Is Carbon Farming the Way of the Future?
by CRARS staff member Sheryl Karas. M.A.
Have you heard about carbon farming? It’s the latest buzz phrase for regenerative farming practices that could help address serious issues that have been contributing to climate change. It’s also receiving some attention because of the recent ramping up of the carbon markets. So let’s talk about that and how it could benefit farmers as well as the planet.
As you probably know by now, global warming, the key driver of climate change, is the result of heat-trapping greenhouse gases (GHGs) that are building up in the atmosphere. What you might not know is that natural earth processes cycle those gasses back and forth between land, ocean, and atmosphere all the time. However, human-caused emissions have increased so dramatically through the burning of fossil fuels and modern agricultural practices that the natural cycles are no longer able to keep up. That’s why the gasses are building up. But, luckily for us, there are ways to effectively work with nature's cycles—in particular, the carbon cycle—to help solve this problem.
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the most significant GHGs but it is also essential for agriculture. Through the carbon cycle, carbon(opens in new window) is converted into a form that can be used by plants and other living things through photosynthesis. CO2 is then released back into the atmosphere through respiration or the decay of dead organisms. That's where the concepts of carbon farming and regenerative agriculture come in. By working proactively with the carbon cycle we can safely draw down CO2 from the atmosphere and help it accrue underground without excessive release back into the atmosphere. It is also called "regenerative" because, when done effectively, the same practices restore the natural biological functioning of the soil, improve soil health, and restore ecosystem functioning we depend on for food and water security and farm resiliency. In fact, long before we thought about using it to combat climate change, many of the same practices had been recommended to prevent soil erosion and depletion. Excessive tillage and leaving the soil bare between planting seasons was thought to have led to the devastation of the Dust Bowl. But, despite that experience, those damaging practices are still the norm in modern agriculture because— along with synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, and modern irrigation technology— they are thought to be more efficient and cost effective.
Conversely, practices that accrue carbon and best keep it sequestered underground include:
- Avoiding tillage.
- Keeping the ground covered with mulches or living plants with roots left in the ground all year.
- Keeping soil microbe communities intact by minimizing or eliminating pesticides, herbicides and nitrogen fertilizers.
- Adaptive grazing that includes holistic management practices focused on soil health.
Additional practices such as silvopasture(opens in new window), cover cropping(opens in new window), alley cropping(opens in new window), and the use of windbreaks(opens in new window) and riparian plantings(opens in new window) draw down more CO2 via photosynthesis. When combined with practices that keep most of that CO2 sequestered, a very effective carbon farming plan can be created.
Benefits to the Planet
There are other equally important actions that need to be taken, but agricultural lands offer an enormous opportunity for positive impact. The Carbon Cycle Institute estimates that farms and ranches could sequester over 60 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent annually by 2030 in California alone. That would more than offset the agricultural sector’s climate emission impact. To put this into greater perspective, many people suggest planting trees to sequester carbon. That’s a great idea, however, according to the Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator(opens in new window) provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, 992,105,159 tree seedlings would need to be planted and successfully grown for ten years to sequester an equivalent amount of carbon dioxide! For this reason, the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the California Department of Food and Agriculture (opens in new window) have created new funding programs for conservation and carbon farm plan development.
Benefits to the Farmer
From a farmer's point of view, combating climate change is not the only benefit of carbon farming. In fact, it may not even be the most important benefit because these practices can solve multiple problems farmers face simultaneously:
- It considerably decreases soil erosion and degradation.
- It can assist with water infiltration and retention (especially important in times of drought and to prevent excessive run-off when it rains).
- It reduces the need for pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilizers over time, thereby reducing or eliminating the costs of those inputs.
- It reduces the amount of air pollution created by tillage.
- It reduces the amount of fossil fuels used and the associated costs by reducing tractor passes.
Certainly, making changes to your farm operation can take time, money, and learning to effectively implement. However, the benefits can more than pay off in the long run. Most farmers and ranchers report increased profits without reduction in yields once the initial transition stage is complete. Most of our mentor-farmers recommend that people transition their properties in stages to reduce risk. By converting one small section at a time it is easier to gauge the impact of your choices and learn what works best in your local environment. There are government, state, and non-profit programs that can often help pay for the costs of transition, and there may even be carbon market opportunities to provide additional income.
Carbon Markets
Carbon markets have received a sharp increase in attention over the last year because companies have been jumping into the game of marketing opportunities to investors and farmers. Some large corporate farms have even reported being able to make what seems like a significant income from this. So, should small or mid-size farms get involved? That answer is less clear.
Let’s start by discussing what the carbon markets are.
In 1997, 180 countries signed the Kyoto Protocol that established the first international carbon market system. The idea was to create financial penalties and incentives to lower greenhouse gas emissions by specific entities (businesses or an entire countries). Limits were established for how much could be emitted without penalty, and the carbon markets were created to pay those who reached their goals more quickly. Each ton of greenhouse gas removed from the atmosphere or prevented from being emitted equals one carbon credit, and the countries and companies that participate in mandatory emission reductions use those credits to represent their compliance. However, carbon credits are also given a monetary value, and entities that meet their goals more quickly or exceed their goals can sell their extra credits to those who do not or cannot do so. There is also a voluntary carbon market that individuals and businesses who are not under mandatory compliance can use to support climate-beneficial practices and to voluntarily offset their unavoidable emissions. This is both good for public relations and for those who seriously want to join the mission. "Cap and trade" is another name for this approach. When these systems are well-designed they have been shown to be effective(opens in new window) both monetarily and for the environment.
This is not to say that most of the current programs have no problems. Well-designed systems have accurate emissions monitoring and significant violation penalties which lead to high compliance. They also price carbon credits at a high enough rate to create incentives for both innovation and compliance. At the present time, however, credits are often priced very low– averaging about $15/acre. For smaller farms that’s not enough to cover the cost of switching to carbon sequestering practices using the carbon markets alone, although it could be considered supplemental income after taking advantage of programs that can often pay more. Furthermore, emissions monitoring is not consistent or always transparent, and while some progress has been made, the United Nations reports(opens in new window) that so far efforts are falling short of what needs to be done.
On the other hand, improvements to the current approach have been offered in terms of regenerative agriculture, and some companies are taking moderate steps to implement at least some of those ideas. For example, because multiple stacked practices tend to bring better outcomes, it is thought that farmers could be paid more if they were paid for their success in carbon sequestration rather than being paid per acre for implementing specific single practices. So far, most companies prefer to pay for one or two specific practices (usually adding cover crops or reducing tillage). But some do provide free technical assistance to help farmers achieve greater success and have embraced the importance of providing careful monitoring and verification of results with higher payments, over time, for results. Unfortunately, other companies expect farmers to pay for that testing out of their too low carbon payments. We advise you to learn as much as you can before signing any contracts.
Organizations such as the California Climate and Agriculture Network(opens in new window) believe that farmers are better off using programs that help pay for the changes they would need to make their properties climate-smart. They have been advocating for the U.S. government to scale up and refine farm bill conservation programs (PDF) (PDF)to address the climate crisis. The Biden Administration’s Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program(opens in new window) is one very positive response. The Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems at Chico State recently received one of those grants(opens in new window) to assist farmers in Northern California. Farmers can also take advantage of funding through the Healthy Soils(opens in new window) and Alternative Manure Management(opens in new window) programs.
Visit the new Carbon Farming section(opens in new window) of our website to learn more.