US farmers can make money from regenerative practices but the market still needs many stand-offs sorted
Upper Marlboro — The owner of Deep Roots Farm in rural Maryland in the US and her workers finished the autumn harvest in November, but some of their most vital plantings are still in the ground, and growing fast.
Changing farm practices could capture and store up to 250-million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually in the US — or 4% of the nation’s emissions — the National Academy of Sciences found in 2019. “Suddenly everyone is hearing about soil carbon storage,” said Lauren Miller, an executive vice-president with Grassroots Carbon, a firm that connects businesses interested in buying soil carbon credits with regenerative farming operations.
Soil carbon levels vary widely and are hard to measure, and standards set up to facilitate such markets have shown a “huge variation in verification rigour”, she said. And while prices for soil carbon are rising, they remain too low to widely change farmer behaviour, Chay added. For example, he said, early findings from almond orchards in California suggest that farms that use regenerative practices have about 30% more soil carbon than conventional ones. Another initiative, called the Soil Inventory Project, is seeking to develop a national map of soil health.
“Climate change poses significant risks to farmers in our supply chain," said Rob Meyers, the company’s vice-president of agriculture. Still, the effect of such shifts on climate change remains unclear, said Chay. With many contracts for storing soil carbon lasting just 20 years, for example, carbon sequestered on farmland today could be released in the future, she said.
One obstacle is the low current value of soil carbon, often at $15-$20 per tonne, said Ben Hushon, an agronomist and partner at the Mill chain of agricultural products stores, one company that has worked with farmers to experiment with soil carbon markets.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
NEW NEW WORLD ORDER: Tackling a world in conflict as the post-Cold War era endsThe US is seeking a new consensus to deal with a period in history in which the world order has changed and global risks include the climate crisis and tensions between the East and West.
Read more »
MICHAEL MORRIS: Bringing about a new ‘new SA’ requires planning and a steely resolveAs ANC swirls into vortex of oblivion, the remainder of SA must steel itself to think how to fix the damage
Read more »
West Africa: Gulf of Guinea Countries Agree to Stop Illegal Chinese FishingChinese boats are decimating West Africa's fish stocks and fishing communities in the Gulf of Guinea, say environmental groups.
Read more »
Daily news update: Ramaphosa on ANC rivals, Kagiso murder and Malema in North West | The CitizenJumbo South Africa! Here's your Monday morning news update: Ramaphosa on ANC rivals, Kagiso murder and Malema in North West. ICYMI click here➡️
Read more »
Restoring French West Africa's capital to its original splendourAn intricately detailed balcony, a coat of fresh paint and large bay windows opening onto the street: this house, in Saint-Louis, northern Senegal, has regained its former glory.
Read more »