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Farm Foundation report highlights carbon market opportunities and challenges
A new report on carbon markets sheds light on some of the challenges and opportunities ag stakeholders should expect.
Iowa State University Extension economist Dr. Alejandro Plastina authored the Farm Foundation report and says he wanted to inform farmers, policymakers, and others about agricultural carbon programs.
“There are many challenges (and) at the very core of the problem is the lack of standards.”
He tells Brownfield current programs measure, report and quantify carbon sequestration differently and says it will take collaboration to develop industry standards.
The report also highlights opportunities and Plastina encourages farmers to ask a lot of questions.
“There are different kinds of contracts out there from these different carbon programs and they go from annual contracts to ten-year contracts, and they require different things from farmers.”
He says farmers need to clearly understand contract characteristics like length, exit clauses, how carbon credits are measured, and when payments occur.
