What Makes Carbon A Commodity?

If you’re in the business of farming, chances are you’ve heard rumblings of carbon markets. The industry is abuzz about all things carbon and its growing opportunity, but what are you actually doing when you transact carbon? What makes it transactional in the first place? As a leading sustainability program provider, we’re here to help.
 
What’s A Farmer’s Role In The Carbon Market?
 
A farmer’s role in carbon markets is carbon sequestration and storage in the soil. Certain conservation practices can help reduce the release of carbon from the land into the atmosphere and/or capture CO₂ from the atmosphere and store it in the soil. For example, when you till a field and disturb the soil, you expose the organic carbon within it to aeration, so it gets oxidized and then released into the air as CO₂.
 
Practices that keep soil protected and in place, like reducing tillage, utilization of cover crops, relay cropping and double cropping can help capture and store carbon in the soil.
 
Who Buys The Carbon Credits?
 
The U.S. government and a significant number of large corporations have made commitments to protect the environment by reducing or offsetting the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere through their operations. Keeping carbon out of the air and in the soil is an effective way to help meet these goals, which means many of these groups are now willing to pay farmers to do so.
 
Conservation farming practices take time and money to implement. That’s what makes support from corporations and governmental organizations so powerful for the farmer. When companies buy carbon credits, they play a critical role in the carbon market by making practice changes economically viable for farmers.
 
Long-Term Effects Of Sustainable Farming
 
Implementing sustainable practices offers benefits beyond carbon transactions. Diversifying crop rotations, reducing soil disturbance and keeping it covered year-round are valuable investments in soil health. And healthier soil often leads to an increase in yield and a reduction in input costs.
 
Start Earning More For Your Farming Practices
 
All it takes is one small step to get started: understand your farm’s current soil health standing. The Truterra^® soil health assessment is a great resource for farmers looking to build a plan to improve soil health and monitor changes over time.
 
When you’re ready to enter the carbon market, your local Truterra network provider can help you find a program you qualify for so you can start transacting.
 
Truterra is focused on helping farmers’ land, practices and investments work for them. Connect with a Truterra network provider or pre-enroll for 2024 Truterra^® sustainability programs today to get started.