Conservation

EPA Opens Public Comment Period On Draft Fungicide Strategy

Mon, 04 May 2026 16:19:42 GMT

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is offering the U.S. public an opportunity to help shape the future of agricultural safety, unveiling a draft Fungicide Strategy designed to balance the needs of American farmers with the protection of the nation’s most vulnerable wildlife.

The proposal marks a significant step in the agency’s effort to meet its dual mandates under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). By creating a more efficient and transparent framework for pesticide registration, the EPA says it aims to “safeguard more than 1,000 federally endangered and threatened species” while ensuring growers maintain the tools necessary to protect the nation’s food supply.

A New Framework for Modern Farming

The draft strategy focuses on conventional agricultural fungicides across the lower 48 states — an area covering approximately 41 million treated acres annually. Rather than a one-size-fits-all mandate, the proposal introduces a three-step framework:

Identify Impacts: Assessing potential population-level effects on listed species.
Mitigation Planning: Pinpointing specific measures to reduce those risks.
Targeted Application: Determining exactly where these protections are most needed based on where endangered and threatened species live and how fungicides move through the environment.

The agency emphasizes that while this strategy guides future regulatory actions, it does not impose immediate requirements. Instead, the strategy serves as a roadmap for upcoming registration reviews, with the EPA promising public input on every specific action before it is finalized.

Balancing Innovation and Conservation

Saying that it recognizes farmers are the backbone of the U.S. economy, the EPA’s draft includes several updates to provide greater flexibility. Notably, the plan expands options for reducing spray drift buffer distances and introduces new mitigation tools, such as the use of “guar gum” as a spray adjuvant.

"[American farmers] need a diverse toolbox of innovative agricultural technologies to manage crop disease, prevent resistance, and produce the affordable, nutritious food that feeds our country,” the EPA says, in a press release. “The draft Fungicide Strategy is designed to ensure those innovative tools remain available and that they are used in ways that protect the environment and endangered species.

How to Get Involved

In a push for transparency, the EPA has opened a 60-day public comment period to gather feedback from scientists, conservationists, Tribal partners and the agricultural community.

Public Comment: Stakeholders can review the strategy and submit formal feedback via (Docket: EPA-HQ-OPP-2026-2973) through June 29, 2026.
Informational Webinar: The agency will host a public webinar on May 20, 2026, at 2 p.m. ET to walk through the proposal and answer questions. Register here .

The EPA expects to review all public input and finalize the Fungicide Strategy by November 2026.

From Forage to Fertilizer: Iowa Farmers Turn Cover Crops Into A Profit Engine

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 17:35:36 GMT

Where the borders of Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois converge above the Mississippi River, Jack and Maria Smith, alongside their sons Nick and Ted, have turned cover crops into the strategic backbone of their diversified farming operation.

Based in eastern Dubuque County, Iowa, the family combines no-till corn and soybeans with a 420-head beef operation. They utilize a spring and fall calving schedule to produce registered seedstock and yearling bulls, while also finishing select calves.

One of the things that makes their farm unique, Nick Smith says, is how completely they’ve integrated cover crops in all aspects of their operation.

“We cover crop every single acre now. We’ve been able to do that for the last five, six, seven years, somewhere in there,” he told Andrew McCrea, during their recent discussion on Farming The Countryside.

Smith Family Farms got its start in 1853. In addition to their conservation efforts, the family is dedicated to preserving the state’s history through the Iowa Barn Foundation, which has saved more than 300 barns.

(Environmental Stewardship Award Video)

Matching Cover Crops To Cattle And Terrain

Because their land is prone to erosion, the Smiths first used cover crops to protect the soil from heavy rains. However, the practice quickly became a “no-brainer” feed source for their beef herd.

On their steepest slopes, the family often uses a two-year rotation centered on covers. They plant a spring cover crop to graze or harvest, then follow it with a diverse “summer cocktail” that is harvested once and grazed in the fall. This rotation prepares the fields for no-till corn the following year.

“With some of our steepest slopes, that’s what we typically do,” Smith says. “On ground that’s not as steep, we grow more continuous corn.”

Cattle graze the rolling hills that make up a significant percentage of the land the Smiths own in Dubuque County, Iowa.

(Environmental Stewardship Award Video)

Most of the family’s cover crop acres are grazed by cattle at some point.

“In the fall, I would say we’re grazing all of them,” Smith says. He notes that distance and accessibility sometimes limit spring grazing. “Probably 50-plus percent of the acres do get grazed in the spring. It just depends on the weather. You can’t really have the cattle out there if it’s wet.”

Custom “Cocktails” For Summer And Fall

Smith chooses different cover crop mixes based on the season and the next crop in the rotation. For summer covers, he prefers diverse blends based on sorghum-sudangrass.

“We love that stuff,” he says. “It’s really hard to screw it up. It’ll grow pretty much anywhere, and it grows quickly. It’s great feed; cows love it.”

He typically adds legumes like clover and buckwheat to those summer mixes. For fall and winter grazing, the farm relies on small grains and brassicas, including triticale, cereal rye, turnips, and oats. These fall covers are usually seeded in August and September.

The Smiths use a corn-soybean rotation along with some continuous corn. Cover crops help fuel the family’s row crops and feed their cattle herd.

(Environmental Stewardship Award Video)

Smith adjusts his seeding rates based on the upcoming row crop. If a field is headed to soybeans, he seeds cereal rye at a heavier rate.

“Beans like cereal rye,” he said. “If we’ve got a thicker stand out there, that’s not going to bother me.”

If he is planting corn the next year, he uses a lighter rate of cereal rye, especially on fields that won’t be grazed in the spring. The family has also experimented with camelina ahead of corn to add more diversity.

From Planes To Drones — And The Combine

Smith’s father, Jack, began aerial seeding cover crops more than 15 years ago, but the rolling terrain made it difficult to get consistent results.

“In our topography, we haven’t had great success with that,” Smith says. “It’s hard to get good coverage over every acre.”

In recent years, the Smiths have used drones for more precise seeding, especially to drop oats, radishes, or turnips into standing corn to create high-quality fall forage.

“We’ve had years where we’ve had knee-high oats while we’re harvesting corn,” Smith says, though he notes success depends on timely rain.

One of the most significant changes the family made was five years ago when they decided to mount a Gandy air seeder on their combine to plant cereal rye during the corn harvest.

“It’s hydraulically powered and blows the seed so it drops right at or through the header, just before the residue goes through the snapping rolls on the corn head,” Smith says. “As that material goes down through the corn head, it basically covers the seed up and helps trap a little bit more moisture there for it to get going.”

Smith can seed about 15 acres per fill. He dismisses concerns that the practice slows down the harvest.

“Everybody’s excuse is, ‘I don’t want to stop harvest,’” he says. “You can refill in 5 minutes with the right kind of tender. We’re saving a whole other trip, saving a lot of fuel, and we’re getting more growth because it’s done earlier.”

Soil Health And Nitrogen Efficiency

Smith credits no-till and consistent cover cropping with improving his soil function. He has observed faster residue breakdown, more earthworm activity, and higher microbial activity.

Earthworms are the only tillage tool on Smith Family Farms operation in northeast Iowa.

(Environmental Stewardship Award)

“The pace of the increases in organic matter have gone up a lot since we started using the combine, because we’re getting seed in every square foot of every acre, and we’re doing it on a consistent basis,” he reports.

Grazing cover crops has also allowed the family to reduce commercial nitrogen rates over the last six or seven years, even as corn yields have increased.

“From an efficiency standpoint, we’re way more efficient as far as pounds of commercial nitrogen applied per bushel of corn,” Smith says. He attributes this to cattle returning nutrients to the soil via manure, though the exact fertilizer value is hard to quantify.

Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) has played a central role in helping the Smiths refine these systems. Nick says he uses the organization’s website, events, and on-farm trials to guide experimentation with new cover mixes.

Labor And The “Cheat Code” Of Cows

Smith says labor is the biggest barrier for most farmers considering cover crops. However, he argues that seeding during harvest removes that hurdle.

“That’s where the combine’s a no-brainer, because that’s not labor — you’re saving time,” he notes.

He also acknowledges that having cattle makes the financial risk much lower.

“Compared to other farmers, we’ve got a mulligan, if something doesn’t work,” Smith says. “If you’re a cash-grain farmer only and you’re spending money on some cover crops and it doesn’t really work, it’s hard to stomach that cost. For us, if we have something that’s a failure, we can still recover some of that cost — and in a lot of years, way more than recover the cost. The cows are a little bit of a ‘cheat code’ for us in that aspect.”

The Smith Family Farms received the 2025 Regional Environmental Stewardship Award for their efforts in sustainability, which were highlighted during the CattleCon 2026 conference.

Listen to the complete discussion between Nick Smith and Andrew McCrae on Farming The Countryside here .

New Tool Helps Farmers, Ranchers Identify Conservation Incentive Programs

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 23:55:23 GMT

Conservation incentive programs that fit your farm and specific agronomic practices and/or livestock are not always easy to identify and sign up for online.

But those hurdles could soon be problems in the past, thanks to a new online platform, the Conservation Connector, which was just launched this week by the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC)

The new tool allows farmers, ranchers, and farm advisers to easily evaluate conservation incentive programs and connect with technical support at one online site, according to Ryan Heiniger, CTIC executive director.

As a fourth-generation farmer, Heiniger says he knows firsthand how challenging it can be to identify programs, companies and the individuals in charge of them who can provide more details in a phone call or an email.

“You might visit four or five government offices and a dozen websites, only to collect bits and pieces of information on those programs that would be a good fit for you. Our goal with the Conservation Connector is to bring all of that under one roof, so to speak, to help farmers, ranchers and advisers more easily find what is available in their area and fits with their needs,” Heiniger says.

The platform currently has around 500 programs and service providers in the Midwest that are participating, Heiniger says. He notes the tool is continually updated with the latest program offerings from trusted agencies, organizations and conservation partners. In addition, Connector.ag has no associated costs for farmers, ranchers and advisers to use.

“I want to underscore that it’s free for farmers; none of the information is behind any kind of paywall,” he says. “It’s also free for people who want to create a listing.”

The Conservation Connector is easy to navigate – it’s searchable by geography, commodity, incentive type, and/or management practice.

“We’ve made it easy for people who are on a specific mission to filter through,” Heiniger says. “You might be in New York looking for help with pasture renovation, and you don’t want or need to see what programs are available in Iowa. So, you can default right to New York. Or, you can default to a specific crop. The filters can help you ratchet down to the specific information you want to dive deeper into.”

Heiniger says the idea for Conservation Connector originated from Houston Engineering, the Nature Conservancy, and Open Team, and the CTIC invested the past 18 months in developing it.

CTIC invites farmers, ranchers, technical service providers, and conservation partners across the country to explore the platform at Connector.ag . You can provide feedback about your experience to help inform future iterations of the platform here .

Aligning Inputs with People, Planet and Productivity

Wed, 16 Jul 2025 22:30:41 GMT

This article is published as part of America’s Conservation Ag Movement , which supports farmers and ranchers in building profitable, resilient futures for their operations.

As the challenges facing agriculture grow more complex – from climate variability to shifting market dynamics – growers are increasingly looking for crop inputs that help produce abundant, healthy crops while safeguarding the land they steward.

Valent U.S.A. recently unveiled a new tool to help growers ensure that the inputs they are using to protect their crops act like silver bullets rather than shotguns. Through the Sustainable Solutions Portfolio, Valent has centered 47 broad-spectrum products that make up convention biorational and botanical products that cover both conventional and organic agriculture.

Validated by a third-party, the Sustainable Solutions Criteria aligns the company’s products with Sustainable Development Goals laid out by the United Nations in 2000, specifically around impacts to people, planet and productivity.

“Our parent company, Sumitomo Chemical, was one of the first companies globally to partner with the UN to support the SDGs and we have embraced five of those for our businesses in the U.S.,” says Matt Plitt, President & CEO.

Doubling Down on Sustainability

In January, Tiffany Dean joined Valent as vice-president of sustainable solutions, a move aimed at further threading this focus throughout the business.

While Dean has a large focus for the organization, for her, it all begins on the farm, where she says the organization is hyper-focused.

“Growers want to do right by their farms, by their soil and by their ecosystem,” she says. “They also want to make sure they’re maximizing profitability and productivity at the end of the day.”

Listening to growers and the organization’s channel partners in the retail space is how the company keeps that focus.

Tiffany Dean leads Valent U.S.A.'s Sustainable Solutions Team, which focuses on grower support in driving their Sustainable Solutions portfolio innovation and implementation at the farm-gate.

(Provided by Valent U.S.A.)

“We are hyper-engaged with growers because we know that they have a lot of challenges and opportunities to address,” Dean says. “We want to make sure that the solutions that we have today and the solutions that we have tomorrow are going to bring them value, so they can maximize inputs and ensure that that soil is going to be productive today and tomorrow.”

Innovation Through Sustainability

Over the next decade, Dean expects that the company will roll 20 new products into the market, the result of an arduous decades-long process to develop and gain registration for new agriculture inputs.

She says that the company’s “North Star” in that process is also the same one they use for their entire business – sustainability.

“We want to bring products into the market that are going to be the most beneficial to the grower and to the environment,” she says, adding that the majority of those new products are going be around the company’s plant growth regulator platform, but will also include seed treatments and herbicides.

“We have much innovation, investment and excitement around the Sustainable Solutions Portfolio,” she says. “But we need to make sure that we are using the grower as the voice of how we drive our business moving forward.”

Betting On Sustainable Productivity

Valent’s Sustainable Solutions Criteria ends with productivity and Dean says it is not lost on her how critical it is right now for America’s working lands to be working both at peak capacity and peak efficiency. The team is working to ensure that products in the Portfolio are optimized as well.

“Input costs are under an extreme amount of pressure right now, and so we want to make sure that growers are maximizing those input costs and gaining the benefit of everything that they are purchasing,” she says. “Through our biorational, our biological and our conventional portfolio we’re able to bring products that allows the grower to maximize their productivity while also not sacrificing the environmental aspects as well.”

In the short term, Dean says she is focused on listening so that she can build strategy for innovation that takes all of these factors into account for conservation at the farm-gate.

“We need to continue engaging with our customers and our partners to understand what is needed from growers, what’s needed from the value chain, and what’s needed at the end of the day to make sure that producers are continuing to maximize their productivity and profitability and are able to use our products to benefit them in many ways possible,” she says.

America’s Conservation Ag Movement is a public/private collaborative that meets growers across the country where they are on their conservation journey and empowers their next step with technical assistance from USDA-NRCS and innovation solutions and resources from agriculture’s leading providers. Learn more at americasconservationagmovement.com .

Natural Resources Conservation Service Lays Out ‘Farmer First’ Vision

Tue, 08 Jul 2025 15:12:51 GMT

“I started as a customer of NRCS first,” says Aubrey Bettencourt, chief of the USDA agency that helps farmers and ranchers manage natural resources on private lands. As a third-generation California farmer, Bettencourt is leading the effort to make the Natural Resources Conservation Service work more efficiently and effectively for farmers.

Outlining four efforts, Bettencourt and NRCS Associate Chief Louis Aspey laid out their “farmer first” approach at the 2025 Trust in Food Symposium in Washington, D.C.:

Upgrade technology.
Revive hands-on service through field offices.
Improve data management and use.
Simplify programs.

Tech Overhaul to Reduce Burdens

Consolidating five internal systems into a single mobile-based platform will allow NRCS staff and farmers to access farm data while sitting on the pickup tailgate in real time, say agency officials. The initiative, referred to as “One Farmer, One File,” is intended to reduce duplicative paperwork and streamline conservation plan development.

According to Aspey, the new system will allow farmers to enter information only once, with NRCS and partner agencies, such as Farm Service Agency and Risk Management Agency, handling verification behind the scenes. He also notes the agency is experimenting with artificial intelligence (AI) to help generate and certify conservation plans with basic farm data, which will get projects off the ground faster. [1] [2] Farmers will play a key role in providing a “reality check” in ensuring AI models accurately reflect real-world conditions, Aspey adds.

Improving rural broadband access [3] [4] [5] is essential to making the new system work, stress Bettencourt and Apsey. Without faster internet connections, agency service centers and farmers alike will continue to face what they call the “spinning wheel of death.”

Renewed Focus on Field-Based Service

NRCS was founded to provide one-on-one support and technical assistance, Bettencourt says, and changes are in the works to return to the agency’s field-based origins. While headquarter operations are being downsized, she says local service centers will remain open. The goal is to equip local offices with the tools and talent needed to meet farmers where they are.

The agency is reviewing staffing needs across its network of service centers, Aspey says, to identify and address regional gaps. Future hires will be fluent in the technologies used in modern production agriculture, such as drones, precision irrigation and autonomous equipment, Bettencourt adds.

Data Use and Farmer Trust

Knowing many farmers are wary of how their conservation data is used, Aspey says part of the agency’s modernization effort is to ensure data is not only protected but used in ways that benefit the farmer — such as helping them qualify for market premiums or regulatory recognition of conservation practices.

He also emphasizes the importance of streamlining recordkeeping across USDA, saying farmers should no longer have to submit the same information across multiple programs.

Partnerships and Program Tweaks

Bettencourt says NRCS wants to collaborate more with food companies, cooperatives and local conservation groups through existing vehicles such as the Conservation Partnership Program and Regional Conservation Partnership Program. She describes NRCS’s role in these efforts as the federal “gold standard” for conservation practice validation.

Within NRCS, agency officials are eyeing reforms to make conservation programs more accessible and responsive. For example, Aspey emphasizes programs must be designed to scale not just for large operations, but small family farms that typically face higher per unit costs. To better adapt to dynamic market conditions, Aspey says his team is considering tools such as payment schedules tied to inflation.

He points to the length and complexity of the easement process as a key barrier, saying simplification is a top priority. Acknowledging farmers have been frustrated with delays in the Conservation Stewardship Program, Aspey stresses farmers should be paid promptly after completing their work.

When it comes to program timing, NRCS deadlines often fall during the busy planting season, for example. NRCS officials say they aim to better align program timelines to farmers’ off-season schedules when possible.

Another target of farmer scrutiny is NRCS program language. Terms such as “eligible” and “accepted” might be familiar to agency staff, Aspey notes, but they can confuse or deter farmers who aren’t used to federal program jargon. NRCS officials say they aim to reduce this jargon to make programs more accessible. According to Bettencourt, they are also working to improve understanding of NRCS programs with other federal agencies, such as EPA, and food company partners. Her goal is “to be the farmer in the room,” so farmers get credit for engaging in voluntary conservation.

What Farmers Might Expect

If plans move forward, officials hope farmers will see faster service, reduced paperwork and improved access to mobile tools that allow them to work with NRCS on their own schedules. Bettencourt emphasizes changes are already underway but should be implemented in 2026.

“This is not a pipe dream,” she says. “We’re already demoing the system.”

According to Aspey, farmers will play a central role in shaping how that change unfolds — through feedback, collaboration and by challenging the agency to better reflect the realities of farming in 2025.

“You all are what makes the engine of the American economy go,” he says.

Cover Crops Gain Acceptance From Farmers When Their Agronomic Advisers Already Use Them

Wed, 23 Apr 2025 15:32:03 GMT

Agronomic advisers are increasingly recommending the use of cover crops to their farmer customers and helping them find success – especially when they have experience with cover crops on their own ground.

That’s just one of the key findings in a new survey from the Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC), Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE), and the American Seed Trade Association (ASTA). A report on the survey was released by the three groups on Wednesday.

Specifically, 22.3% of the advisers who said they use cover crops themselves reported between 25% and 50% of their clients are using covers, compared to a 9.1% rate of adoption among clients of advisers who did not personally use cover crops.

“Advisers play a key role in informing farmers about cover crops and providing technical assistance to help them succeed with covers,” says Rob Myers, director of the University of Missouri Center for Regenerative and regional director of extension programs for North Central Region SARE, in a prepared statement. “Understanding their attitudes toward cover crops, how they get their information, and how they perceive cover crop benefits will help guide efforts to support those advisers.”

More than 650 farm advisers from across the U.S. participated in the survey. Among the key findings:

The farm advisers surveyed used a wide range of information sources to learn about cover crops. Advisers who reported that they learned about cover crops on the job rather than through formal academic or training channels preferred training sessions (63.9%) and webinars (57.4%) for learning new cover crop insights, but they also liked learning from farmers one-on-one (58.3%) and by visiting field trials (30.6%).

A Valuable Weed-Management Tool

How to use cover crops as a weed management tool is one of the best key learnings Byron Hendrix says he’s gained from helping farmers adopt their use in Illinois corn and soybeans.

“Because herbicide resistance is becoming such an issue, we’ve seen cover crops come in, and they’ve helped tremendously at out-competing these resistant weeds like Palmer amaranth (pigweed) and common waterhemp, says Hendrix, a certified crop adviser and owner of Agronomy 1^st LLC and an Illinois Soy Envoy . “Once we kill that cover crop off successfully, we have a very clean looking field to plant into. So that’s a great tool that’s come about, and we’re getting better at using cover crops. That’s the key, right?”

Hendrix says he recalls when cover crops were initially adopted by farmers in his area, they were unsure of how to use them effectively. “We didn’t know exactly, are they for weed resistance? Or, are we utilizing them for more of a nitrogen benefit in the soil, you know, that type of thing?”

That same uncertainty was an issue for agronomic advisers, and it became less of an issue once advisers understood how to make cover crops work effectively, says Ryan Heiniger, executive director for the CTIC.

“This survey opened a window into how cover crops fit into crop consulting businesses and other advisory services,” says Heiniger, in a prepared statement. “We also observed that seeing is believing, which is borne out by the fact that approximately 70% of the respondents who farm themselves use cover crops on their own operations, and those cover crop users are more inclined to advise their clients on the practice.”

Higher Adoption Rates Are Expected

In addition, a majority of the farm advisers (56.9%) who participated in the survey said they expect to see cover crop acreage continue to increase. That’s true for Hendrix and his retail business.

“We’ve got multiple great things happening with cover crops now, and more and more people are actually implementing those practices,” Hendrix says.

Looking to the future, survey participants said they expect farmers to continue increasing use of cover crop mixes (46.7%) and trying ways of combining other soil health practices with cover crops (52.9%). The advisers said they expect a moderate amount of interest in newer cover crop topics like planting green (29.2%), grazing cover crops (32.2%) and others.

For more information on the CTIC/SARE/ASTA National Cover Crop Survey Report 2024-2025, visit SARE’s website .

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Next Gen Spotlight: Indiana Farmer Overcomes Challenges to Carry On Family Legacy

Wed, 12 Mar 2025 21:42:30 GMT

In 2011, when Aaron Krueger was a high school freshman, his grandfather was beginning to transition the family farm to the next generation. Krueger’s father, the next in line, passed away and his grandfather, who was having health challenges of his own, decided to sell his equipment and transition out of farming. Six years later, Krueger returned home with a degree from Purdue University and a plan to become the family farm’s fourth generation. Despite the obstacles in his path, he now works alongside his 86-year-old grandfather, growing yellow corn, soybeans and cereal rye.

Q: What have been your biggest challenges in returning back to the farm?

A: One of the biggest challenges I faced was putting together a fleet of equipment. Luckily, Grandpa still had the land base. He still had all the farm infrastructure, but he sold all the equipment. Acquiring reliable, technologically advanced — to the point I wanted — equipment at that time was pretty tough. There were several retiring farmers in the area who were happy to see their equipment go to a good place. They gave me a lot of good deals. We’ve upgraded to a point now where the equipment we have is reliable, and it’s the technology I want to use on our farm.

Q: What has helped you implement new initiatives?

A: I’ve been a main driver on our farm with the implementation of cover cropping. I’ve been able to access cost-share programs through NRCS, and I’ve worked with America’s Conservation Ag Movement for four years. We’ve been able to host a lot of meetings and field days in our area and build a network of producers where we can all gather up and get on the same page to share ideas and learn from one another.

Q: Have you received pushback in changing the way things have always been done?

A: The younger generation is more adept to adopting newer practices, and it did help me from a capital standpoint. We still don’t own any four-wheel drive or high-horsepower tractors. We only have a beat-up old field cultivator that we pull out every couple of years to level tile runs. My grandpa now drinks the Kool-Aid very heavily, but he’s kind of taken the stance of letting me do what I want to, and then he tells me later, ‘Well, I really didn’t think that was going to work out.’ But he runs the combine, so he sees that it works. I try to be transparent with him, and now he advocates the cover cropping for me.

Q: What’s your vision moving forward?

A: My long-term goal is more diversity. Right now, we’re just corn and soybeans, and last year we started growing rye. I see an opportunity in my area, and with the increase of cover cropping, to also grow other small grains to sell as cover crop seed. We recently got a seed cleaner, too. I’d like to integrate livestock as well. My father-in-law has Red Angus, so my wife grew up with them, and it would make her very happy for me to bring livestock to our farm.

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Practical Tips to Help Finance Regenerative Ag Projects

Wed, 08 Jan 2025 20:28:45 GMT

For generations, Long Dairy Farms Inc. of Rising Sun, Maryland has farmed the same piece of land since 1759. Today, they milk 150 cows and raise all of their heifers on-site, ensuring the continuity of their farming legacy. However, the journey to keep the family farm in operation has not always been easy.

In 2015, Alice Crothers and her husband, Caleb, were asked to return to the family farm after learning that her father-in-law was ill.

“We were asked to return to the farm, and it was sort of a shock to us,” Alice recalls. “At the time, we had very different careers in Tennessee, but my husband’s family was looking for the eighth generation to carry the farm on. So, we packed up the car and made the decision to return home.”

Returning to the farm brought both significant challenges and unexpected opportunities. The shift from their previous careers to full-time farming required Alice and her husband to quickly adapt to a new lifestyle and steep learning curve. Operational inefficiencies, financial constraints, and the pressure of maintaining a multi-generational legacy added to the complexities they faced.

“Things were different than we expected, both operationally and financially,” Alice says. “Within the first year, we realized pretty quickly that we needed a game plan and a strategy if we were going to be the eighth generation. And of course, there was a tremendous amount of pressure on our shoulders to not fail.”

Realizing that change was essential for the family business to survive, Alice and her husband concluded that focusing on regenerative agriculture could be a long-term solution.

“We decided that one of our business plans would be to diversify our farm through conservation, preservation, and sustainable projects,” Alice explains. “We laid out a plan on what we hoped to pursue, and a lot of that plan has come to fruition, but not without some hardships.”

Finding the Dollars

Incorporating new sustainability projects, like installing a methane digester, brought significant financial challenges to the operation. The upfront costs were daunting.

“We knew these projects were critical for the farm’s future, but the financial pressure was immense,” Alice admits. “We had to get creative, make sacrifices, and seek every possible resource.”

Securing grants was a major hurdle.

“The application process is extensive and time-consuming,” Alice says. “Even when we were eligible, competition for funds was fierce, and timelines didn’t always match our needs.”

But with time and creativity, Long Dairy Farms was able to find a solution and pencil out a financial plan that fit their farm’s needs.

Alice offers practical tips for farmers looking to finance regenerative agriculture projects, emphasizing the importance of careful planning, exploring diverse funding sources, and building partnerships.

Assess Costs and Benefits

Before pursuing sustainability initiatives, it’s vital to evaluate their costs and benefits. Consider projects like energy-efficient equipment, manure management systems, renewable energy installations, or water conservation measures. Assess short-term expenses and long-term savings or revenue potential.

Additionally, consider intangible benefits like improved public perception, compliance with future environmental regulations, and better herd health. A detailed cost-benefit analysis can guide decision-making and strengthen your case for funding.

“Sustainability has to fit your farm,” Alice says. “For us, it wasn’t just about financial returns. As eighth-generation farmers raising the ninth, these projects secure our family’s legacy.”

Leverage Government Grants and Incentives

Government programs can ease the financial burden of sustainability projects. Tax credits for renewable energy, rebates for energy-efficient equipment, and USDA grants like the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) are valuable resources.

“Staying informed about available incentives is crucial,” Alice says. “These programs can provide the boost needed to get projects off the ground.”

Learn From Others

Alice highlights the importance of learning from other farmers. “Before starting any project, we visited other farms to see what worked and what didn’t,” she says.

Sharing success stories within the farming community can also open doors. “Farmers talk, and having a few successes builds credibility,” Alice explains. “We’ve learned who to partner with, what to avoid, and how to navigate financial challenges by connecting with others.”

A Clearer Path to Sustainability

Financing sustainability projects for your dairy farm may seem daunting, but with the right approach, it’s achievable. Start with a clear plan, explore diverse funding sources, and build partnerships.

“Sustainability isn’t just an investment in our farm,” Alice says. “It’s an investment in the future of agriculture and our planet.”

By embracing regenerative practices, Alice and her family are ensuring their farm’s legacy continues for generations to come.

Strategies for 2025: Balance Family, Finances and Farming

Sat, 07 Dec 2024 13:30:00 GMT

With three busy kids, my wife and I are constantly on the go. Between practices, work and school events there are plenty of nights when dinner at home is a challenge. Three years ago, we often found ourselves frequenting a local restaurant after a basketball game or grabbing food to go in between practices. Today, it happens a lot less. Our reason is, like so many others, the rise in food costs require we be better stewards of our finances.

As farmers look out into 2025, the last data from USDA’s Economic Research Service projects input costs to remain high. For corn, that means $871 per acre, and for soybeans, it’s $625 per acre. While trending lower, both remain well above the inflation kick-start of 2021. The bottom line is that when wages, or in this case, commodity prices don’t go up or remain somewhat elevated, and costs remain high, it’s hard to make the numbers work.

A Business Decision

Which is why, when we talk about sustainability, it starts as a business decision and making sure the farm can remain financially viable. Then it’s time to look at systems, strategies and technology. In the current environment, ideas must come with neutral to lower costs or real ROI. Conservation and sustainability measures are no different nor are they immune to the financial realities of today’s markets. That said, taking the long view on soil health, water and protecting the farm’s most essential resources is also vital to longevity.

Balancing Both

As you wrap up 2024 and take on the unknowns of 2025, I hope your operation finds a pathway toward sustainable success. The road might look different this year as you traverse the challenges ahead. This might be the year to do something different. Explore new ways to buy, hire or work. Evaluate the product mix, brand loyalties or selling points. If ever there was a year to look at the status quo with fresh eyes, 2025 could be the opportunity. As you embrace family and friends this holiday season, may the gift of farming continue to bless your home for generations to come.

No one knows better than you that the future of your farm depends on balancing practices and profits that sustain your land, resources and family . The stakes are evolving based on weather patterns, technology, market demand and more. What actions are you taking to remain resilient?

4R Management Experts Share Their Big Plans For 2025

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 17:00:00 GMT

We caught up with The Fertilizer Institute’s 2024 4R Advocates—a group of two farmers and two retailers who are committed to implementing fertilizer management practices based on the principles of 4R Nutrient Stewardship. They reflect on 2024, share their sustainability wins and describe how 2025 could look different.

What Does Sustainability Mean To You?

Allen Spray
Chestertown, Maryland, Willard Agri Service
Sustainability means maintaining a profitable farming operation while doing what’s right for the environment and always looking for ways to improve yield with less inputs.

Bryant Lowe
Laurel, Delaware, Lakeside Farms
To me, sustainability means being able to farm the way we have been for years while trying new things along the way to be successful for future generations.

Daniel Mullenix
Auburn, Alabama, GreenPoint Ag
If we are more aware of nutrient stewardship and using the 4R methods of fertilizer applications along with new technology when applying crop protection, we can work toward enhancing environmental stewardship. Focusing on sustainability from a cover crop and soil health emphasis builds organic matter and allows the soil to hold onto nutrients longer. Both of these perspectives preserve our environment, provide an economic benefit to the grower and move toward a path of preserving the land and soil for the future generations to follow.

Mason Roberts
Sylvester, Georgia, MTR Farms
Sustainable agriculture is the No. 1 priority in our operation, and the reason for that is the assurance there is a tomorrow for our future generations to produce food and fiber for the world. That comes from knowing we are making practical and ethical on-farm decisions today to minimize our footprint.

What’s Been Your Biggest Success Story With 4R Management?

Spray: This year, while working with some technology, I was able to reduce phosphorus by 66% in a corn starter and maintain the same yield.

Lowe: Our biggest success story has to be successfully growing high-yielding crops on our sandy soils. Using the 4Rs allows us to manage the crop while minimizing nutrient leaching throughout the season.

Mullenix: When a grower sees the 4R plan as an investment and not an expense, we have been successful. Our greatest successes have come when growers and retailers understand that soil sampling and prescriptive fertility management really help everyone involved. It’s not just about cutting cost or using new technology. Everyone wins when we work together toward success.

Roberts: Practical and ethical decisions that we have made through following 4R have made our farm footprint smaller but also helped our neighbors and other farmers in the community grasp the concept today before we are legislated to make infeasible changes tomorrow.

Are You Trying Anything New Agronomically in the Field in 2025?

Lowe: We are going to try banding almost all of the nutrients next to the row instead of any broadcast in hopes this will raise our ROI even more for 2025.

Roberts: After meeting Bryant Lowe and hearing the successes of farming strictly with liquid fertilizers, I know we will have some agronomic changes take place in our operation. In southern Georgia, most at-plant fertilizer applications and sidedress applications are broadcast dry granules. For 2025, most of our operation will go to an organic at-planting fertilizer, such as chicken manure and compost, and sidedress applications will be done using liquid fertilizers through a Y-drop applicator to ensure an on-target application directly over the root zone of the crop.

As Retailers, What Are You Asking Farmers to Try for Next Year?

Spray: I’m asking my growers not to panic and try some new technologies to help reduce their risk and the amount of fertility.

Mullenix: The biggest thing we’re asking farmers to try for 2025 is to try to stay in business. We have several agronomic and technology tools to help farmers spend each dollar as wisely as possible. Working together is the only way we’ll make it through these economic times.

Consumers Are Driving Sustainability Initiatives

Wed, 04 Dec 2024 18:00:00 GMT

By Heather Gieseke

When it comes to sustainability initiatives, many farmers believe it’s politics driving carbon strategies and programs.

True, climate change and politics have become interconnected. Climate-smart grants, for example, have incentivized businesses to reduce carbon emissions.

But it’s consumers inducing U.S. companies to carry out these initiatives. Today’s shoppers want to know about the climate impacts or the humanitarian elements behind how their food is grown or services are delivered.

Purchasing Power Change

Sustainability is also important among younger generations, who will soon have most of the purchasing power in the U.S.

“Companies that understand these trends, and create truly sustainable brands that make good on their promises to people and the planet, will seize advantage from brands that make flimsy claims or have not invested sufficiently in sustainability,” reports the Harvard Business Review.

Products making environmental, social and governance-related claims averaged 28% cumulative growth between 2018 to 2022, versus 20% for products that didn’t, according to McKinsey & Company.

It’s important to note these sustainability initiatives are completely voluntary. They’re not being driven by government requirements but by consumer trends. That should give farmers more confidence in the increased opportunities ahead for incorporating climate-smart practices.

Pay-Off for Farmers

It’s also important to keep in mind there are additional rewards beyond reducing emissions or taking advantage of government programs or supply-chain premiums. Sustainability practices take time, learning and adjustment, but they can bring significant on-farm benefits, such as soil health, improved water quality and availability, reduced expenses and, ultimately, greater productivity on your farm.

The shift in purchasing power, the drive for transparency and the growing passion for food’s journey is certain to continue driving increased demand for sustainable products that are more than just a label. Increased transparency across the supply chain is resulting in meaningful and measurable stories of how sustainable, climate-smart products are better than their less sustainable counterparts.

Farmers should be increasingly aware of how you, too, can create your own measurable stories, whether it’s selling carbon offsets you’re generating on your farm or earning premiums for grain produced with fewer emissions than your neighbor down the road.

These changes are valuable both on and off the farm and will continue to be there in the future.

Is Now The Right Time To Ditch Tradition On The Farm?

Tue, 03 Dec 2024 13:30:00 GMT

When Joe Frey first considered switching to regenerative farming, he was driven by a simple, yet profound, observation: a tree splitting a rock in the wild. This remarkable sight sparked an idea—what if farming could harness such natural resilience and strength? Frey tested no-till practices against traditional tilling and found that not only did this approach save money, but it also added $30 per acre due to improved soil health. This revelation was just the beginning of a transformative journey.

Shifting Focus: Yield Versus Net Return Per Acre
Many farmers, like Frey, initially focus on yield, believing that higher yields directly correlate with higher profits. However, Frey soon realized net return per acre (NRA) provided a more accurate measure of profitability. Shifting his focus to NRA allowed Frey to see the true financial benefits of his efforts, emphasizing long-term sustainability over short-term gains.

Innovation Over Tradition
Frey faced a critical question: should he continue with the farming practices that had been handed down, or was it time to innovate? Inspired by his business partner Adrienne, who always advocated for natural and sustainable choices, Frey decided to break away from tradition. Adrienne’s research and strategic thinking played a crucial role in their decision to transition to regenerative farming, helping them navigate challenges and seize new opportunities.

Reducing Insurance Dependency
One of the most striking benefits Frey discovered was the potential savings from reduced insurance premiums. By improving soil health and adopting regenerative practices, Frey minimized the impacts of drought, heavy rains, wind and hail without relying heavily on insurance, tile drains or overhead irrigation. This approach not only saved money but also highlighted how agricultural insurance subsidies, could be better allocated to areas of farming in greater need.

Investing in Soil Health
Frey’s journey into regenerative farming underscored the importance of investing in soil health. By focusing on the long-term health of his soil, he reduced his dependence on chemical inputs and mechanical interventions. Healthier soil led to more resilient crops, better water infiltration and reduced pest populations. The immediate benefits included easier field preparation, larger harvest window and increased overall field resilience.

Mark Faust Top Producer Summit 2025

(Lori Hays)

Strategic Profit Improvement
Despite initial skepticism, Frey found that adopting regenerative practices significantly improved his profitability. Corn profits, for instance, improved by about 10% per year for the first several years. This increase in profitability came from the significantly lower input costs, reduced reliance on subsidies and a more resilient farming system.

Customer Relationships and Gradual Transition
Maintaining customer relationships has been a challenge that has required a lot of adaptation along the way. Customers who are used to monocrops, certain harvest time frames, harvest techniques and crop rotations have had trouble adjusting their operations to accommodate the new style of farming. Over the years, some have faded off into the sunset, some have changed slightly and others have embraced the transition wholeheartedly. Frey and Adrienne now find themselves searching for new markets altogether as they continue to integrate livestock and increase plant diversity more.

Health Benefits and Environmental Impact
The move to regenerative farming also had profound health and environmental benefits. Frey noticed a decrease in inflammation among livestock and a reduction in pest populations. Healthier soil, with increased organic matter, could store more water and withstand extreme weather conditions better. Frey’s fields, with no tillage and ground cover, proved much more resilient during droughts and floods, showcasing the environmental advantages of regenerative practices.

Moreover, regenerative farming enhanced the nutritional value of produce. Frey highlighted that modern produce requires multiple servings to match the nutrition of a single serving from 50 years ago. This improvement in food quality could have significant public health benefits, potentially reducing healthcare costs associated with poor nutrition.

Addressing Common Objections
Skeptics often argue regenerative farming is not feasible on a large scale or that it involves higher risks and costs. However, Frey’s experience, along with examples from large-scale farmers such as Rick Clark and the Kahle Family, disproves these concerns. Regenerative practices can be successfully implemented on large farms, offering financial stability and lower risks due to reduced input costs and increased profitability per acre.

The Bigger Picture: Long-term Resilience and Reduced Risks
In the broader context, regenerative farming offers a way to build long-term resilience and reduce risks. Healthier soil can absorb more rainwater, reducing flood risks and increase drought resilience. The approach provides financial stability by focusing on long-term profitability rather than short-term yields. It also positions farmers to better handle the uncertainties of climate change and market fluctuations.

Conclusion
Frey’s journey into regenerative farming illustrates a path to increased profitability, environmental sustainability and improved public health. By strategically investing in soil health and adopting more innovative practices, farmers like Frey are able to achieve long-term financial gains while also contributing positively to their communities and ecosystems. This shift from traditional methods to regenerative practices represents not only also a change in farming techniques but a paradigm shift toward a more sustainable and profitable future in agriculture.

Is Regenerative Agriculture Real?

Mon, 02 Dec 2024 01:33:12 GMT

Recently, I spoke to an investor looking for a fund to help farmers transition to regenerative agriculture. The investor thought there was a clear set of procedures to give farmers a measurable reward in a predictable amount of time. This line of thinking is common, but there currently is not a generally recognized standard that is “regenerative.” There are practices that might work in one location but not another, and there have been attempts to measure and monetize components, such as carbon credits.

Building soil health and cutting inputs will have huge long-term benefits, but there isn’t a standardized premium to index potential near-term ROI, especially for third-party investors.

Farming Is Changing

At a recent regenerative agriculture conference (of which the primary attendance was not farmers), a farmer recalled a conversation he overheard between two relatives weighing the pros and cons of adopting no-till farming practices. The audience was amazed this conversation took place 45 years ago, and the family had been using these practices for over four decades.

This disconnect is typical. In the current hype around regenerative ag, we should not miss the long view that farming is changing and will be more diverse in terms of species grown and potentially carbon negative in terms of how we grow. Fewer inputs will be used through advancements in technology.

Every field has different soil and different needs, and a regenerative plan needs to account for that. At the farm gate, the work needs to be monetized based on standards that have value in the marketplace, which currently don’t exist, and impact the production economics by lowering costs, building soil health and managing water.

3 Actions You Can Take Now

Expand use of regenerative practices. There is currently a lot of grant funding for conservation practices . Now is a good time to get started, but don’t get bound into long-term contracts that are going to lock up your data or rights to sell ecosystem credits in the future.
Don’t be afraid to measure. The future will be in selling products from your farm based on how the crop was produced, as well as selling water, carbon and other credits. The key is to get yourself in a position to reap this value without being committed to companies and organizations still trying to figure it out.
Band together and invest in the tools. Groups of farmers working together can coordinate ways to invest in the enabling tools that will lower barriers to entry, collect data, talk to potential downstream customers who might want to pay premiums and share best practices on what it takes to adopt new practices.

Harvest of Thanks: Paying Tribute to the Father of the Green Revolution

Wed, 27 Nov 2024 15:30:04 GMT

South of Cresco, Iowa, you will find a small farmstead with quite a story.

“By the time they came to live in this house, which was 1922, Norm was about eight years old or so and they had just bought the farm a year or two before that. It was 56 acres,” says Tom Spindler, with the Norman Borlaug Heritage Foundation.

Spindler is speaking of young Norman Borlaug. Next to the home you will find the school Norm attended as a boy. Both Norman’s father and grandfather attended the very same school. They ended their formal education without going to high school. The story would be different for Norman.

“They saw in him that he had a spark. I remember Charlotte, his younger sister, said the family always felt even when he was a teenage boy this guy had something in him that was something special,” Spindler says.

The family drove Norman 14 miles into Cresco where he would board for the week, then come home on the weekends to help on the family’s farm. Norman’s agriculture teacher and wrestling coach encouraged him to go to college. His grandfather, Nels, helped make that happen.

“As Norm decided to go to the University of Minnesota, he gave him 11 silver dollars and he said to Norm, ‘Norm boy you take this and pay your tuition for the first quarter. Feed your head now so you can feed your belly later,’ Spindler says.

Norman would go on to feed much more than his own belly. Borlaug helped develop wheat varieties in Mexico, and later in Pakistan, India and other locations that helped feed and save the lives of millions of people. His work led many to call him the father of the green revolution. Today, the farm where Borlaug was raised continues his mission.

“We do lots of educational programming here,” Spindler says. “We host two inspire days. We call them inspire days because Norman Borlaug was a very inspiring person. We target mostly fifth grade, and we have fifth graders from probably a dozen different schools that come.”

Borlaug’s work was recognized by many around the world. Notably, he won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize and later the Presidential Medal of Freedom among many awards in his lifetime. But as Spindler shares, Borlaug was always a teacher at heart – a mission they carry on today – and a story that shows the impact one farm boy can have on the world.

“Look what he did in his lifetime — from being a farm kid feeding his horses, the cows and the chickens and farming that land with horses and then he is credited with saving hundreds of millions of lives,” he says.

Chasing Dollars (or Pennies) With Carbon Farming

Wed, 23 Oct 2024 20:14:09 GMT

The move to climate-smart farming practices has felt like a disorganized and chaotic movement of different opinions and attitudes toward an elusive and dynamic end point.

That is — herding cats.

The original plan for carbon farming was carbon offsets. Eastern Iowa farmer and carbon-market early adopter Ben Riensche explained that approach very clearly during a recent farmer forum on “ AgriTalk .”

“It’s like paying you to go to Jenny Craig to lose weight for me,” he said.

There are still carbon offset opportunities, but the broader market is in transition. Instead of an individual farmer contracting to change production practices to offset the carbon output of another producer, the effort now is to maximize crops with the lowest carbon footprint in the production of biofuels.

The theory is other end users will eventually need to compete to have the crops with the lowest carbon footprint to produce whatever they produce. Maybe even if that’s beef, pork or poultry.

Enter 45Z Tax Credits

Starting Jan. 1, 2025, registered biofuel producers will be eligible for 45Z tax credits totaling as much as $1.75 per gallon. The biggest incentives are expected to be paid to producers of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), which use ethanol and bio-based diesel produced with crops with the lowest combined carbon intensity (CI) score.

If an ethanol or oilseed crush plant can convince all growers who send crops to its plant to make an effort to lower their carbon intensity score, they might be in line to capture a chunk of that $1.75 per gallon and distribute it to their suppliers via higher corn and soybean bids.

Another option is to put all producers feeding crops into biofuel facilities on the same footing by capturing CO2 and locking it up underground. That would likely make the facility eligible for 45Z credits.

But Is It Worth It?

The beauty of this is many producers are already using production practices that lower their CI score. The key will be to document and certify sustainability efforts. If you are doing the bare minimum to reduce your CI score, you might be eligible for a small share of the 45Z tax credit.

If what you’re doing now generates the greatest return, including the 45Z incentive, you should feel no pressure to change what you are doing. If, however, a change here or there on the production side will lower your CI score enough to result in a payment that would more than offset increased costs or lower production, then maybe that’s something to think about trying.

The analysis is straightforward: If a change in production practices will earn you more net income per acre, it’s a change worth considering.

Your Next Read: Treasury Dept. Finally Releases Guidance on the Sustainable Aviation Fuel 40B Tax Credit

Why Is It Taking So Long to Get the Necessary Guidance on the 45Z Tax Credit Program?

Mon, 23 Sep 2024 12:36:15 GMT

45Z is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025. While the 45Z credit has the potential to significantly boost sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production, the current lack of detailed guidance is causing some uncertainty in the industry.

Producers and investors are eagerly awaiting further clarification from the Treasury Department to make informed decisions about SAF production and investments.

There are a few key reasons why guidance on the 45Z clean fuel production tax credit program is taking a long time to be issued:

• Complexity of the program: The 45Z credit is a new, technology-neutral credit based on carbon intensity scores, which is more complex than previous biofuel tax credits. Developing the emissions rate tables and carbon intensity scoring methodology is technically challenging.

• Interagency coordination: The Treasury Department and IRS need to coordinate with other agencies like the Department of Energy to develop the emissions rate tables and carbon intensity methodologies.

• Stakeholder input: The government is likely taking time to gather and incorporate input from various industry stakeholders on how to structure and implement the credit.

Technical details: Determining specifics like eligible fuels, feedstocks, and how to calculate and verify carbon intensity scores requires careful consideration.

• Transition from existing credits: The 45Z credit will replace several existing biofuel credits in 2025, so the transition needs to be carefully managed.

• Limited resources: The Treasury and IRS have been working on implementing many new tax provisions from recent legislation, potentially straining their resources.

• Desire for accuracy: Given the credit’s importance for clean fuel investment, the government likely wants to ensure the guidance is comprehensive and accurate before releasing it.

Impact of delay. The lack of full guidance is causing uncertainty for fuel producers trying to plan investments and production for when the credit takes effect in 2025. However, the government has issued some initial guidance on registration requirements to help producers prepare.

The 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit differs from previous fuel production credits in several ways:

• Technology-neutral approach: Unlike previous credits that targeted specific types of fuels, the 45Z credit is technology-neutral and applies to any transportation fuel that meets the emissions reduction criteria.

• Carbon intensity-based: The credit amount is calculated based on the fuel’s carbon intensity score, rather than a flat rate per gallon. Fuels with lower emissions receive a larger credit.

• Producer credit vs blender credit: The 45Z credit goes to the fuel producer, whereas some previous credits like the $1/gallon biodiesel tax credit went to fuel blenders.

• Emissions rate requirement: To qualify, fuels must have an emissions rate no greater than 50 kg of CO2e per mmBTU.

• Registration requirement: Producers must be registered with the IRS before claiming the credit, which is a new requirement.

• Limited duration: The 45Z credit is currently set to apply only to fuels produced from 2025-2027, whereas some previous credits were repeatedly extended.

• Replaces multiple credits: The 45Z credit will replace several existing fuel credits that are set to expire, including those for biodiesel, renewable diesel, and alternative fuels.

• Potentially larger credit amounts: For fuels meeting certain labor requirements, the credit could be up to $1.75 per gallon for sustainable aviation fuel or $1.00 per gallon for other fuels, which is potentially higher than some previous credits.

The 45Z Clean Fuel Production Credit has several important implications for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production:

• Incentivizes SAF production: The 45Z credit provides a significant financial incentive for producers to manufacture SAF, with a maximum credit of $1.75 per gallon for aviation fuels that meet certain requirements.

• Technology-neutral approach: Unlike previous credits that targeted specific fuel types, the 45Z credit is technology-neutral. This means any SAF that meets the emissions reduction criteria can qualify, potentially spurring innovation in SAF production methods.

• Carbon intensity-based: The credit amount is calculated based on the fuel’s carbon intensity score. SAF with lower emissions receives a larger credit, encouraging producers to minimize the carbon footprint of their production processes.

• Replaces previous credits: The 45Z credit will replace several existing fuel credits set to expire, including the current sustainable aviation fuel credit (Section 40B).

• Registration requirement: SAF producers must register with the IRS before claiming the credit, which is a new requirement compared to previous fuel credits.

• Emissions reduction threshold: To qualify for the credit, SAF must have an emissions rate no greater than 50 kg of CO2e per mmBTU.

• Potential for higher credit amounts: For SAF meeting certain labor requirements, the credit could be up to $1.75 per gallon, which is potentially higher than some previous credits.

• Uncertainty due to delayed guidance: The lack of final guidance on how to calculate carbon intensity scores is causing uncertainty for SAF producers and potentially delaying investments in new production facilities.

• Impact on feedstock choices: The credit may influence which feedstocks are used for SAF production, depending on how carbon intensity is calculated for different agricultural inputs.

• Transition period: The shift from the current SAF credit (Section 40B) to the new 45Z credit in 2025 is creating some challenges for producers in planning future production and sales.

What is 45Z?

The new credit will be based on emissions rates, providing $1.75 minus $.035 per kg of CO2e per mm BTU for SAF with emissions below 50%. This shift may reduce incentives for agricultural feedstocks, favoring waste-based materials. The 45Z program also establishes a tax credit for biodiesel and renewable diesel, which will receive $1.00 minus $.02 per kg of CO2e per mm BTU, indexed to inflation. The GREET model will be used for CI scoring.

The potential 45Z credits for soy-based biofuels are lower than the current biomass-based diesel tax credit, with most renewable diesel receiving additional Low Carbon Fuel Standard credits in California. The 45Z program may further increase demand for waste-based feedstocks over agricultural ones.

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U.S. CFTC Issues First Guidelines for Carbon Credit Markets

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 19:18:54 GMT

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday approved the first guidelines for the trading of voluntary carbon credit derivative contracts in the country.

Carbon credit derivative contracts are financial instruments that derive their value from carbon credits, which represent the right to emit one metric ton of carbon dioxide or an equivalent amount of greenhouse gases.

The contracts allow traders and market participants to hedge against or speculate on the future price of carbon credits, similar to how traditional derivative contracts function in commodities or financial markets.

Regulators have pushed for heightened scrutiny of voluntary carbon markets, which have developed outside government oversight, due to concerns over quality and double counting.

The U.S. derivatives watchdog has outlined guidance for derivatives exchanges to crack down on price manipulation.

“The CFTC’s unique mission focused on risk mitigation and price discovery puts us on the front lines of the now global nexus between financial markets and decarbonization efforts,” said CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam.

Regulators in the Americas and Europe have increasingly been worried about greenwashing.
Earlier this year, the CFTC said it was investigating greenwashing - when companies exaggerate their environmental credentials- as part of its crackdown on fraud and misconduct in the voluntary carbon markets.

In May, the U.S. government unveiled rules to govern the use of voluntary carbon credits, seeking to boost confidence in a nascent market after some high-profile offset projects failed to deliver the promised emissions reductions.

“Voluntary carbon markets can help unlock the power of private markets to reduce emissions, but that can only happen if we address significant existing challenges,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had said at the time.

Many companies “offset” their own greenhouse gas emissions by buying voluntary carbon credits, which represent the avoidance or removal of emissions via projects largely located in developing countries.

(Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)

Your Next Read: The ABCs of 45Z: Take Time Now to Prepare for Low-Carbon Market Opportunities

The ABCs of 45Z: Take Time Now to Prepare for Low-Carbon Market Opportunities

Thu, 01 Aug 2024 18:25:43 GMT

By Heather Gieseke

The U.S. Treasury’s recent tax-credit guidance for the biofuels industry has sparked many questions about farmer impacts and ability to participate.

While there’s still a lot to figure out, it’s clear farmers who produce low-carbon fuels will benefit from greater opportunities ahead — including financial incentives and higher demand for crops with a smaller carbon footprint. To be able to take advantage of those opportunities when they arise, take time now to prepare.

What to Know Now
Each biofuels plant will manage this low-carbon market opportunity differently. There are a lot of factors in play for both facilities and farmers. But if you have implemented, or are considering, regenerative practices and you have the ability to deliver your crops to a biofuels plant, you should:

1. Document your practices.
Ideally, you’ll use data straight from your farm machinery software systems. If you haven’t done this before, start now. Even if not for 45Z, this certainly will benefit you in other ways in the future.

2. Reach out to the processing destinations local to you.
Do they have any programs already? If not, do they expect to have them in the future? What sort of data will be required to participate? How can you keep up with new information as it becomes available?

3. Hire a firm to help you calculate your current carbon intensity (CI) score.
If you have a fierce curiosity or desire to participate, consider expert help. This is likely just the beginning of a big future that will result from propelling your verified low CI score into additional revenue or demand opportunities for your farm.

New Terms In the World of Carbon Markets:

Carbon Intensity Score
A CI score is a measurement of greenhouse gas emissions divided by the amount of energy needed to produce something. A CI score is critical to determine the value of low-carbon products such as ethanol, soy biodiesel or sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The lower the CI score, the fewer the emissions. Carbon neutral means zero emissions occurred during the product’s production. CI scores can also be negative. Crops with a lower CI are generally grown with practices such as reduced tillage, cover crops and nitrogen management strategies.

45Z
This provision in the Inflation Reduction Act provides a tax-credit incentive for producing low-emission biofuels. It only runs from 2025 to 2027 but could potentially be extended. This credit will likely be passed on as a premium to farmers for low-carbon grains and oilseeds to compensate for sustainable practices with verifiable data.

GREET
The Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions and Energy Use in Transportation (GREET) model standardizes the measurement of carbon emissions across transportation supply chains. We are waiting for an updated version of the GREET model to support 45Z CI calculations.

New Poll: Farmers Want Congress to Protect Climate-Smart Agriculture in Farm Bill

Sun, 16 Jun 2024 12:38:43 GMT

A new Farm Journal poll conducted on behalf of Invest in Our Land across 10 leading agricultural states shows that American farmers and ranchers overwhelmingly believe conservation funding has an important role to play in building their operations’ resilience to increasingly extreme weather and addressing the effects of climate change.

The poll — which surveyed 1,019 farmers, ranchers and producers across Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Georgia, Minnesota, Iowa, Colorado, South Dakota, Michigan, Montana, and Wisconsin — also revealed that, by a double-digit margin, farmers and ranchers want Congress to protect $20 billion in conservation funding originally authorized by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and ensure those funds remain dedicated to climate-smart practices in the upcoming Farm Bill.

Commissioned by Invest in Our Land and conducted by Farm Journal’s Trust In Food initiative , the survey shows that:

A supermajority of farmers believe conservation funding has an important role to play in building farms’ resilience to extreme weather and addressing the impacts of climate change. 85% of respondents said that conservation funding plays an important role in helping farmers and ranchers adapt in the face of increasingly extreme weather. Similarly, two-thirds (67%) said that conservation funding plays an important role in protecting our planet from the effects of our changing climate.
Two-thirds of farmers say conservation programs increase farms’ resilience to extreme weather. 66% of respondents said they agree that conservation programs “help farmers implement practices and make on-farm upgrades that can increase operational resilience in the event of extreme weather events (such as droughts, floods, etc.)”
6 in 10 farmers support the IRA’s investment in conservation funding. Sixty percent of respondents indicated that they support the IRA’s $20 billion investment in agricultural conservation programs. By contrast, only 18% oppose this investment.
Farmers oppose removing climate-smart requirements from IRA conservation funding by a double-digit margin. 41% of respondents said they would oppose congressional efforts to remove the requirement that the $20 billion in IRA conservation funding be directed only toward conservation practices that have proven to be more effective in reducing carbon emissions (the so-called “climate guardrails”), while only 28% said they would support such an action — representing a 13-point margin in favor of keeping the dollars dedicated to climate-smart conservation. (24% of respondents had no opinion.)

Toplines are available here .

In 2022, Congress made a historic investment through the IRA to help America’s farmers and ranchers adopt tried-and-tested conservation practices that boost their businesses and strengthen their farms for the long haul. In 2023 alone, demand by farmers for conservation programs exceeded the additional funding allocated to them .

Farm Bill reauthorization is underway now, which could affect these programs. The House Committee on Agriculture recently reported out a bill that diverts funds away from climate-smart conservation practices.

“Nobody works harder than the American farmer. But right now, many of them are facing serious challenges — including drought, floods, and other increasingly extreme weather that not only threatens our farmers’ livelihoods today, but also puts the future of their farms and their families at risk,” said Joe Hack, spokesperson for Invest in Our Land. “The data is clear: America’s farmers and ranchers know firsthand that climate-smart conservation funding is a crucial tool in helping their farms weather these storms, along with other impacts of a changing climate. As Congress continues to work on these issues in the weeks ahead, we encourage them to continue to listen to the voices of our hard-working farmers and protect climate-smart conservation in the Farm Bill.”

“Time and again, we see U.S. farmers and ranchers stepping up to be good stewards of our nation’s land, air, and water. What this data tells us is that they consider the Farm Bill’s conservation programs to be an important tool in helping them meet these goals,” said Amy Skoczlas Cole, President of Trust In Food at Farm Journal. “While the private sector is increasingly involved in climate-smart agriculture, our experience is that the USDA conservation programs play a steadying and reliable role in helping farmers manage a changing market environment.”

Farmers and ranchers across the country are facing serious challenges, from plummeting profits to skyrocketing costs to increasingly extreme weather. According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, major disasters and extreme weather events — such as drought, floods, and wildfires — caused over $21 billion in crop losses for American farmers and ranchers in 2023 alone.

This new survey shows that farmers and ranchers want to address these issues in the Farm Bill — and they see climate-smart conservation as a key tool for doing so.

What To Know From The Biden Administration's New Carbon Policy Statement

Thu, 30 May 2024 19:03:45 GMT

At the end of May, the Biden Administration published the Joint Policy Statement and Principles on Voluntary Carbon Markets . Farm CPA Paul Neiffer joined the AgriTalk podcast to break down the details of this 12-page document and what the ag industry needs to know.

According to Neiffer, part of the publication’s purpose is to steer companies toward more reliable methods of using carbon.

“You have these large, publicly traded companies that have been greenwashing. They’ve been trying to help the climate, so they go out and buy these credits that really aren’t very valid,” he says. “They’re trying to state the goals for these companies should not be to buy these carbon credits. Their goal really should be to fix their own carbon footprint in their own company and in their supply chain.”

Overall, he says the publication isn’t quite a policy, but more of a statement encouraging companies to clean up their supply chains.

When it comes to farmers, Neiffer believes the ag industry should begin focusing more on 45z tax credits and carbon intensity scores rather than carbon credits.

“It seems to be implying if you’ve already done a great job of reducing your carbon footprint, you’re not going to get a payment because you can’t really reduce your carbon footprint any further,” he says. “Whereas if you’re a farmer that maybe hasn’t done a great job [of reducing your carbon footprint], we’ll give you a payment because we can see in that case where we can reduce your footprint.”

For those who still intend to purchase carbon credits, the second half of the policy statement made an effort to create standards for program participation and make sure there is transparency, identification and documentation.

“They want to make sure it’s legit if you’re buying this carbon credit that you’re actually removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,” Neiffer says.

To hear more from Neiffer, listen to this episode of AgriTalk.

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Truterra’s Three Year Total: $21 Million to Farmers

Wed, 22 May 2024 20:12:45 GMT

Truterra has announced over three years, since it introduced its carbon program, the company has paid more than $21 million to farmers for the sequestration and reduction of over 1.1 million metric tons of carbon

“Our carbon program is gaining momentum as a leader among farmers and retailers. Our differentiated approach matches agronomics with economics to help farmers make sustainable practice changes,” said Truterra President Jamie Leifker. “What’s more, these carbon assets could help organizations with sustainability goals who choose to make agriculture part of their toolkit of solutions. Truterra will continue to focus on creating new markets for farmers and retailers, while helping them make the best agronomic, economic and sustainable decisions for their operations.”

Truterra reports the program has grown in acres enrolled each year:

In 2023, total acres increased by 99% vs. 2022.
In 2022, total acres enrolled increased by 151% vs. 2021.

The number of farmers enrolled has also grown, and in the past year’s program, the number of farmers participating grew by 58% compared with 2022.

Truterra is a subsidiary of Land O’Lakes, Inc., which is a 100-year-old farmer-owned cooperative. Truterra uses a its network of local ag retail advisors, who work directly with farmers to help them make the best decisions for their fields, to position the carbon program in the market.

“In many ways, we’re returning to the way that my grandfather or my great-grandfather would have farmed, but with new technology and new metrics. Through the Truterra carbon program, we are doing this by changing some of our cover crop mixes, and I believe that higher yields will come from it,” said Kelly Garrett, a farmer enrolled in Truterra’s carbon program. “I’m looking at the big picture to secure the best for my farm and the best for my family. And I’m very proud that it goes hand in hand with Truterra’s carbon program.”

The Pros And Cons Of Being An Early Adopter

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 13:39:26 GMT

Recently, I heard someone make this comment:

“There really isn’t very much credit for being an early adopter in an industry that will someday just become regulated.”

Cynical or true? Or somewhere in the middle? Are there advantages to being involved early or should we just wait?

Advantages of Being An Early Adopter
Competitive Advantage
Early adopters can gain a competitive edge by demonstrating their commitment to sustainability and environmental responsibility. This can attract environmentally conscious customers and partners, such as farmer landowners or buyers willing to pay a premium.

Cost Savings
Typically, we might think of cost savings as an immediate advantage, but in truth, practice changes might cost more up front. However, implementing carbon reduction strategies and technologies before they are mandated can lead to significant cost savings in the long run.

Access to Green Financing
Some financial institutions and investors are increasingly interested in funding sustainable and environmentally responsible projects. Early adopters might have an easier time accessing green financing options, which can help fund their sustainability initiatives and expansion plans.

Regulatory Preparedness
Early adopters have the advantage of being well-prepared for future carbon regulations. They are already tracking emissions, implementing reduction strategies and have the necessary systems and processes in place to comply with potential future regulations when we are talking about the stick and not the carrot.

Innovation Leadership
Early adopters are often seen as leaders in their industries. They have the opportunity to innovate and develop new products and services that cater to the growing demand for environmentally friendly solutions.

Global Market Access
As global efforts to combat climate change intensify, being an early adopter can position businesses to access international markets and partnerships that prioritize sustainability.

Disadvantages Of Being An Early Adopter
High Costs
Early adopters often pay a premium for being the first to own a new product or service. Prices might drop significantly as the technology matures, leaving early adopters feeling like they overpaid.

High Level of Effort
Being first often means building the market even if you are buying products or getting freebies from vendors. The added labor, practice changes and inconvenience have a large cost.

Perception Risk
The topic of sustainability is politicized and even though most of us employ many practices that could be considered sustainable by today’s terms, putting a label on it might be a risk. Customers might feel you’re giving in to a politicized agenda or that you’ve taken on a view different from their own. The job of talking them through that could be pretty prohibitive.

Lack of Mature Ecosystem
New technologies and markets might lack the ecosystem of compatible software, accessories and services that older, established products enjoy. This can limit the overall functionality and usefulness of new technology.

Ultimately, it’s important to strike a balance that aligns with both your goals and your comfort level with uncertainty in the rapidly evolving world of technology and innovation.

When it comes to agricultural sustainability, we could easily argue the early adopters did so decades ago. And in a time when it seems suddenly every business and industry is noticing agriculture and we have manufacturers, bankers, governments and general consumers suddenly talking about soil health and animal welfare, as if it’s a new trend, it can be easy for those who have known this for a generation to, well, yawn. Yet, new innovations and new financial opportunities are beckoning.

My best suggestion: Do so according to your values and goals and with a nod to the legacy you’ve been working toward.

Ogallala Aquifer Summit 2024: Tackling Tough Water Issues

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 21:05:27 GMT

Seeking collaboration on solutions to conserve and extend the lifespan of vital water resources in the High Plains, the third Ogallala Aquifer Summit brought politicians and stakeholders from across the region this week to Liberal, Kansas.

Calling the Ogallala Aquifer “critical to the viability” of agriculture and maintaining historic economic growth, Kansas Governor Laura Kelly delivered the summit’s opening remarks by praising attendees for their work to address “one of the region’s most pressing issues.”

“Having a clean, stable water supply is critical to maintaining our way of life in all communities across Kansas, rural and urban alike,” Kelly said. “It’s critical to maintaining Kansas as we know it and love it.”

The impact of the aquifer’s resources creates impact throughout the economy, agreed Kansas Senator Jerry Moran, who addressed the summit’s 200 attendees following Kelly. Moran encouraged participants at the summit to continue working to conserve the water resource for future generations.

The impact from the Ogallala Aquifer is massive, with estimates that 95% of groundwater pumped from the aquifer each year is for irrigated agriculture, though it also supports livestock, businesses and municipal needs. The aquifer supports approximately $3.5 billion in crop production in Kansas.

Throughout the summit attendees were reminded depletion of the aquifer is not a problem to be solved; it is a situation to be managed. Speakers emphasized that the region’s water resources would need constant management, technical innovation, financial and economic support and infrastructure changes.

“Management of the Ogallala Aquifer is a food security issue and a national security issue,” said Kristen Dickey, Aimpoint Research.

Economic analyses suggest that depletion of the aquifer could result in a $56 million annual loss for Texas and a $33 million loss for Kansas agriculture by 2050.

Irrigation in the High Plains began in the 1940s, with increasing water use from the aquifer until about 1980, then a gradual tapering off until the present decade. Texas Cattle Feeders Assn. CEO Ben Weinheimer told attendees that approximately 7 million acres were irrigated in the Texas Panhandle in 1980, declining to slightly less than 4 million acres today.

While crop irrigation accounts for a majority of the water use, the aquifer also supplies water for the region’s large livestock feeding operations. Those businesses are working to conserve water, too, says Joel Jarnagin, Cobalt Cattle Co.

Thirty years ago Jarnagin estimates feedyards used “15 or 16 gallons of water,” per head per day. Cobalt Cattle Co., which operates six feedyards with a one-time capacity of 300,000 head, has averaged “10.5 to 11.7 gallons” water use per head, per day over the past four years.

“That’s a significant savings just due to management and increased focus,” Jarnagin said.

Policy changes at the state level may also help stakeholders manage the water resource. For instance, Governor Kelly noted two specific bills passed in the last Kansas legislative session.

“One established a specific timeline for communities to develop strategies around maintaining water quality and quantity,” Kelly said. “The second allocated an unprecedented investment in the State Water Plan — to the tune of $35 million annually for five years.”

Kelly said she is encouraged by the progress made so far, but “It’s crucial that we build on our progress – which is why a summit of this scope is so important.

Soil Genomics Company Catalogs More Than 24 Million Microorganisms

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 20:36:21 GMT

Farm Journal’s Smart Farming Week is an annual week-long emphasis on innovation in agriculture. The goal is to encourage you to explore and prioritize the technology, tools and practices that will help you farm smarter. Innovation today ensures an efficient, productive and sustainable tomorrow.

Global soil genomics company Biome Makers says its soil database surpassed 24 million microorganisms, a feat that helps expand its database of soil data that it pairs with artificial intelligence.

The company said as it continues to add microorganisms to grow the database, it continuously enhances its ability to feed actionable intelligence to the industry, which helps growers better understand soil health and how to grow more resilient crops.

This database is a part of the company’s BeCrop Technology, which is an AI-powered tool that sifts through millions of microorganism references and answers the most impactful agronomical questions, such as detecting disease risks, predicting yield improvements and evaluating the adoption of regenerative agriculture, according to a news release.

The company said this soil data includes soil samples collected across six continents and 56 countries over the last decade.

“Our ability to integrate the world’s largest soil database with industry-leading technology means that we can support the whole agroecosystem with precise recommendations that ultimately result in improved yield, lower costs, and provide a clear path forward to the future of sustainable farming,” John Appel, head of commercial sales for North America with Biome Makers, said in the release.

The company says it has positively impacted more than 21,000 farmers on their sustainability journey and more than 2,000 agribusinesses, including Syngenta, Bayer, UPL, among others, leading to enhanced yield improvements and reduced on-farm costs.

“As an investor in Biome Makers, we’re happy to see the company’s soil database surpassing 24 million microorganisms, further solidifying its position as a global leader in soil genomics,” Ting-Ting Liu of Prosus Ventures, said in the release. “This milestone underscores Biome Makers’ commitment to providing actionable intelligence to the agricultural industry, ultimately leading to improved soil health and more resilient crops.”

Related Articles:

Data From New Trials Boasts Yield Boosts With Biologicals

Farmers Share Biological Experiences Through New Mosaic Initiative

Bolt-On At-Plant Micronutrients

Carbon Tech Banks on Deeper Roots

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 23:01:05 GMT

One startup is working to remove the obstacle of adopting a new practice to be eligible for carbon market incentives by making plants increase their carbon sequestration by design. Named Cquesta, the company has licensed nine patents from the Salk Institute to modify root architecture.

“Our goal is simple: use traits to help plants grow deeper roots,” says Cquesta CEO Michael Ott. “Deep roots are universally desired in ag because they enable plants to tolerate stress, such as a drought, much better. Additionally, farmers can generate carbon credits just from using the new seed and don’t have to change agronomic practices to participate if it’s not right for their operation, which should help with scaling and adoption.”

First, Cquesta is partnering with CoverCress. The next crops it’s targeting for development are canola, soybeans and then corn.

The company just closed its first round of investment, nearly $5 million, led by Hess Corporation.

This year the company aims set up gene editing operations for field trials and develop its MRV system to monetize carbon outcomes when the technology is deployed commercially. Key measurements are root architecture—depth and width—and carbon sequestration levels.

“We have the ability to modify roots to whatever the seed company or farmer desires. We can go deep, shallow, wide or narrow. We’re focused on deep roots and working with farmers to improve soil quality,” Ott says.

Indigo Ag Announces Third Carbon Crop

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 21:40:56 GMT

Payments for the third crop of carbon credits facilitate by Indigo Ag will be made to its more than 900 farmer enrollees from 28 states in March 2024. This represents an equivalent of 163,048 metric tons of carbon dioxide sequestered or abated by U.S. farmers.

“Our record breaking third carbon crop reinforces that farmers can earn money and have a real and measurable impact leveraging agricultural soil as one of the world’s largest carbon sinks,” said Dean Banks, CEO of Indigo Ag. “As carbon projects continue to be scrutinized, we are incredibly proud to be the largest issuer of nature-based, registry issued agricultural soil carbon credits in the world, driving real value for farmers and corporations.”

Indigo Ag’s carbon program and Indigo Ag’s sustainably sourced grain programs have now paid farmers more than $12 million total.

Indigo Ag says it’s the only company to complete three carbon harvests at scale. Additionally, the company says its year-over-year growth includes more farmers paid (a 215% increase in new grower participation), more fields enrolled (a 333% year over year increase in new acres and a 297% increase in new fields) and more credits produced each year.

The first crop was announced in 2022 totaling more than 20,000 metric tons. And the second crop was announced in February 2023 totaling 110,000 metric tons with 430 farmers enrolled. On average farmers were paid $30/credit in the first two years. The final payment for the third year’s program will be known in March.

Indigo cites a partnership with 25 agribusiness partners to provide a network of support for the carbon program as part of its success.

One such network member, Josh McClain, CEO of Firebolt Ag, said: “Working with Indigo Ag has helped us grow our business and improved our relationship with our farmers. When our customers come to us for guidance, it’s great to be able to recommend a quality program and practice changes that will improve their soil health while creating a new source of revenue that builds over time.”

Enrollment for the next season is open with an expanded list of eligibility including: hemp, perennial and annual alfalfa, millet, collard greens, and four perennial legumes to the current eligible crops (corn, soy and cover crops.)

Additionally, Indigo is working to streamline enrollment. For example, Indigo is working with its industry partners for farmers to import data from a spreadsheet or their FSA 578 insurance form.

Related Articles:

Indigo’s Carbon Milestone: 20,000 Credits Verified and Sold

Carbon Program Providers Say Buyer Demand is Outpacing Farmer Supply

Bayer Announces 2024 Carbon Program, Expanding Opportunities

Tue, 05 Mar 2024 21:35:19 GMT

For the coming year the Bayer Carbon Program highlights six expanded opportunities for farmers to enroll in the program and earn incentives for regenerative practices. The company structures its program around practices to sequester carbon and promote soil health while paying per acre incentives (not based on the amount of carbon sequestered).

The six enhancements for 2024 include:

Open enrollment for now 28 states
Expanded practices: no-till/strip-till and/or cover crop practices rewards at $6 per acre, per practice. And a new Nitrogen Management Program, rewards at $4 per acre.
In addition to corn, soybeans and wheat, newly eligible crops include barley, sorghum, oats, rye, millet, dry beans, lentils, chickpeas and peas.
Farther look back period so fields with practice change on or after August 1, 2019, may be eligible to participate
The renewal potential is adjusted so the program performance period is five years, with the potential to be renewed for up to three additional five-year periods.
A renewal bonus is available with the potential to receive a one-time renewal bonus of $6 per acre, per practice, if the program performance period is renewed for an additional five-year renewal period.

“Our mission is to improve and expand our program to create additional opportunities for even more American farmers,” said Leonardo Bastos, Senior Vice President of Ecosystem Services at Bayer Crop Science. “These recent enhancements provide farmers with more options, resources and benefits so that we can meet them where they are in their regenerative journey. There’s never been a better time for farmers to explore enrolling in our program.”

In addition to expanding the program’s reach and opportunities, Bayer also focused on making enrollment easier with a streamlined online process.

“We listened to feedback from farmers who are already enrolled in the program and concentrated on the enrollment process to make it even simpler to understand and navigate,” said Bastos.

Enrollment includes Bayer providing Bayer agronomic support, soil sampling and help with data collection and verification.

The Bayer Carbon Program is part of ForGround by Bayer, which is the company’s digital platform of resources and programs.