Producers eye carbon credits

Farmers and ranchers have 10 to 20 years to really cash in on the carbon sequestration market, a representative for the National Carbon Offset Coalition told producers attending a meeting in Idaho.

New technology, in which factories and power plants will be able to capture carbon emissions and put them in the ground, is still a decade or more away, said Ted Dodge of the National Carbon Offset Coalition.

In the meantime, the only carbon that's going to be sequestered in the soil will come from farmers, ranchers and foresters through the natural process of photosynthesis, Dodge said during a presentation at the Public Lands Council's annual meeting Wednesday, Sept. 24, in Twin Falls, Idaho.

"We think we have a window of 10 to 15 years before other technology comes on board," Dodge told Public Lands Council members.

Global climate change is the primary driver behind the carbon offset market, he said.
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The Chicago Climate Exchange, or CCX, is North America's only, and the world's first, greenhouse gas emissions registry.

So far, more than 200 companies - including Cargill, Dow Corning and Safeway - are involved, Dodge said.

Companies are buying carbon credits for a number of reasons, he said.

Some have subsidiaries based in foreign countries that have signed the Kyoto Treaty and are required to either reduce carbon emissions or buy offsetting credits. Some are buying credits as part of a public relations campaign and many are genuinely concerned about reducing greenhouse emissions, he said.

On Sept. 23, there were 3.8 million metric tons of carbon traded on the exchange, Dodge said.

Farmers and ranchers can take advantage of the carbon credit market by signing up for a contract based on conservation practices such as conservation tillage, no-till, managed grazing and establishment of vegetative covers.

Producers don't have to prove that they're actually storing carbon in the soil - that's assumed as long as they carry out the agreed-upon conservation practices.

Projects now being traded on the exchange include conservation tillage, no-till, range management, grass planting and tree planting.