Ron Hovsepian, President & CEO, Indigo Ag
The consensus among climate experts around the globe is clear: we are now at a critical point where we need to remove as much as 14 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2030 to keep temperatures likely below 2˚C.
Agriculture is an immediate, scalable, and affordable solution that can remove four to six billion tons of emissions from the atmosphere per year. The soil underneath the farmer’s feet is an enormous carbon sink. By adopting sustainable practices, farmers can use their fields to draw down and store atmospheric carbon and generate high-quality carbon credits as an additional revenue stream. The ability to accurately quantify and verify the amount of carbon removed has been a key obstacle preventing agriculture from scaling up this natural carbon sink.
Globally, 22% (1) of global emissions are estimated to come from the agriculture sector, yet it has produced less than 1% of voluntary carbon credits (2). In collaboration with countless third-party collaborators, we have spent years developing a patented and proven model that combines science, technology, and data, to establish the implementation of on-farm sustainable practices as a new, durable revenue stream for farmers and a credible, nature-based climate solution for businesses.
A farmer generates carbon credits by adopting practices that build soil organic matter and providing supporting data on any major activity that happens in the field — like planting and tillage dates, nitrogen applications, and harvest yields. We measure and report the impact of the farmer’s efforts, and once they have been independently verified by the carbon registry, sell those credits to companies seeking to meet the sustainability pledges they’ve made to reduce their emissions. Experts predict the voluntary carbon credit market will reach $50 billion by 2030 (3).
As many companies face increased pressure to meet their publicly stated climate commitments, the demand for high-quality carbon credits is rapidly outpacing the supply. Indigo has more than 6 million acres in our Carbon by Indigo program – doubled from the prior year and more than any other program. Thousands of farmers are enrolled, but more are needed to scale up this climate solution.
Strong corporate demand for high-quality, verified carbon credits will drive up the price of carbon credits, making it a more viable ‘crop’ for growers to produce. Carbon farming should always complement the existing system for producing the food, feed, fuel, and fiber we all need, but a $100 credit price will make it a viable source of income and attract the attention of more farmers. Given the urgency of the climate imperative, we must tap the almost unlimited potential of agriculture as a climate solution, sooner rather than later.