping you access a carbon credit marketplace while building trust among buyers that they’re purchasing premium, certified credits.

? How Can I Start Earning Credits?

Farmers can access numerous, newly-launched carbon programs. Many pay $5 – $20 per acre/year for the greenhouse gas (GHG) sequestered by introducing eligible regenerative practices like cover cropping and/or reduced tillage. Many also require farmers to sign a long-term contract (in some cases from 10 to 20 years) to implement these practices and submit practice data annually. From there, farmers receive a yearly cash payout for the verified and validated practices they’ve implemented, either by acre or credits earned.

? How does Corteva’s carbon program work? 

Here’s how our program works:

Get All the Facts on Carbon

Dig deeper into the facts on carbon markets — from whether a carbon program makes sense for you to knowing what questions to ask before you sign a contract — with our online Carbon Farming Resource Guide (also available in downloadable PDF format).