There could be a double win when a farmer gets involved in a carbon program, a financial return for his efforts and improved soil health and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. That’s why more and more farmers are taking a closer look.
One carbon program available is from Bayer, and Lisa Streck, their carbon program grower lead says it’s pretty straightforward.
“The Bayer carbon program is where Bayer will pay farmers for adopting climate-smart practices such as no-till, strip-till, and cover crops,” she said.
The Bayer program foundation is a digital tool many are already familiar with.
“Climate FieldView is the basis for our program with the digital technology that tool provides, so farmers simply share their fields through their Climate FieldView app, select which fields they want to enroll in the program and which practices they’re going to adopt on their farm. Then Bayer, we handle the verification and the validation from there, so a simple, easy process for farmers to participate in the program.”
Streck says Bayer carbon education programs are working. They’ve seen a definite increase in the knowledge growers demonstrate.
“We’ve been spending the last year and a half educating farmers about this space, our program in particular, what opportunities, about carbon markets in general, and how farmers and the agriculture industry can help play a role in sequestering carbon. We launched our program since 2020 and I definitely see more education with farmers knowing about this space by the different questions they’re answering.”
Through Bayer Carbon, a farmer can earn up to $9 per acre per year. Streck is excited about that.
“Now we can reward farmers, the original environmentalists, for being good stewards of the land by connecting them to potential revenue streams they may not have had in the future,” she told HAT. “So I’m excited about the opportunity for the agriculture industry as a whole, and for farmers in particular to be able to operate in carbon markets.”
Learn more at BayerCarbon.com.