Corteva Inc, a seed and farm chemicals firm, has announced a partnership with Indigo Ag, a farm technology and services provider, to expand its U.S. agricultural carbon credits program for the 2022 season.
According to the firm, the Corteva Carbon Initiative would initially pay farmers $15 per acre for switching to practices that pollute less, use fewer pesticides, or grow crops that extract carbon from the atmosphere and lock it in the soil.
The project is one of a slew of new environmental initiatives by agriculture corporations that are relying on market-based approaches to farm conservation and carbon capture.
Farmers are hesitant to make potentially disruptive modifications to their farming practices, and credit purchasers are skeptical of the environmental benefit of the new products, therefore several schemes have stumbled.
Corteva's two-crop pilot study in three states this year will be expanded to an 11-state program covering 17 different crops as part of the agreement.
Companies looking to minimise their carbon footprint, such as Barclays, JPMorgan Chase, Ralph Lauren, and New Belgium Brewing, will buy the generated credits .
"We're looking at this as a production contract, like (farmers) are creating carbon credits for us just like they're producing a grain harvest," said Chris Harbourt, global head of carbon at Indigo.
Using soil tests and farming data such as planting dates, seed kinds, fertilizer treatments, and weather, the software will predict how much carbon is trapped and sequestered.
Farmers must sign up for a minimum five-year term, with payments made progressively over that time to guarantee that carbon is not re-released if the soil is tilled, for example, according to Harbourt.
Farmers will receive 75% of the credit's worth, with the remaining 25% going to the businesses to cover administrative costs.
About Corteva
Corteva, Inc. is a publicly traded, worldwide pure-play agriculture company that offers farmers around the world the industry's most comprehensive portfolio, including a well-balanced and diverse mix of seed, crop protection, and digital solutions aimed at increasing productivity and profitability.
