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Ag carbon efforts likely to stay voluntary

Carbon efforts on farms will likely stay voluntary according to one industry expert.

Ag economics assistant professor Matt Gammans with Michigan State University tells Brownfield as corporations and policy makers driving climate goals, it’s likely voluntary efforts will be used within agriculture rather than regulations, “It’s so hard to measure carbon and everyone’s farm is different so this one sized fit all rules don’t really work for agriculture they way they do for other industries,” he explains.

To prepare, Gammans says farmers who might be interested in carbon markets can track their baseline practices and profitability now, “Good documentation and budgeting–know where the money is coming in and off of your farm,” he says.

Gammans says farmers watching the markets develop still can shop programs and should expect more opportunities for “green” payments as subsidies for practices continued to be incentivized by the government.