Carbon credits were discussed in another thread. New concept to me since we just purchased our farm one year ago. Anyone have experience or research to share on the topic?
Meyer30
Active Member
I recently sat through a presentation from Truterra Ag, which is Winfield United's new carbon venture. A couple things stuck out to me:
- To get these carbon credits, it requires A LOT of documentation. You have to prove how much carbon your farming practices capture and retain. It will almost certainly require the use of precision ag technology. You will also have to give basically all of your farming data to these companies.
- To qualify, you usually have to agree to a 20 year contract. The farmer can get most of the payment up front, yet it is unclear what happens if circumstances change over the contract.
- All these credits are being bought up by Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, etc. so they don't have to worry about their pollution. That way they can claim to be "carbon neutral".
Just looked around for information on timberland carbon credits and came across the Family Forest Carbon Program (https://www.forestfoundation.org/family-forest-carbon-program). I would be interested in learning what restrictions they want to put on your land by signing up for these contracts.
It will definitely be interesting to see how this market emerges and evolves.
- To get these carbon credits, it requires A LOT of documentation. You have to prove how much carbon your farming practices capture and retain. It will almost certainly require the use of precision ag technology. You will also have to give basically all of your farming data to these companies.
- To qualify, you usually have to agree to a 20 year contract. The farmer can get most of the payment up front, yet it is unclear what happens if circumstances change over the contract.
- All these credits are being bought up by Microsoft, Amazon, Facebook, etc. so they don't have to worry about their pollution. That way they can claim to be "carbon neutral".
Just looked around for information on timberland carbon credits and came across the Family Forest Carbon Program (https://www.forestfoundation.org/family-forest-carbon-program). I would be interested in learning what restrictions they want to put on your land by signing up for these contracts.
It will definitely be interesting to see how this market emerges and evolves.
Great post and thanks for follow up info! Following this !!!!
From above “family forest carbon program” - doesn’t look like anything in iowa. They have PA listed & say it’s “only available in PA”. WI & Georgia are on their map but it says only PA eligible. Still reading ….
From above “family forest carbon program” - doesn’t look like anything in iowa. They have PA listed & say it’s “only available in PA”. WI & Georgia are on their map but it says only PA eligible. Still reading ….
Wapsi Tree Rat
Well-Known Member
For the life of me I can't understand why anyone, ESPECIALLY a farmer, would want to sequester plant food.
JNRBRONC
Well-Known Member
A couple of articles in the Iowa Farmer Today:
www.agupdate.com
www.agupdate.com
Carbon market faces new questions
Alittle more than a decade ago, carbon trading markets were emerging. But that fledging market collapsed and the idea struggled to get a foothold again until recently.
Iowa farmer sees profit, yield with carbon efforts
DENISON, Iowa — Kelly Garrett has his eyes set on the Iowa record books. To get his farm there, he is always trying new things.
Carbon Credits may be one of the dumbest things I have ever heard of. But I'll have to play along.