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Regenerative dairy farmer explores complexity of carbon markets

A large dairy farm already practicing regenerative agriculture is working through the complexity of carbon markets.

Ken McCarty is co-owner of McCarty Family Farms and MVP Dairy which has nearly 29,000 cows across 5 locations in Kansas, Nebraska, and Ohio.

“To some extent we are building the plane as we are flying it. We are implementing a tremendous amount of regenerative ag practices, while at the same time we are trying to build a system to quantify the impact those are having and trying to figure out the best marketplace to potentially market it.”

But he says there is an added caveat for dairy producers that raises some questions.

“Being as we are part of an integrated supply chain, can we even market it and still count reductions further on down the supply chain?”

And he says it ultimately comes down to what practices actually pay.

“Yes, I would love to pay for cover crops simply through the implementation of selling the carbon credits, but I am trying to justify those practices with other benefits that they bring to the table.”

McCarty says when it comes to government’s role in this space, they need to ensure carbon markets are ethical and that farmers not being taken advantage of.

McCarty spoke during a Farm Foundation Forum Tuesday:

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