Future Outlook
Carbon: A Future Ag Commodity?
Financial benefits may brighten farmers' future.
Will farmers of the future one day call themselves, "wheat, corn, carbon farmer?" There's speculation among some farmers in eastern Colorado agricultural communities that contracts that purchase C offset credits will be a welcome addition to a bleak future on the farm.What is C sequestration? What is the market for C offset credits? Who decides what the commodity is worth? How much can I make? How is C measured and who will do the measuring? These are the questions beginning to be asked by agricultural producers who are just becoming aware of the potential of their farms and ranches to provide a different type of commodity. Researchers are finding the answers to these questions through ongoing studies.
As scientists pursue these answers, agricultural producers need to become aware of what agricultural systems, conservation practices, and type of farm management are demonstrating the most C storage in an economically feasible manner. Fortunately, many proven and accepted conservation practices commonly used on farms and ranches in Colorado offer significant C storage benefits in the soil and in tree biomass.
Resource professionals in the field know that conservation practices such as windbreaks, living snow fences, rotational grazing, and no-till farming already provide proven erosion control and water quality benefits and contribute to improved wildlife habitat. These are benefits that society, in general, enjoys, but depressed crop and cattle prices often fall short of paying for them.
While there are currently no requirements for U.S. utility companies to reduce CO2 emissions, some companies are looking at their alternatives. Although Colorado agricultural producers are just learning about the potential of C sequestration to provide financial benefits, people on the farm are interested. At this point, changes to the Kyoto Protocol would need to be incorporated to broaden the potential for participation by Colorado farmers and ranchers, but the prospects for the future appear a little bit brighter with C as a potential agricultural commodity.
It's too early to know how future U.S. policy issues might develop, but judging from the interest of the agricultural community, the time may be right to begin an information exchange between researchers, natural resource practitioners, and agricultural producers.
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