With an incoming president and administration that will have a more regulatory bent and environmental focus, what will that mean for agriculture? Tom Vilsack has been tapped to do a reprise of his role as Secretary of Agriculture, so we know there will be more of an environmental lean in the years ahead. Vilsack has vowed to put climate change at the top of the agenda.
How much of agricultural and environmental policy will come with a carrot or a stick remains to be seen. But one potential carrot might be incentives for growers to farm carbon.
The idea of using fields, pastures, and forestry to capture and retain carbon from the atmosphere is not new, but it has been garnering more attention in recent years.
President Biden has promised the new administration would pursue direct federal payments from USDA to growers who use their fields to capture carbon. In addition, some of the largest agricultural companies are working to set up agricultural carbon-exchange markets.
Even the Wall Street Journal is taking notice. In late December, it ran an extensive piece, “Agriculture Industry Bets on Carbon as a New Cash Crop.” The story covered the landscape of this emerging sector. It also told how one Iowa farmer, Kelly Garrett, planted cover crops for all the normal benefits of fighting erosion, building organic matter, and improved fertility. In addition to those benefits, Garrett earned $75,000 for 5,000 carbon credits his farm generated through a program developed by ag startups Nori and Locus Agricultural Solutions. You may have seen Locus on the trade show floor of our Florida GrowerSM Citrus Show in recent years.
Shopify, Inc. bought Garrett’s carbon credits. While the e-commerce company has nothing to do with agriculture, it does need credits to offset carbon emissions it produces while transporting goods sold through its platform during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend. That’s a lot of shipping and a lot of emissions. The company is marketing its commitment to offset omissions, and Garrett’s wallet is $75,000 fatter for it.
Bayer, Nutrien, Indigo Ag, Cargill, Corteva, and ADM all are dipping their toes into the carbon game in one way or another. Data collection and farm management software will play a critical role in helping growers demonstrate just how much carbon they are capturing. I am sure some of you will be leery of that amount of data being shared, which I totally get. But it is worth noting that beyond dollars for carbon, having that level of understanding of how your farm is performing can provide benefits in productivity, efficiency, and profitability.
Whether incentives from government or credits from private companies, carbon capture could provide opportunities for your farm or grove in the future. It’s worth watching and perhaps trying if it makes economic sense for your operation.