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Considerations for farmers interested in carbon credits

Carbon credits are getting a lot of attention in the ag sector as a potential method to mitigate climate change.

Colin Mitchell, a sustainable agriculture specialist with the National Center for Appropriate Technology, says there are several things farmers should consider before contractually sequestering carbon.

“Are you going to get paid for practice implementation or environmental improvement, what’s your return on investment going to be, how long until you get paid, and if you’re a smaller farm can you team up with other farms and get an aggregated payment that gets you a share,” he says.

Other considerations include program stability and cost transparency.

“How stable is this program and what’s the lifeline on it,” he says. “How clear are the required practices and the verification processes and how much do these cost.”

Mitchell spoke during the recent Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association Annual Conference.