News

Farm family describes seeing benefits of carbon markets firsthand

A southwestern Indiana farm family is using cover crops to help sequester carbon on their operation.

Carl Seib says they have seen the benefits of carbon markets firsthand.

“We’ve seen more benefits than we ever expected. Financially it’s about a lot more than just the payment. We’ve made a lot of money on saved time, fuel, and practices,” he says. “And improved yield is the biggest improvement everyone talks about.”

Seib Farms has had a carbon contract with Indigo Ag since 2019.

“Indigo Ag has an online marketing resource we’ve been using trying to find specialty markets in our area that aren’t typically advertised,” he says. “They approached us and told us about their program on carbon credits and we met with them, got information, and it went from there when we realized it was something we wanted to do.”

Advice he has for other farmers interested in carbon markets is to “get an agronomist you trust that specializes in cover crops—that was the biggest thing that pushed us into going with Indigo Ag. Their territory agronomist for our area has been doing cover crops for over 17 years and we personally liked him and felt we could work together. That’s been the most important thing to have someone on our team that we trust. “

Seib Farms has long worked with agribusiness suppliers and others to conduct on-farm research. The family discussed carbon markets and more during the recent Purdue Farm Management Tour.