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Organic Valley ramping up carbon program

Organic Valley will scale up its carbon insetting program as part of USDA’s new carbon-smart grants.

Sustainability Director Nicole Rakovitsch tells Brownfield they will incentivize farmer members to implement new carbon-smart practices to help lower the company’s carbon footprint.

“We’re investing inside our supply chain to make our own farms more resilient,” she explains.

The cooperative announced a pilot of the program on 30 farms this March. Rakovitsch says the additional funding will take efforts across the country.

“Over the next five years, we intend to do 1,200 new practices on a total of 500 farms,” she says.

Rakovitsch says practices included in the program will reach across every aspect of a farm from the cow to the manure and energy use.

Over time, Organic Valley will be able to track carbon and additional benefits like increased biodiversity and pollinators and plans on marketing the efforts to consumers.