(Credit: Pixabay)A new regenerative agriculture program has been launched that pays farmers for improved soil health and positive environmental outcomes, including payment per metric ton of carbon sequestered. The new program by Cargill, called Cargill RegenConnect, connects farmers to the growing carbon marketplace and will help scale the voluntary adoption of regenerative agriculture practices.
Farmers enrolled in the program will implement regenerative agriculture practices of their choosing beginning this fall into the next planting season. Practices that will qualify include cover crops and reduced- or no-tillage.
Cargill has partnered with carbon measurement firm Regrow to make it easy for farmers to Measure, Report and Verify (MRV) carbon outcomes using in-field data, remote sensing and crop and soil health modeling. The Regrow MRV platform ensures easy enrollment, secure data collection and provides farmers with transparent measurement and verification options.
In a study of 100 farmers across nine states conducted by The Soil Health Institute and supported by Cargill, researchers found that soil health management systems increased incomes for 85% of farmers growing corn and 88% of farmers growing soybeans. The average income for corn growers increased by $52 per acre and $45 per acre for soybeans.? Additionally, farmers reported reduced average costs to grow corn by $24 per acre and soybeans by $17 per acre.
In August, a group of farmers in three US states completed the initial benchmarking phase of Rabo Carbon Bank’s first carbon sequestration and soil health pilot program in North America. Participating farmers will receive compensation for implementing regenerative agricultural practices that enrich their fields’ soils while capturing carbon from the air. Rabo AgriFinance, a Rabobank subsidiary that serves US farmers and ranchers, is facilitating the pilot program as part of the global Rabo Carbon Bank initiative.
Rabo AgriFinance and Continuum Ag – an agronomic advice and carbon sequestration measurement company – work with every individual farm business participating in the Rabo Carbon Bank pilot. Together, they identify the tailored practices that will lead to better soil health and carbon sequestration for each operation.
